Little Prince
Matthew Majewski
Mrs. Loudis
English IV
October 29, 2012
Little Prince Essay
God’s will, a moral imperative and a fresh outlook, drove Antoine De Saint-Exupery to the stars and back for answers to his own questions. Even though we don’t see much influence in Saint-Exupery’s work what we do see is mostly from the existentialist philosophy. Saint-Exupery was always trying to find the meaning of life through the choices that he made throughout his life. These existentialist views are seen all throughout Antoine De Saint-Exupery’s book The Little Prince.
Existentialism is the philosophy that would like to find the meaning of life through life choices and personal responsibilities. “Soren Kierkegaard who, a century earlier, told himself what he most needed was that which would make it clear what he must do, not what he must know; to find a purpose, God’s will; to find a personal truth hat will lead him to meet crucial situations in an honest and responsive matter” (Webster 6). What Kierkegaard said was the basis for Saint-Exupery’s life. While we see similarities in Saint-Exupery’s quest for his moral imperative, research cannot connect any philosophers’ influence to Saint-Exupery’s work directly said by The Life and Death of the Little Prince by Paul Webster. In Saint-Exupery’s existentialist mindset he strongly believed in what Pascal and Nietzsche wrote down saying “Man should reach beyond himself for, if not greatness, at least goodness. Saint-Exupery believed that man must rise above social, political and even moral conventions even if the decision that was made was wrong or right. Saint-Exupery wanted people to realize that life is a painful journey and that everyone has problems and despair in their life but it is the moral duty of the individual to move past all the problems and positively participate in life.
The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery has a lot of symbols of the existentialist views that Saint-Exupery believed in
Mrs. Loudis
English IV
October 29, 2012
Little Prince Essay
God’s will, a moral imperative and a fresh outlook, drove Antoine De Saint-Exupery to the stars and back for answers to his own questions. Even though we don’t see much influence in Saint-Exupery’s work what we do see is mostly from the existentialist philosophy. Saint-Exupery was always trying to find the meaning of life through the choices that he made throughout his life. These existentialist views are seen all throughout Antoine De Saint-Exupery’s book The Little Prince.
Existentialism is the philosophy that would like to find the meaning of life through life choices and personal responsibilities. “Soren Kierkegaard who, a century earlier, told himself what he most needed was that which would make it clear what he must do, not what he must know; to find a purpose, God’s will; to find a personal truth hat will lead him to meet crucial situations in an honest and responsive matter” (Webster 6). What Kierkegaard said was the basis for Saint-Exupery’s life. While we see similarities in Saint-Exupery’s quest for his moral imperative, research cannot connect any philosophers’ influence to Saint-Exupery’s work directly said by The Life and Death of the Little Prince by Paul Webster. In Saint-Exupery’s existentialist mindset he strongly believed in what Pascal and Nietzsche wrote down saying “Man should reach beyond himself for, if not greatness, at least goodness. Saint-Exupery believed that man must rise above social, political and even moral conventions even if the decision that was made was wrong or right. Saint-Exupery wanted people to realize that life is a painful journey and that everyone has problems and despair in their life but it is the moral duty of the individual to move past all the problems and positively participate in life.
The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery has a lot of symbols of the existentialist views that Saint-Exupery believed in