A Simple Heart

Loulou the parrot is Félicité’s companion in life and death. The parrot is gifted to her by Madame Aubain, who herself receives the parrot (on Félicité’s suggestion) from a neighbor. Madame Aubain does not like Loulou, so she gives the parrot to Félicité, who was taken with him from the start because of his association with the Americas, where her nephew Victor died.

The way Félicité comes to own Loulou symbolizes the disparity between the working and middle classes. This is one of the few gifts that Félicité receives in her life, and it is given with a sense of disdain by Madame Aubain, who never comes to understand why something that means so little to her could mean anything to Félicité. To Félicité, however, Loulou is a wonderful gift and a treasured companion. Even after Loulou dies, Félicité is so devoted to the bird that she decides to send his body to a taxidermist to be stuffed. Félicité treasures Loulou in life and death because the parrot symbolizes a form of companionship that is missing from her life, underscored by the bird’s connection to Victor.

Loulou eventually develops a religious