The Holy Parrot

Overall, A Simple Soul turned out to be quite a nice and entertaining story. Although the general tone of the tale is very sad and full of deaths, there are several parts which simply made me laugh. In the final scene, for example, when Felicite is about to die, Flaubert explains how the last thing that she sees is a giant parrot. I was honestly expecting something more glorious to appear, such as God, rather than a big colorful bird. Of course, this had to mean something. Throughout an entire section, the story seemed to make a big emphasis on Loulou, Felicite`s pet parrot. The relationship that she developed with this bird at a literal level grew very deep. Loulou represented the loved ones that she had either had and lost, or never had at all. If we took it beyond this aspect, then we could see how the parrot begins to resemble Christ. In chapter 4, there is a very clear resemblance between the two. Flaubert writes, “In church, she always gazed at the Holy Ghost, and noticed that there was something about it that resembled a parrot. The likeness appeared even more striking on a coloured picture by Espinal, representing the baptism of our Saviour. With his scarlet wings and emerald body, it was really the image of Loulou.” This quotation specifically explains how the Holy Ghost resembled the parrot. In another part of this same chapter, The author mentions that Felicite goes deaf, and the only voice that she could here is Loulou`s. Obviously, this voice is coming to her in a sanctified and ghostly way, like that of the Christ, or the holy ghost. This symbolism, which Flaubert begins to carry out during second half of the story, is basically a mockery of the church and Catholicism. By comparing a parrot with the savior of an entire religion, Flaubert is openly making fun of this concept. His atheistic mentality turned a sad and unfortunate story, into one big joke.