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José Ybarra-Jaegar
Doc Golightly is a veterinarian from Texas. He is also Holly’s husband, though nobody knows about this except for the narrator, since Doc Golightly tells him what happened when he comes to New York after finally learning where Holly has been living. Sitting at a nearby diner, Doc tells the narrator that Holly’s real name is Lulamae and that he first met Holly when he caught her and her brother, Fred, stealing from his farm because they’d run away from their cruel foster parents. Pitying them, Doc took them in and cared for them, letting them live with him and his own children. A widower, Doc married Holly when she turned 14. Though he admits that most people don’t know what they want at that age, he insists that Holly—or Lulamae, to him—was already a sophisticated young woman. Doc explains that Holly lived a good life as his wife, never having to do anything but relax because Doc cared for her so well. Nevertheless, she ran away once she got a bit older, leaving behind Doc, his children, and even Fred. After telling the narrator this story, Doc implores him to let Holly know that he’s come to see her, not wanting to scare her off. When the narrator tries to do this, though, Holly bounds downstairs before waiting to hear who’s there, and she’s shocked to see Doc, though she quickly recovers and embraces him with genuine warmth. They then spend the rest of the evening and night together, and though Holly appreciates Doc, she convinces him that she can’t possibly go back to Texas with him. Later, Doc is the one to send Holly the telegram informing her that Fred died in World War II.
Doc Golightly Quotes in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
The Breakfast at Tiffany’s quotes below are all either spoken by Doc Golightly or refer to Doc Golightly. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Quotes
When I married Lulamae, that was in December, 1938, she was going on fourteen. Maybe an ordinary person, being only fourteen, wouldn’t know their right mind. But you take Lulamae, she was an exceptional woman. She knew good-and-well what she was doing when she promised to be my wife and the mother of my churren.
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“The night I proposed, I cried like a baby. She said: ‘What you want to cry for, Doc? ’Course we’ll be married. I’ve never been married before.’ Well, I had to laugh, hug and squeeze her: never been married before!”
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“Never love a wild thing, Mr. Bell," Holly advised him. “That was Doc’s mistake. He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg. But you can’t give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get. Until they’re strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. That’s how you'll end up, Mr. Bell. If you let yourself love a wild thing. You’ll end up looking at the sky.”
[…]
“Good luck: and believe me […]: it’s better to look at the sky than live there. Such an empty place; so vague. Just a country where the thunder goes and things disappear.”
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Doc Golightly Quotes in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
The Breakfast at Tiffany’s quotes below are all either spoken by Doc Golightly or refer to Doc Golightly. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Quotes
When I married Lulamae, that was in December, 1938, she was going on fourteen. Maybe an ordinary person, being only fourteen, wouldn’t know their right mind. But you take Lulamae, she was an exceptional woman. She knew good-and-well what she was doing when she promised to be my wife and the mother of my churren.
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“The night I proposed, I cried like a baby. She said: ‘What you want to cry for, Doc? ’Course we’ll be married. I’ve never been married before.’ Well, I had to laugh, hug and squeeze her: never been married before!”
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“Never love a wild thing, Mr. Bell," Holly advised him. “That was Doc’s mistake. He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg. But you can’t give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get. Until they’re strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. That’s how you'll end up, Mr. Bell. If you let yourself love a wild thing. You’ll end up looking at the sky.”
[…]
“Good luck: and believe me […]: it’s better to look at the sky than live there. Such an empty place; so vague. Just a country where the thunder goes and things disappear.”
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