Flaubert's Parrot

Flaubert’s Parrot can be described as a dissection of the “objectivity of the written text” (13). Every one of Flaubert’s biographies (many of which are quoted by Geoffrey) attempts to accurately portray the writer’s life. Yet no biography can examine Flaubert from every perspective, making it impossible to identify a single objective truth.

The novel demonstrates this point by providing three sequential chronologies of Flaubert’s life. Each one leaves the reader with a different impression of Flaubert, though all are objectively true. The biographer, even when attempting to be objective, cannot help but be subjective. Whether selecting certain facts to include and excluding others, or simply making guesses about historical details, a biographer is always making subjective decisions. This issue of perspective means that it is possible to create a multitude of competing narratives about Flaubert’s life, all of which are true.

Flaubert is a historical figure dead for over a hundred years, making it impossible for biographers to capture every detail of his life. The letters to Juliet Herbert would be revelatory in the study of Flaubert’s life, but they were burned before they could be properly studied. Geoffrey addresses this, asking “what happened to the truth is not recorded” (60).