Holly Golightly is the central figure in Breakfast at Tiffany's. She captivates the other characters, including the narrator, to the point where her personality changes their lives and forces them to re-orient themselves around her. Holly is defined by her self-sufficiency. After a traumatic and abusive childhood, she moves to New York and is determined to be independent. To achieve this independence, she uses whatever tools she has available. As an attractive young woman, she knows that men will fawn over her and she uses their attention to her advantage.

Holly supports herself financially in morally-complicated ways. Each week, she visits a known criminal and passes along coded messages while lying to the authorities about her identity. She adds to this income by dating rich men, though the details of these relationships are deliberately obscured by Holly. Though other people (including the narrator) accuse her of being a sex worker, she insists that she is not. Holly has a very particular set of rules and expectations with regards to sex and money but she does not believe that she exchanges sex or sexual attention for financial benefit. Holly does not view herself as a sex worker; she sincerely believes that she is searching for a genuine, loving partner.