Felecite In A Simple Heart By Myra Jehlen

The essay that was written on Faubert's A Simple Heart by Myra Jehlen, very accurately states that to be simple is not necessarily to be simpleminded. Felicite is a a highly revered house maid in France for a woman names Madam Aubain. In A Simple Heart, Felecite encounters many situations that we may encounter in our lives and the writers unbiased and non-judging descriptions of events give light to the complexity that gives Felecite her simple thoughts. Her great attachement with a parrot named Lou Lou, saving the Madam and her children from the bull and ... are all examples of the ways that someone with appearingly simple thoughts might actually have very complex reasons for making the choices that they make.
The bravery that Felecite showed in saving the Madam and her children is no simple-minded feat. Taking control of the situation immediately, Felecite demands from the madam that she not run from the bull. Rather, she proceedes to gather and throw dirt at the bulls eyes to blind it while they are walking in a fast pace away from it's direction. While Felecite's plan was simple, the complexity behind it was far greater than it appeared to be. Only someone with a thorough knowledge of bulls would know that

walking instead of running is always the better idea. The awareness to throw dirt in the bulls eyes is another action that she took that showed the complexity of her thoughts in the present moment. In the moment when it counted, she had a plan. Felecite might be a simple woman but when it comes to her knowledge of bulls and their weaknesses, she is quite intelligent.
Another example of the great complexity of thought is Felecite's relationship with a bird named Lou Lou. Lou Lou is a South American Parrot left behind by neighbors and was given to felecite from Madam Aubain. Felecite's fascination with the bird begins when the parrot dies and she decided to preserve its physical body by stuffing it. The parrot is then placed on a shelf and reminds Felecite, "Every morning when she woke up she saw him htere in the dawning light, and recalled the old days and the smallest details of insignificant acts in a deep quietness which knew no pain."(Page 1174, Line 16) Lou Lou was Felecite's savior from all of the pain she experienced in her affair with another man and of her family members that continue to die. Lou Lou was not simply a bird to Felecite, Lou Lou comperable to a religous figure to her.
Felecite has a very complex perspective on religion.

She enjoys learning the lore behind Christianty but instead leans more toward her idea of worship. "Felicite could never visualize the Holy Spirit—bird? Hre? breath?—and, reading her tale, neither can we. But Loulou, we see clear as day" is a description of how differently Felecite experiences death. While in her final moments, she was beginning to have a vision that would connect her with the holy spirit and she realizes that it is her bird Lou Lou she is visualizing. She would also keep the bird next to a statue while praying and was said to change the subject to which she was worshiping. These are great examples of the value that she placed on her bird as an influential figure in her

life.
Felecite may appear to have simple interpretations of normally complex subjects, but it is actually because she is so thoughtful that she can simplify very complex things in her mind. Her ability to save the Madam and her children from the bull was nothing short of an epic and skillful exit to safety. Having a parrot as a close friend is also a charactoristic of Felecite's complex mind in that she loves the bird so much, she takes him to a taxidermist to be preserved. Her unique persepctive on religion seals the deal when it comes to being simple. She has both a relationship with christianity and with her parrot as religions and prays to figures of both.