The 19th Century French writer and novelist, Gustave Flaubert, exemplified the period of realism in literature. However, in some of his works, he did use symbolism, or allow specific ideas and objects to represent another concept. In two of his works, “A Simple Heart” and “The Legend of St. Julian Hospitalier,” Flaubert engaged in significant symbolism. This discussion will focus on the use of symbolism in these two works, and conclude that the symbolism in “A Simple Heart” represents a greater symbolic expression.
“A Simple Heart” tells the story of a French servant girl named Felicite. She experienced a tremendous love at one point in her life; however, her love, Theodore, chose to marry a rich widower rather than Felicite. She begins to work as a loyal servant to an older woman, a widower with children. She is tremendously loyal and good to her employer; the children also benefit from her kindness. Felicite’s employer is Madame Aubain. However, the life of Felicite could essentially go by unnoticed. She is an uneducated young woman who has nothing in her life: she owns no property, has no husband and does not have children. However, she has a strong desire and an ability to love, which she does demonstrate.
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The strongest symbol in the work is a parrot. Throughout the story, Felicite shows concern and caring towards the parrot. In this way, the bird represents her ability to care for everyone around her, despite the simplified existence that she lives. Many individuals would believe that her life truly has no meaning; her life is most certainly not considered one of examination, either spiritually or philosophically. However, she does have the ability to care for others, which is a near religious experience for her. The response that others give to her care clearly indicates that this is her talent in life. She actually wanted to join a convent, which would have given her more time to spend in contemplation. However, her employer discourages her from doing so. Furthermore, while others may not believe that caring creates the basis for a worthy life, the parrot’s symbolism indicates that it does. This is seen in the last part of the story. According to the story: “At the church she contemplated steadily the Holy Ghost, and noticed that it had a look of the parrot.” In this way, the parrot, a creature which she cares for dearly, can be viewed as God. It may also be viewed in the opposite manner: God is found in those people and things around us that we care for on a daily basis. Furthermore, it may be noted that when we do care for something, we can find a religious experience in it. Essentially, the act of caring for others allows us to have an intimate experience with God.
Her recognition of the Holy Spirit in the parrot became so strong that she actually began to say her prayers, on her knees, in front of the parrot. It must be noted that his was actually a sign of idolatry; however, in her mind, she was praying to God.
Flaubert also uses symbolism in the other work as well. It can be noted that the ability that Felicite has towards kindness can only be matched by the disregard for life that Julian shows in this work. The work, “The Legend of St. Julian, the Hospitalier” follows Julian, who begins to show remarkable cruelty to animals in the work. He is then cursed that he will kill his parents. In order to avoid this curse, like the famous Greek Oedipus Rex, he leaves home. However, his guilt at his cruelty continues to follow him. The animals symbolize his cruelty and his guilt at his cruelty. From his birth, Julian is surrounded by a prophecy. However, his parents believe that it represents the ability of the child to perform great works, and even possibly become a saint. However, his true fate could not be further away from this prediction.
He does appear to be a lovely child with great promise. Julian is taught his Bible, as well as letters, numbers and languages. However, one day at church, a small mouse manages to break his concentration on his prayers. He becomes increasingly disturbed by the animal and eventually begins to hate it. He responds to his hatred by killing the animal. This begins a pattern of increasing hatred and abuse towards animals. Not only does he show abuse towards animals, but he actually laughs at the deaths of the animals. He takes a perverse pleasure in the deaths of animals and in particular, the actual act of killing the animal.
The animals begin to symbolize his inability to recognize evil from goodness. This is clearly seen when he nearly kills his mother. He believes that he sees the two white wings of a dove. It is actually his mother in her bed clothes. He throws a javelin at her and nearly kills her; she is stuck to the wall with the javelin pinned through her clothes. This was the event that made him leave home. However, his evilness follows him. He is haunted by the images of the animals he killed. Later, when he marries, he goes on a hunt. He comes home to find a man and a woman in his bed. He quickly believes that another man is sleeping with his wife and he responds in anger. He kills the pair, only to discover that they were his parents. In this way, his hatred clearly destroys his life. The animals became a symbol for this hatred. He had just been on a hunt before killing his parents. The hunt symbolizes the actual desire to kill; people go hunting in order to kill animals. In the end, his hatred ends up in the death of his parents.
This is also a powerful symbol. However, the symbolism of the parrot as God appears to be a stronger symbol. Perhaps this is because it is a happier story to some degree. While the protagonist did not have a tremendous life, she did have something positive in it, as symbolized by the parrot. The animals for Julian only symbolize his hatred and abuse; he is properly a sadistic individual who takes pleasure in killing other creatures. While both stories use animals as a symbol, the parrot makes a stronger symbol; it is more closely associated with another image, that of God and salvation.
