In
the early 20th century, Saint-Exupéry in France, as a pilot and writer, experienced life in flight and explored the true meaning of human existence in writing. A fairy tale created during World War II, "The Little Prince" recounts a week's life experience with the little prince from planet B-612 when "I" was trapped in the Sahara Desert. In the meantime, the little prince recounted what he saw, heard and felt during his journey from his hometown, passing through 6 asteroids and finally reaching the earth. It is not difficult to find that the entire narrative is permeated with deplore for the loss of human innocence, which constitutes the tone of the work.
In a nutshell, innocence is the character formed in childhood such as kindness, sincerity, modesty, and compassion for the weak and the like. In the author's view, people's insight into the nature of things relies on the mind, not the eyes, which is filled with this pure nature. Some things that they think are important, but ignore the really valuable and meaningful things. So sometimes children can see the essence of things better than adults and understand the meaning of life better. As the fox said in the fairy tale, "Humans have no spare time to learn about things that are priceless. They buy all the ready-made goods in the store, but they can't find a store where they can buy friendship. Since then, human beings have also There is no real friend." Saint-
Exupéry's lament for the loss of human innocence was evident before the creation of The Little Prince. At the end of a philosophical novel called "Wind, Sand and Stars," he wrote about the baby in the arms of a Polish illegal laborer's wife who had been repatriated from France: "I leaned over and gazed at this clean forehead, Those two lovely pouted lips, and I said to myself, "This is the face of a musician, this is the Mozart of childhood, this is a life with a bright future. The legendary prince is like him, protected, cared for and nurtured. What can he do next! "
However, this is by no means only aimed at the development of individual human beings, but covers the deploring of the loss of "innocent nature" of the entire human civilization. Throughout history, there is no shortage of bloody killings, and the author who has lived through two world wars is quite experienced. He once called "Why should we hate each other? We are on the same planet, sailors in the same boat, we are in the same boat. If the clash of civilizations can promote a new sum, there is still hope, the killing of civilizations. It's abominable." But war is inevitable. Isn't this the result of the alienation of human beings and human civilization from the development of productive forces?
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Further , the expression of this tone in fairy tales is inseparable from the perceptual images (or verbal images) that are rich in symbolic meanings.
"Asteroid" is an important image in the text. Asteroid B-612, as a remote and mysterious place, is the hometown of the little prince who possesses all "pure nature", and also the "Utopia" in the author's mind. The six asteroids visited by the little prince as a whole are the sojourn of human beings with bad roots and greed. For example, the first planet visited by the little prince is inhabited by a king who thinks he has absolute power in the universe. This asteroid is the residence of the infinitely expanding desire for power in life. The text describes the little prince's travels on the six planets very distinctively. From the perspective of the "little prince", he borrows exaggerated techniques to make human inferiority and greed more specific and extreme on the six asteroids. , and contrasts sharply with the "innocent nature" of the little prince.
As a background, the "desert" imagery cannot be ignored. When "The Little Prince" was created, the world was filled with the smoke of war, and humans were killing each other. Only the deserts where the natural conditions were so bad that human civilization had not yet set foot in the desert remained pure, and only it could become a medium for human beings to communicate with the outside world. So "I" and the little prince met here, two people from different worlds. This encounter is really a collision between alienated human nature and ideal human nature. Only in the "desert", a unique space far away from the hustle and bustle, can the collision of human nature inspire deeper introspection of human beings. However, the desert with harsh living environment not only warns people, but also pinned a glimmer of hope. The author believes that with the rise of capitalist industrial civilization and the continuous improvement of material living standards, human beings are constantly being alienated while enjoying the achievements of scientific and technological progress, and the spiritual world has become a desert. "There is no root, so life is very hard." Without changing the status quo, human civilization will inevitably self-destruct. The arrival of the little prince has brought a bit of life to the desolate desert. The author hopes that the spiritual flower of the little prince's "pure nature" can take root, bloom and flourish in the "spiritual desert" with tenacious vitality.
As we all know, the creative impulse of writers comes from the bottom of the heart, "All we can find in our own work is always ourselves, it is we who invent the rules by which we judge the work, and what we recognize in the work is ourselves. history, our love and our joy.” The Little Prince can be regarded as the proof of Saint-Exupéry’s direct feelings in contact with the world, the experience of the little prince is the author’s emotional experience, and the little prince is the author’s Avatar. After the defeat of France, Saint-Exupéry went into exile in the United States alone, leaving his wife in the homeland that was trampled by the fascists. In many places in the text, it is obvious that he and his wife, Consuelo, are united, separated and reunited. The little prince once said affectionately, "I have to be responsible for my flower, it is so fragile and so innocent." When he decided to leave his planet, he was worried about whether his roses would be eaten by "sheep". Therefore, the author's inner world can be glimpsed from "The Little Prince". First, the little prince bears the shadow of the author's childhood, and his pure nature is exactly the complete human nature that he highly praises, thereby constructing the comprehensive subject value of human beings and creating the little prince—a man of eternal value that contends with alienation. typical. Second, the loneliness and melancholy of the little prince is also the author's real situation. He realized that people are free and have no innate value, so they must choose freely. Therefore, people are in a lonely situation, and the future is created by themselves, and they must be responsible for their own choices. Realizing this, you can be apprehensive when choosing. After the little prince left his beloved rose and came to earth, the fox taught him that "you are always responsible for what you have tamed. You must be responsible for your rose." The free choice must be made alone whether to go back and be responsible. He felt lonely. At the same time, he realizes that once he chooses, he must be responsible, so he is full of worries. The little prince finally chose to go back. In the real world, Saint-Exupéry realizes that the alienation of human beings is the result of the continuous and free choice of human beings for generations. Human beings have shaped themselves, and they are responsible for this. They must take action and make decisions based on the reality of alienation. Choice: either surrender or surpass. I was alone and helpless when choosing, and in the process of choosing, I realized that once I made a choice, I must be responsible. The author felt this anxiety and finally chose to transcend, that is, to use words to expose alienation and change the society.
Based on the above images, the author clarifies his philosophy of life in the form of fairy tales.
First, he advocates action. He believes that "human life is invaluable, but we always have to act, we always have to make a difference... Only what is in progress has meaning." It is through continuous action that the little prince presents the meaning of life. There was a lamplighter on the fifth planet, who kept turning the lights on and off. The little prince said, "This man may be a little ridiculous, but he is better than the king, the drunk, the megalomaniac and the industrialist. At least, his The work was still meaningful. Whenever he lit the street lamp, it seemed that he brought life to a star or a flower; "So people should focus on every momentary moment and present the meaning of existence through actions. And man is always in the process of selection. "When man casts himself out and dissolves himself outside himself, he creates his own existence." Only by constantly surpassing oneself can the meaning of life be presented. Just like a person sitting on a Mercedes-Benz train looking back, he also saw the trajectory of his own travel as he continued to move forward with the train. Saint-Exupéry, as a pilot, is not afraid of hardships and dangers and insists on a thrilling flight; as a Frenchman, when his motherland fell into war, he sacrificed his life regardless of his safety; as a writer, he insisted on using his pen to expose alienation. It is an action that he advocates and practices.
Second, the text touches on an important theme: love. Emphasizes an often overlooked act - "tame", revealing that "love is a duty".
To tame is to build a relationship. The fox explained to the little prince: "Once you tame me, we depend on each other. In my eyes, you are the only one in this world, and for you, I am the only one in the world" "How wonderful that is That's right! Facing the golden wheat field, I will think of you. And I, too, will fall in love with listening to the sound of the tumbling wheat waves." Only tame is worth the time to understand, love is a kind of tame, and the world becomes a world with love good. "If you fall in love with a flower that grows on a star, then you will feel very warm when you stare at the stars at night. The stars in the sky are like blooming flowers." And the little prince was determined to leave When I was on earth, I once said, "My star is only one of the stars. You will love to see every star in the sky... They may also be your friends." Meaningful acts are being ignored, and people are alienated into naked money relationships.
Love is a responsibility. The little prince also often said, "I must be responsible for my rose." Because love, as a tame, is itself a free choice, it must be responsible. And Saint-Exupéry, out of his love for Consuelo, his motherland, and even all mankind, showed his concern for Consuelo, his concern for the safety of his motherland, and his concern for the fate of all mankind. It's a responsibility."
In the end, the little prince used his actions to show that happiness lies in the commitment of responsibility. Everyone's definition of happiness is different, and the way they choose to achieve it is also different, but one thing is the same, that is, everyone must take corresponding responsibility for their own choices. Likewise, you are happy when you take responsibility with the thought that it might lead to your happiness. Just like when the little prince decided to return to his rose, he chose death, thinking that death was the best way to go back, so when faced with death, he felt not fear, but incomparable happiness. For him, death is not the end of life, but the beginning of happiness. Saint-Exupéry was at that time, and it was his responsibility to oppose fascism and the alienation of people. There is no doubt that this responsibility is fraught with danger, and it is in it that he finds the same happiness as the little prince.
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Saint-Exupéry was a writer during World War II. Under the Nazis, everyone could be arrested and executed at any time. If he can withstand severe torture, he is a hero that everyone admires; if he succumbs, he becomes a traitor who is reviled by everyone. This is how the generation of Saint-Exupéry discovered its own historical dimension. "The Little Prince" also reflects this. When "I" suggested to the little prince that the sheep could be tied to prevent it from getting lost, he said sadly: "Let it go! No one can go very far." The writer realized that due to the historical Confinement means living in an alienated society. Reality does not allow them to live as ideally. If they cannot find a way to break through, they cannot live. Thus, there is an urgent need to establish a doctrine that, while inspiring people to understand their own situation, also provides an actual way of life, that is, to promote a kind of constructive literature. The construction of literature also requires writers to intervene in life and defend freedom. The only way to achieve human freedom is to strive to reveal the world to others, and man in particular, so that he can take full responsibility for him and change the circumstances of life that surrounds him. The author of "The Little Prince" uses words to expose the alienation of human beings to all human beings, hoping that human beings can reflect on and change this situation, so as to realize human freedom.
On the other hand, in order to achieve the above requirements, it is not enough to rely on the author's creative behavior, because "the spiritual product, which is both a concrete and an imagined object, can only appear through the joint efforts of the author and the reader. Only for others, There is art; only through others can there be art." And reading is a free act, and the author can only create works together by calling on the freedom of the reader, so "any literature is a calling", and the subject matter is only One is freedom. The author must not impose his will on the reader, but should let the reader feel his own freedom from the freedom of the protagonist in the work, thus acknowledging the freedom of the writer.
Specific to "The Little Prince", the text's description of the little prince starts from the perspective of "I", uses the third person "he" to address the little prince as an object, and the writer exists in the work only as an accomplice, acting as one of them role, not as an omniscient and omniscient witness outside the work. The so-called "all-knowing and all-powerful witness" refers to the author's creation of works just like God created all things. He has the power of omniscience and omnipotence over his novel world, and can arrange the fate of all the characters in his writing at will, and even let the readers think that this is a kind of fatal power. , allowing readers to guess that "the protagonist's future actions are predetermined by his genetic factors, by social influence, or by some other mechanism." "The writer as an accomplice" is quite different. A character "I" who is equal to the others, just as clueless as the others to how things are going to go. He does not have any power to make absolute judgments on characters. The characters in his pen are completely free, with free breathing, free consciousness, and free choice. The author in the article has never been omniscient about the little prince. He only knows the "little prince" that "I" saw, heard and felt. The experiences of the little prince described in the book before seeing "I" are not directly described by the author. , but revealed by the little prince's narration of "I". What "he" did not tell, the author does not know. Similarly, readers can only feel the little prince through "I" and cannot directly jump into the inner world of the "little prince", nor can they predict the future actions of the little prince and can only wait for his behavior with him, because he is Free, thus recognizing the author's freedom, the author achieves the purpose of calling the reader's freedom to create works together.
Of course, there are a thousand readers of The Little Prince, and the author only interprets it from the dimension that the text is a call to the reader's freedom. As Frost said in "The Road Not Taken", "At the intersection of the two roads in the woods, I chose one footprint to walk less, and all the differences came from this."
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