Breakfast at Tiffany's Holly Golightly Quotes

"Bless you, Buster. And bless you for being such a bad jockey. If I hadn't had to play Calamity Jane I'd still be looking forward to the grub in an unwed mama's home" (17.14).

Holly loses her baby after rescuing the narrator from his out-of-control horse, and she pretends to be happy that she'll be free from motherhood. But we know this is just an act. She seems genuinely happy when she's pregnant, suggesting that being a mother doesn't signify confinement to her.

Holly stepped out of the car; she took the cat with her. Cradling him, she scratched his head and asked, "What do you think? This ought to be the right kind of place for a tough guy like you. […] So scram," she said, dropping him (18.12).

Holly's poor cat. She knows she loves him and we know she loves him, but he represents being tied down to something, and Holly just isn't prepared to do this yet. This innocent cat signifies confinement to skittish Holly.

"Look. Don't despise me, darling." She put her hand over mine and pressed it with sudden immense sincerity. "I haven't much choice […]" (17.24).

After spending her life cultivating freedom and resisting confinement, Holly finds herself left with little actual freedom when it comes to her future. She doesn't have many options after being arrested so, in the end, she's pretty confined by the decisions she's made.