Quote 21
Afterwards, avoiding the zoo (Holly said she couldn't bear to see anything in a cage), we giggled, ran, sang along the paths toward the old wooden boathouse, now gone (7.2).
Holly's resistance to being confined extends beyond people to include animals as well. While some may see the zoo as a place to learn and interact, Holly sees it as a prison.
Quote 22
Brazil was beastly but Buenos Aires the best. Not Tiffany's, but almost (19.1).
Holly's postcard tells us that she has secured her literal freedom in that she has escaped the authorities and is living her life in South America. But she still hasn't found her Tiffany's quite yet.
Quote 23
Holly suggested she run out to Woolworth's and steal some balloons; she did: and they turned the tree into a fairly good show (8.4).
We're not condoning stealing here, but in some ways the act of stealing represents freedom for Holly. She doesn't have to steal, but she still does because she can. She's just exercising her right to do what she wants, legal or not.
Quote 24
Even so, whenever I felt in my pocket the key to this apartment; with all its gloom, it still was a place of my own, the first, and my books were there, and jars of pencils to sharpen, everything I needed, so I felt, to become the writer I wanted to be (1.1).
Even though his apartment is small, old, and dingy the narrator loves it because it's his. This apartment is home to him because it represents the start of his career as a writer and the beginning of life on his own.
Quote 25
"Oh, you get used to anything," I said, annoyed with myself, for actually I was proud of the place (3.11).
After Holly criticizes the narrator's apartment and he agrees with her in order to save face, he feels like he's betrayed his home since it's a place he actually loves a lot. This passage presents us with the interesting idea that betrayal can extend to an idea like "the home."
Quote 26
I warmed to the room at once, I liked its fly-by-night look (4.4).
The narrator finds the unlived-in quality of Holly's apartment very appealing. It's the lack of a homey feeling that he's actually drawn to.
Quote 27
That Monday in October, 1943. A beautiful day with the buoyancy of a bird. To start, we had Manhattans at Joe Bell's; and, when he heard of my good luck, champagne cocktails on the house. Later, we wandered toward Fifth Avenue, where there was a parade. The flags in the wind, the thump of military bands and military feet, seemed to have nothing to do with war, but to be, rather, a fanfare arranged in my personal honor (7.1).
OK, bear with us. After getting his first story published, the narrator feels like New York is rolling out its best for him. The city, and the people and sights that are a part of it, are at this moment his happy home.
Quote 28
Flanked by potted plants and framed by clean lace curtains, he was seated in the window of a warm-looking room: I wondered what his name was, for I was certain he had one now, certain he'd arrived somewhere he belonged (19.1).
Holly's cat finally finds a home in his owner's absence, and the narrator knows it's a home because someone cares enough to give him a name and to claim him. The cat finally belongs to someone, and this is what makes this place home.
Quote 29
African hut or whatever, I hope Holly has, too (19.1).
This is the narrator's final wish for Holly – that she finds a place that feels like home no matter where it is or what it looks like. He wants her to feel the sense of belonging that her cat finally gets to experience.
Quote 30
For I was in love with her. Just as I'd once been in love with my mother's elderly colored cook and a postman who let me follow him on his rounds and a whole family named McKendrick. That category of love generates jealousy, too (11.1).
The narrator's love for Holly is hard to pin down. He likens it to the other times in his life when he has felt great affection for people who were kind to him. But he also admits to feeling jealous when it comes to Holly, and this suggests there's indeed something more than affection going on. He is in love with her – he doesn't just love her.
Quote 31
I loved her enough to forget myself, my self-pitying despairs, and be content that something she thought happy was going to happen (13.18).
The narrator's love for Holly reaches the point where it's no longer about his happiness – it becomes about her happiness even more. He finds contentment in the thought that she'll finally find security and stability.