About the Parrots

The end of the book leaves the reader without a concrete resolution. In a sense isn't this what happens in our own lives and isn't this why we search for answers in literature? Barnes dedicates this entire book to Flaubert's insights, Flaubert who was the master of realism, and here at the end of the novel we are left with an answer we no so well, which is not having an answer. Flaubert's Parrot analyzes a realist and leaves the reader with a realization that sometimes the answer is unknown. We never find out which was the true parrot, and Geoffrey will never no the reason why his wife cheated on him. Sometime the realities of life, just are, and Flaubert's Parrot diverged away from the norms of literature and didn't have a "because". This book left us hanging and realistically portrays life because this happens all the time in the real world.