Chapter 5 Summary

Friends and neighbors care for Félicité around the clock. One of the altars has been set up in the courtyard of Madame's house, and the parrot is a part of the display. As she breathes her last, she can smell the incense, and she thinks she can see, in the opening heavens, a gigantic parrot hovering.

Chapter 5 Analysis

This story is considered by many to be Flaubert's best. It is a departure from his other writing in that it is so emotional and so compassionate. He treats a downtrodden character with great sympathy and establishes her as a true heroine. The world does not overcome her loving nature. When asked why he included the parrot that she mistook for the Holy Ghost, he said that it was not an attempt at irony but very serious and very sad. "I want to move...