Week 30 Year 1 - Monday, May the 14th 2012
The Little Prince
"what is essential is invisible to the eye"
The little prince lived alone on a very small planet, where there were three equally small volcanoes. Two of them were active and kept him pretty busy, as he had to clean them every day. A third one was extinct, and, given how small they were, he often used it as a stool. The little prince was always alone, and the only distraction he could delight himself with on his planet, were the sunsets. At times his loneliness grew so unbearable that he’d elude it by chasing after sunsets. So small was his planet, he once got to see as many as 44 of them in a day. Nonetheless, his loneliness was making him so miserable that he decided he’d soon embark on a long journey, to discover other planets and find himself a friend. One morning, he woke up to discover that a rose was born at sunrise. It was a beautiful rose and, by virtue of the fact that he did not know otherwise, when the rose told him that there were no other roses in the whole universe, he believed it. He was marveled by its beauty and uniqueness, but he soon realized that the rose was rather conceited and because of that was often insincere. This is why, though he could perceive its fragility and tenderness hidden behind all that nonsense, he left the rose and embarked on his long journey in search of a friend.
During his journey, he gets to visit many different planets and to meet a lot of people. Through them, the little prince gets acquainted with the realm of the grown-ups. It is a world that he cannot understand, dominated by useless desires and activities. He learns about power, vanity, vice, greed, faithful devotion (the only one among all the grown-ups he could be friends with and that he knew all other adults, would tend to despise), geographers and finally, the relativity of all things. The Little Prince was puzzled. Grown-ups are so taken by keeping up appearances and accumulating possessions, they end up losing sight of what really matters and ultimately lose themselves in the process. But unlike grown-ups, though he still had to find his way, the little prince knew exactly what he was looking for, because he was following his heart. Words can be useless, they often create misunderstandings. Grown-ups seldom understand, they always ask loads of questions and need an explanation for everything. And even when we have explained it to them, they still don’t get it Truth is, when there is true understanding, there is no need for words. He will also meet a fox that will teach him how to tame a being. No need for words. It wants patience and perseverance. It is something that we must desire, and the more we do desire it, the greater the commitment. He will learn that every time we tame another being, we create a bond that makes that being unique amongst all others, and that we are forever responsible for it. Finally, reaching the end of his long journey, guided by his own heart, the Little Prince will find what he was looking for. Himself.
Making his way through a childhood memory, the author explains how important it is to encourage children to pursue their own inclinations. He also explains that, to do that, we really only need to watch and listen. “It’s the amount of time that we dedicate to something that makes that something special”. Pursuing their true passion is the only thing that will make them happy. Quite a few elements, I won’t discuss them today, indicate that this work, published in 1943, may well be an autobiographical narrative. The author travelled significantly throughout his life in particular since he was enrolled in the civil aviation in 1926 and subsequently in the military air force, during the Great War. Just as the Little Prince, he travelled a lot and met a great number of people. In 1935, his plane crashed in the Libyan desert (note that the author survived the accident), and it comes as no surprise that when the Little Prince, arrives on Planet Earth, he lands in a desert, where he meets the author. The relationship which develops between the Little Prince and the author is really touching especially because it becomes quite clear that, it is the child within himself that the author is describing. Through this story, the author lets us know how painful that experience has been for him and through the little prince he recalls unhappy childhood memories. He might even be unveiling a lifelong secret he needed to get rid of before passing away on to better life, casually just one year later. Coincidence or intuition? Many are the smiles, tears and so great the tenderness solicited. If you don’t feel the same, than perhaps you really have grown up.
On July 31st, 1944 Antoine de Saint-Exupery flies away on a war mission, and will never return.
Note 1 - about SUB ref. Monday, December the 5th 2011 "About a Druid and his mushrooms"
