Flaubert's Parrot

             In Flaubert's Parrot, Geoffrey Braithwaite constantly asks the question, "How do we seize the past?" Throughout the course of the novel, Braithwaite briefly mentions moments regarding his late-wife, Ellen. However, he expands upon moments of Madame Bovary. Due to the sudden death of Ellen Braithwaite, Geoffrey is left with unanswered questions that he needs answered. By the means of identifying with Madame Bovary and the composition of the biography of Gustave Flaubert, Braithwaite hopes to answer these questions and understand his late-wife more. By doing extensive research on Flaubert, Geoffrey hopes to seize his past, understand his late-wife, and be able to move on into his present life.
             Geoffrey Braithwaite is a man who holds onto the past throughout the entire novel. He states that "It isn't so different, the way we wander through the past. Lost, disordered, fearful, we follow what signs there remain; we read the street names, but cannot be confident where we are. All around us is wreckage. These people never stopped fighting" (60). This quote shows that, even though Braithwaite knows he is in a familiar place, he cannot be comfortable with where he is in life. Geoffrey finds comfort and hope in completing a biography about Gustave Flaubert, a man who has died over one hundred years ago. "Then we see a house; a writer's house, perhaps...We walk closer. We look in at a window. Yes, it's true; despite the carnage some delicate things have survived" (60). Because of his hopeful feelings about Flaubert, Braithwaite focuses all attention and energy on the past, thus failing to live his own life in the present.
             Along with Geoffrey's obsession with past events, he shows the reader that he has many unanswered questions regarding Ellen Braithwaite, Gustave Flaubert, and life in general. In the opening chapter of Flaubert's Parrot, Geoffrey poses the quest...

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Flaubert's Parrot. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 09:29, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/16882.html