In “Flaubert’s Parrott” by Julian Barnes, the narrator embarks on a physical, mental, and emotional journey in search of clarity. With a lover..when you find the worst..you are almost relieved. Life is as I thought it was.With a writer you love, the instinct is to defend..perhaps love for a writer is the purest, the steadiest form of love.And so your defense comes the more easily(Barnes, p 127). What do you think of his reasoning? Is this a case of idolization versus love, or are these two different forms of love? Defend why you do or do not agree with him.
More information is revealed about Braithwaites late wife in the second half of Flaubert’s Parrot. Their relationship left a lot of unanswered questions that ate away at him. However, he repeatedly reinforces the idea that memory and history are unreliable. Does he truly want to know the truth about his wife and the parrots? What parallels do we see between the two parrots and Ellen?