How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Félicité collapsed onto a chair, leaned her head against the wall, and closed her suddenly pink eyes. Then for a long time she sat with lowered brow and hands dangling, staring in front of her and every now and again saying, 'Poor lad! Poor lad!' (3.48)
When Félicité gets news of Victor's death, she finally gives herself permission to stop what she's doing on a workday. The description is of utter defeat—notice that she doesn't cry; she just sort of stops. The woman who was once called an "automaton" (because she's such a robotic worker) also suffers in a sort of robotic way.
Quote #8
Madame Aubain's despair was boundless.
At first she rebelled against God, finding him unjust for having taken her daughter – she who had never done anything bad, and whose conscience was so pure! [. . .] She blamed herself, wished she could join her, cried out in distress in her dreams. (3.78)
Once again, Félicité's suffering is juxtaposed against Madame Aubain's. Whereas Félicité has only a few minutes to deal with Victor's death before she gets back to her laundry duties, Madame Aubain's despair is "boundless," as in, has no bounds—no limits. She can suffer all she wants with no work to interrupt it.
Quote #9
She caught a chill, which gave her, first, a sore throat, then earache. Three years later, she was deaf, and she would talk very loudly, even in church. (4.10)
Loulou's temporary disappearance gives Félicité such a shock that she catches a chill that will trouble her for the rest of her life. The deafness that results from the scare is probably rooted in her fear of losing, yet again, someone she loves, who in this case just happens to be a parrot.