An Author's Last Message
Antoine de Saint Exupery died in 1944. His death was and still is, to a certain extent, a mystery. Some say that enemy forces shot down the plane he was flying while he was on a reconnaissance mission. Others speculate that he was simply too old and out of shape to handle the newer, more advanced military aircraft. “His voluntary return to action at an age when he was too old to fly fighter planes and too fat to squeeze into the cockpit without difficulty marked his own escape from his own planet B-612” (Economist 104). One very possible hypothesis is that Antoine crashed his plane on purpose in order to escape the confines of this world. His last book, The Little Prince, supports this idea in many ways. The closer it is examined, the more it seems like a last testimony by Antoine, explaining the causes for his “suicide.” The cause of or reason for his death may never be known. However, treasure hunters have recently uncovered fragment of what they think may be his wreck (Economist 104). Perhaps in time this mystery will be solved. Until then it is left to speculation as to the causes of the death of Antoine de Saint Exupery.
In order to understand the motives and experiences that are involved in all of his books, an understanding of some of Antoine’s background is required. Born of aristocratic parents, Antoine lost his father as a small child and watched his brother die as a young teenager. As a young man he adored his mother, who spoiled him frequently. Through the years he kept in touch with her by writing letters, which portrayed the love
of her that he kept. Growing up, he often caused mischief and pulled pranks on classmates. His teachers often commented o...
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...tion of the book reveals all too possible and often startling revelations as to the disposition and mood of Antoine de Saint Exupery. A strong connection can be seen between the events portrayed in his books and the events of his life. The Little Prince gives reason for Antoine to escape this world in which he was a misfit among men.
Bibliography:
Works Cited
Current Biography. H.W. Wilson Company. New York: 1971.
Encyclopedia of World Literature in the Twentieth Century. 4 vols. Michigan: Farmington Hills. 1999.
“France’s Superboy.” The Economist December 1998:104.
Kunitz, Stanley J., and Howard Haycraft, ed. Twentieth Century Authors. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company. (No Date).
Saint Exupery, Antoine de. The Little Prince. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace Jonovich, 1971.
“Shortlist: Words.” Village Voice July 2000: 81.
Harmon, William, William Flint Thrall, Addison Hibbard, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
Yerkes, Robert M., Book Review Digest: Reviews Of 1925 Books. New York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1926.
The central characters, setting, and tone of the story help create the central idea of the psychological and internal desires of a woman. Through the view of the central characters it is established that the lawyer’s wife wants more than her average day and is searching for more to life than the daily routine of a house wife. Jean Varin is believed to be the desire she is looking for; however, she is not fulfilled or happy with the outcome of her choices. The setting and the tone reveal the psychological need for the wife to have an adventurous, lavish, and opulent lifestyle that she feels can only be achieved in Paris.
Meursault, an unemotional, a moral, sensory-orientated character at the beginning of the book, turns into an emotional, happy man who understands the "meaninglessness" and absurdity of life by the end of the book. Meursault realizes that the universe is indifferent to man's life and this realization makes him happy. He realizes that there is no God and that the old codes of religious authoritarianism are not enough to suffice man's spiritual needs. One has to create one's won meaning in an absurd, meaningless world.
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of the book. Ed. Charles Bohner and Lyman Grant. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2006. Fitzgerald, F. Scott.
In the experimental novel The Stranger by Albert Camus, he explores the concept of existentialism and the idea that humans are born into nothing and descend into nothingness after death. The novel takes place in the French colony of Algiers where the French-Algerians working-class colonists live in an urban setting where simple life pleasures are of the upmost importance in the lives of working class people like the protagonist of the novel Meursault. What is fascinating about this novel is that it opens up with a scene of perpetual misfortune for him through the death of his mother although he seems to express otherwise. The reader perceives this nonchalance as a lack of care. Maman’s death and its impact on Meursault appear in both the very beginning and very end of the two-part novel, suggesting a cyclical pattern in the structure. This cyclical pattern suggests not a change in the moral beliefs of Meursault but rather his registering society’s systems and beliefs and craft meaning in his own life despite the fact that he meets his demise in the end. Camus uses Maman’s funeral to characterise both Meursault and the society and customs created by the society Meursault lives in in order to contrast the two while at the same time reveal how while society changes, Meursault does not. Rather, Maman’s funeral becomes of unprecedented importance in Meursault’s life and allows him to find that nothing means anything in his meaningless world at the time of his death. He finds peace in that.
Moss, Joyce, and George Wilson. Literature and Its Times. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1997. Print.
Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.
The emotionless anti-hero, Monsieur Meursault, embarks on a distinct philosophical journey through The Stranger. Confident in his ideas about the world, Meursault is an unemotional protagonist who survives without expectations or even aspirations. Because of his constant indifference and lack of opinions about the world, it can be denoted that he undergoes a psychological detachment from the world and society. It is through these characteristics that exist in Meursault that Camus expresses the absurd. Starting from the very first sentence of the book, “Maman died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.” (Camus 1) The indifferent tone from these short sentences convey a rather apathetic attitude from Meursault’s part. Not only does he not feel any sorrow, he also “felt like having a smoke.” (Camus 4) Communicating perfectly Meursault’s disinterest, “[he] hesitate, [he] didn’t know if [he] could do it with Maman right there. [He] thought it over; it really didn’t matter.” (Camus 4) The death of his mother prompts an absurdist philosophy in which he experiences a psychological awakening and begins to place no real emphasis on emotions, but rather on the physical aspect of life.
Belloc, Hilaire. "A Companion to Mr. Wells's "Outline of History"." Twentieth Century Literary Criticism: Volume 6. Detroit, Michigan: Book Tower, 1982. 522. Print.
Meursault’s Maman, when introduced to the reader, has already passed away; however, her past relationships that disclose themselves when Meursault attends the funeral directly contrast her son’s emotional receptivity, or lack thereof. During Maman’s funeral, a woman “in the second row...emitted a little choking sob” (8). The keeper subsequently relieves Meursault of his frustration by explaining to him that “she was devoted to [his] mother” and that they were close friends (8). Along with friendship, Maman also embraces romance during her last few days with her relationship with Thomas Perez at the home, where “[he] and [maman] [are] almost inseparable” and “people [would] tease Perez about having a fiance” (10). Maman’s attempt to form de...
The Tenth edition. Edited by Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Longman Publishers, pp. 113-117. 371-377.
The relationship shared by Pierre and Helene is best described as a lustful charade. It is no coincidence that Pierre, one of the most introspective characters in the novel, first marries a shallow, inwardly-ugly adulterer. His first recorded attitude towards Helene is one of admira...