Felicite, Relay on Yourself

Felicite, Flaubert’s character in A Simple Soul, is a very timid girl, living a life as monotony as her. Nevertheless, this character knows what love is and had a experience, though it didn’t go that well, and attaches to things that make her feel secure and won’t let her down, such as her religion and Loulou.

After some chapters in the book, Loulou is a parrot that was left behind in the moving of some neighbors. Gustave introduces Loulou starting by his name, “He was called Loulou. His body was green, his head blue, the tips of his wings were pink and his breast was golden.” His description about this character stands out, first of all because the author invests an entire paragraph on his physical description. Also, he had mentioned before he came from America, therefore, the reader can assume the description of the bird, and yet the author takes the time to do it.
“Loulou” is the repetition of “lou” twice, representing how the parrot would imitate Felicite, that both souls are leftovers from others, and that the parrot is mirroring Felicite. “The breast is golden” represents the golden heart the animal had since the beginning, and explains why this parrot meant so much to the servant girl. Also, Flaubert says “his head blue”, as well as he said that at Felicite’s deathbed blue smoke came out. The author is using blue to demonstrate the tranquility of the animal, and how he transferred it to the girl, leaving her only with that at the end of her days.

Felicite didn’t love herself or the live she was living. Therefore, she tended to rely on things that made her feel secure and promised never to leave, such as the religion. By the time Loulou arrives, starts looking like her: with his commitment to the job and the people they work for, the heart and mind they own, and how they were never wanted by anyone and were left behind. At the end Felicite starts to relay in the bird, and since then she starts living, because she started to relay on herself.