The writer reveals love from an unexpected side: “Loving does not mean looking at each other, it means looking in the same direction.” This idea lies in the entire philosophy of Exupery. Humanity in people does not die; it can be asleep and await awakening. This is exactly how the pilot in The Little Prince awakens, gradually with each new history Prince, he becomes a man again, neither an adult nor a child, but a Man. The little prince, the owner of a distant planet where you can watch the sunset many times in a row, simply by moving a chair, leaves his planet.
For what? It is at the moment of parting with the flower that Rose and the Little Prince understand how wrong they are in love, and what love really is. This is a child who loves a flower and suffers from the whims of the flower.
“We should have judged not by words, but by deeds. She gave me her scent and illuminated my life. I shouldn't have run. I should have guessed tenderness behind these pitiful tricks and tricks.” Isn’t this how adults and not-so-humans behave when trying to win love?
When parting, Rose confesses her love to the Little Prince. How similar we are! Men, women, adults, children and old people are capricious, offended by others, becoming “demons.” And all for the sake of one thing: “prove to me that you love me.” But does love require proof?
How to understand and, most importantly, live in true love, to which so many philosophies and cultural works are devoted? Jealousy stemming from the desire to rule over the “beloved”, hatred, from which there is only one step to love, the happiness of union and the tragedy of misunderstanding - all this is the time spent by humanity on “love”. How much of it has been lost? And are there really happy endings to fairy tales of love?
How much time we waste in search of her, although we could brighten up our loneliness if we really looked in one direction. Rose, who is completely non-human, and a completely “non-adult” boy, find the answer to this question faster than we do. And for some, even their life is not enough for this.
What is love? The boy takes care of Rose, she is helpless, she must be protected - just like we take care of our children. To love is also to give freedom, as the rose did when the prince went on a journey. Do we have examples of such true love? “On your planet,” said the Little Prince, “people grow five thousand roses in one garden... and do not find what they are looking for...
They don’t find it,” I agreed. “But what they are looking for can be found in a single rose, in a sip of water...” “Yes, of course,” I agreed. And the Little Prince said: “But the eyes are blind.”
You have to search with your heart.
B.L. Gubman notes that, first of all, “The Little Prince” is a philosophical fairy tale, so deep thoughts are hidden behind the seemingly simple plot. The author touches on such eternal themes, like good and evil, love and hate, life and death: such help Antoine in expressing his own thoughts artistic media, as a metaphor, allegory, symbols, etc.
The author, emphasizing that the prince is a child, still allows him to discover truths that are inaccessible to many adults. The relationship between the prince and Rose is much more complicated than the relationship between the prince and princess in the folk tale, because the prince even sacrifices his life for Rose, and not everyone is capable of this.
Analyzing works, we constantly come across various romantic features. Firstly, this is the genre of the work itself - folklore, because it is called the “childhood of humanity”, and the theme of childhood in romantic works is one of the main topics [Gubman B.L., 1992, p. 10].
German idealist philosophers put forward the thesis that man is equal to God in one thing, in that he can develop own idea and realize it, and evil in the world occurs only when a person forgets about this truth and begins to live only for material values, to lead a consumer lifestyle, forgetting about spiritual development. Only a child’s soul and the soul of an artist can preserve the spiritual principle and not give free rein to evil, which is why the romantics touched on the theme of childhood. However, the main tragedy of adults is not that they are subordinated to the material world, but that they have lost their spiritual qualities and stopped living life to the fullest.
1. “Micro-evil” - evil within a certain person
2. “Macroevil” is evil in general. In Antoine's work it was associated with baobabs. The writer himself illustrated his fairy tale and depicted them very similar to the swastika sign, their roots covered our planet. The writer tells us “Beware of the baobabs!”, because the trees will grow and take over the entire planet, because from the seed a large baobab will grow, just like all adults were children at first.
The essence of the above comes down to the fact that adults must constantly improve themselves and not forget about spiritual needs, otherwise they will become what the inhabitants of the planets of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry are presented with - a gray and faceless mass.
To consider this topic in detail, let's turn to other scientists. The theme of the individual and the crowd in philosophy was first highlighted by the German romantic philosopher I. Fichte. He proved that all people are divided into ordinary people (crowd) and artists (personality) according to their attitude towards material things (evil). The conflict between the individual and the crowd cannot be resolved under any circumstances.
The conflict between the main character and the inhabitants of the planets, “strange adults”, who will never understand the prince, because they are alien to each other, is also insoluble. Adults do not follow their hearts, they do not try to become individuals. They live in their own world, where everyone wears masks, and behind them they will never know what love, friendship and beauty are.
From this theme follows the basic principle of romanticism - the principle of dual worlds. The world of the average person, who does not understand the spiritual principle, and the world of the artist (The Little Prince, the author, the Fox, the Rose), which is characterized by moral qualities, will never touch. Only an Artist is able to see the essence - the inner beauty and harmony of the world around him. Let us remember, back on the lamplighter’s planet, the Little Prince notes: “When he lights a lantern, it’s as if another star or flower is being born. And when he extinguishes the lantern, it’s as if the star or flower is falling asleep. It’s a wonderful activity. It’s really useful, because it’s beautiful ". IN in this case the prince is not talking about external beauty, but about internal; Any business is useful only when it is internally beautiful.
Let's consider an episode of a conversation with a geographer; an important aesthetic theme is touched upon - the ephemerality of beauty. “Beauty is short-lived,” says the prince, so Saint-Exupéry encourages us to treat the things around us as carefully as possible and not spoil our inner beauty. Main character reveals the truth for himself, the author and readers - only that which is filled with content and deep meaning, that has an internal nature, is beautiful.
Another important philosophical theme that is revealed in Exupery’s fairy tale is the theme of alienation, misunderstanding between adults and children, and on a cosmic scale.
Inner emptiness leads to loneliness, says the author. Most people judge people only by their outer shell, without thinking at all about their inner world, thereby creating a wrong impression. People become lonely even when they are together, they just don’t try to understand each other: “Where are the people?” the Little Prince finally spoke again. “It’s still lonely in the desert...” “It’s also lonely among people,” the snake remarked.”
One of the key philosophical themes of the fairy tale “The Little Prince” is the theme of existence. The theory of being, like evil, consists of two aspects:
1. Real being is existence, it is temporary, transitory;
2. Ideal being is an essence, it is eternal and unchanging. The meaning of human life, according to this theory, comes down to getting as close to the essence as possible.
“Serious people” (that is, adults) from the Earth and from the asteroid planets have settled down in real existence and do not strive to learn the eternal truths of ideal existence. In contrast to them, naturally, are the prince and the author, who are open to spiritual development and have been given the opportunity to understand the true essence of the world This is the theme of the “vigilance” of the heart, the ability to “see” with the heart. The little prince does not immediately comprehend this wisdom. He leaves his home planet in search, not knowing that what he needed was very close, on his planet.
· Symbolism in Exupery's fairy tale.
The images written in the tradition of a romantic philosophical fairy tale are deeply symbolic; the reader deciphers each image as he perceives it personally, so for one image there can be a great many meanings. As A. Zverev mentions, the main images in the fairy tale are the Little Prince, the Rose, the Fox and the desert. Next, let’s clarify what each image means:
1. The Little Prince is a symbol of a human traveler in the universe, looking for hidden meaning things and your own life.
2. Rose is a symbol of love, beauty, femininity
3. The desert is a symbol of spiritual thirst. It is wonderful because it contains the sources of life, which only the heart helps a person to find.
One of the main storylines in a fairy tale - an accident in which the narrator gets into; in fact, the fairy tale was born in the desert. This element is quite unusual for the reader - we are accustomed to stories taking place in the forest, in the mountains, on the seashore; in Exupery’s work there is only desert and stars, because this is a non-standard situation, and only at such a time does a person experience his whole life, rethink, reassess values [Zverev A., 1997, p.7]
The narrator is left alone with the dead desert, the sands. The Little Prince helps him to see what is true in life and what is false, so the meaning of this image is very important, it helps to see what is hidden from the superficial gaze.
A. Zverev argues that the essence of the above boils down to the fact that the theme of childhood with its freshness of view, crystal clear and clear consciousness and freshness of feelings occupies a central place in the story. Truly, “through the mouth of a child the truth speaks.”
· Plot lines and features of the fairy tale composition.
The story has two storylines: the narrator and the related theme of the world of adults and the line of the Little Prince, the story of his life.
The first chapter of the story is introductory, key to one of the important problems of the work - the problem of “fathers” and “children”, to the eternal problem of generations. The pilot, recalling his childhood and the failure he suffered with drawings No. 1 and No. 2, reasons like this: “Adults never understand anything themselves, and for children it is very tiring to endlessly explain and explain everything to them.” This phrase serves as a lead-in to the subsequent development of the theme of “fathers” and “children”, to the author’s childhood memories. Adults were unable to understand children's drawing the narrator, and only the Little Prince was able to quickly recognize the elephant in the boa constrictor. A. Korotkov emphasizes that it is this drawing, which the pilot always carried with him, that helps establish the relationship between the child and the adult.
The kid, in turn, asks to draw a lamb for him, but every time the drawing turns out unsuccessful: either the lamb is too frail, or too old. “Here’s a box for you,” the narrator says to the child, “and in it sits the kind of lamb you want.” The boy liked this invention: he could fantasize as much as he wanted, imagining the lamb in different ways. The child reminded the adult of his childhood, they gained the ability to understand each other. The ability to enter the world of a child, understand him and accept him - this is what brings the world of adults and the world of children closer together.
The composition of the work is very unique. The parabola is a basic component of the structure of a traditional parable. "The Little Prince" is no exception. It looks like this: the action takes place in a specific time and specific situation. The plot develops as follows: there is a movement along a curve, which, having reached highest point incandescence, returns to the starting point again. The peculiarity of such a plot is that, having returned to the starting point, the plot acquires a new philosophical and ethical meaning, a new point of view on the problem, and finds a solution [Korotkov A., 1995, p. 26].
The beginning and end of the story "The Little Prince" relate to the hero's arrival on Earth or to the departure of the Earth by the pilot and the Fox. The little prince again flies off to his planet to care for and raise the beautiful Rose.
The little prince is a man of few words - he says very little about himself and his planet. The author only learns that the baby came from a distant planet called “asteroid B-612”. The little prince tells the pilot about how he is at war with the baobab trees, which take such deep and strong roots that they can tear apart his little planet. You need to weed out the first shoots, otherwise it will be too late, “this is a very boring job.” But he has a firm rule: “Get up in the morning, wash your face, put yourself in order - and immediately put your planet in order.”
People should take care of the purity and beauty of their planet, jointly protect and decorate it, and prevent all living things from perishing, the prince says. So, unobtrusively, another important theme arises in the fairy tale - environmental, which is very relevant for today’s rapidly developing world.M. Filatova focuses on the fact that it seems that the author of the tale foresaw future environmental disasters and warned about careful attitude to my native and beloved planet. Saint-Exupéry acutely felt how small and fragile our planet is.
The Little Prince's journey from star to star brings us closer to today's vision of cosmic distances, where the Earth, due to the carelessness of people, can disappear almost unnoticed. Therefore, the fairy tale has not lost its relevance to this day; that is why its genre is philosophical, for it is addressed to all people, it raises eternal problems[Filatova M., 1993, p. 40].
The little prince from Saint-Exupery's fairy tale cannot imagine his life without the love of gentle sunsets, without the sun. “I once saw the sun set forty-three times in one day!” - he says to the pilot. And a little later he adds: “You know. When it becomes very sad, it’s good to watch the sun go down.” The child feels like a part of the natural world, and he calls on adults to unite with it.
The established harmony of relationships between an adult and a child is almost disrupted in the seventh chapter. The baby is worried about the thought of the lamb and the rose: will he be able to eat it and if so, then why does the flower need thorns? But the pilot is very busy: a nut stuck in the engine, and he tried to unscrew it, so he answers questions inappropriately, irritably throwing out: “You see, I’m busy with serious business.” The little prince is amazed: “You talk like adults” and “nothing.” you understand”, like that gentleman “with a purple face”, who lives alone on his planet and in his entire life has never smelled a flower, never looked at a star, never loved anyone. He just added up the numbers and from morning to evening kept repeating one thing: “I am a serious man! I am a serious man! Just like you.” The little prince, pale with anger, explains to the narrator how important it is to protect the only flower in the world that grows only on his planet, from a little lamb, which “one fine morning will suddenly take him and eat him and will not even know what he has done.” The kid explains to the adult how important it is to think and care about the one you love, and to feel happy because of it. “If the lamb eats it, it’s as if all the stars went out at once! And that, in your opinion, doesn’t matter!”
A child teaches an adult, becomes his wise mentor, which makes him ashamed and feel terribly awkward.
Let's look at the further chapters of The Little Prince. What follows is the story of the Little Prince and his planet, and here the story of Rose occupies a special place. N.I. Solomno claims that the rose was capricious and touchy, and the baby was completely exhausted with her. But “she was so beautiful that it was breathtaking!”, and he forgave the flower for its whims. However, the Little Prince took the empty words of the beauty to heart and began to feel very unhappy.
A rose is a symbol of love, beauty, and femininity, as we already said in the chapter about the symbolism of the work. The little prince did not immediately discern the true inner essence of beauty, but after a conversation with the Fox, the truth was revealed to him - beauty only becomes beautiful when it is filled with meaning and content. “You are beautiful, but empty,” continued the Little Prince. “You won’t want to die for your sake. Of course, a random passer-by, looking at my rose, will say that it is exactly the same as you. But for me it is more valuable than all of you.”
Telling this story about a rose, little hero He admits that he didn’t understand anything at the time. “It was necessary to judge not by words, but by deeds. She gave me her scent, illuminated my life. I should not have run. Behind these pathetic tricks and tricks, I had to guess tenderness. Flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young and I didn’t know how to love!” This once again confirms Fox’s idea that words only interfere with understanding each other. The true essence can only be “seen” with the heart [Solomno N.I., 1983, p.53].
The kid is active and hardworking, he waters Rose every morning, talks with her, cleansed the three volcanoes on his planet so that they give more heat, and pulls out weeds. And yet he felt very alone. In search of friends, in the hope of finding true love, he sets off on his journey through alien worlds. He is looking for people in the endless desert that surrounds him, because in communication with them he hopes to understand himself and the world around him, to gain the experience that he so lacked.
Visiting six planets in succession, the Little Prince on each of them encounters a certain life phenomenon embodied in the inhabitants of these planets: power, vanity, drunkenness. According to Saint-Exupéry, they embodied the most common human vices taken to the point of absurdity [Mauroy A., 1970, p.69]. It is no coincidence that it is here that the hero has the first doubts about the correctness of human judgments.
On the king's planet, the Little Prince cannot understand why power is needed at all, but he feels sympathy for the king, because he was very kind, and therefore gave only reasonable orders. Exupery does not deny power, he simply reminds that the ruler must be wise and that power must be based on the law.
On the next two planets, the Little Prince meets an ambitious man and a drunkard - and his acquaintance with them plunges him into confusion. Their behavior is completely inexplicable to him and only causes disgust. The main character sees through the meaninglessness of their life, the worship of “false” ideals.
But the most terrible thing in the moral aspect is business man. His soul is so deadened that he does not see the beauty that surrounds him. He looks at the stars not through the eyes of an artist, but through the eyes of a businessman. It is not by chance that the author chooses the stars; by this he emphasizes the complete lack of spirituality of a business man, his inability to contemplate beauty.
The only one who does his job is the lamplighter: “Here is a man whom everyone would despise - the king, the ambitious, the drunkard, and the businessman. And yet, of all of them, he is the only one, in my opinion, who is not funny. Maybe maybe because he thinks not only about himself,” this is how the kid reasons. But the “loyalty to custom” of the poor lamplighter, who is doomed to light and extinguish his useless lantern without rest, is just as absurd and sad.
V.A. Smirnova notes that the meaninglessness of existence, a wasted life, stupid claims to power, wealth, a special position or honors - all these are the properties of people who imagine that they have “common sense.” The planet of people seems callous and uncomfortable to the hero: “What a strange planet!. Completely dry, all salty and covered in needles. People lack imagination. They only repeat what you tell them.”A. Bukovskaya states a sad fact - if you tell these people about a friend, they will never ask about the most important thing - their questions relate to completely insignificant things: “How old is he? How many brothers does he have? How much does he weigh? How much does his father earn? And after that they imagine, that they recognized a Man.” Is a “sane” person trustworthy if he confuses “a boa constrictor that swallowed an elephant” with an ordinary hat? What gives a true picture of a house: its cost in francs or the fact that it is a house with pink columns? And finally, would the planet of the Little Prince cease to exist if the Turkish astronomer who discovered it refused to change into a European costume, and his discovery would never receive recognition?
Listening to the ringing and sad voice of the Little Prince, you understand that in “adult” people the natural generosity of the heart, directness and sincerity, and masterful concern for the cleanliness of the planet have died out. Instead of decorating their home, cultivating their garden, they wage wars, dry out their brains with numbers, they insult the beauty of sunrises and sunsets with vanity and greed. No, this is not how you should live [Bukovskaya A., 1983, p.98].
Behind the bewilderment of the little hero lies the bitterness of the writer himself about what is happening on earth. Saint-Exupery forces the reader to look at familiar phenomena from a different angle. “You can’t see the main thing with your eyes. Only the heart is vigilant!” states the author.
Not finding what the kid was looking for on small planets, he, on the advice of a geographer, goes to the big planet Earth. The first person the Little Prince meets on Earth is the Snake. According to mythology, the Snake guards the sources of wisdom or immortality, personifies magical powers, appears in conversion rites as a symbol of restoration. In the fairy tale, she combines miraculous power and sad knowledge of human fate: “Everyone I touch, I return to the earth from which he came.” She invites the hero to get acquainted with the life of the Earth and shows him the way to people, assuring him that “It’s also lonely among people.” On Earth, the prince will have to test himself and make the most important decision in his life. V.A. Smirnova emphasizes that the snake doubts that he will be able to maintain his purity after going through trials, but be that as it may, she will help the baby return to his home planet by giving him her poison [Smirnova V.A., 1968, p. 54].
The Little Prince experiences the strongest impression when he finds himself in the rose garden. He felt even more unhappy: “His beauty told him that there are no others like her in the whole universe,” and in front of him “are five thousand exactly the same flowers.” It turns out that he had a very ordinary rose, what a prince he is after that. This is where the Fox comes to the aid of the hero.
N.I. Solomno tells us that the Fox (not the fox!) has long been a symbol of wisdom and knowledge of life in fairy tales. The Little Prince's conversations with this wise animal become a kind of culmination in the story, for in them the hero finally finds what he was looking for. The lost clarity and purity of consciousness returns to him. The fox reveals to the baby the life of the human heart, teaches the rituals of love and friendship, which people have long forgotten and therefore lost friends and lost the ability to love. No wonder the flower says about people: “They are carried by the wind.” This allegory can be interpreted this way. People have forgotten how to look at the stars at night, admire the beauty of sunsets, and experience the pleasure of the fragrance of a rose. They submitted to the vanity of earthly life, forgetting about “simple truths”: about joy communication, friendship, love and human happiness: “If you love a flower - the only one that is no longer on any of the many million-dollar stars - that’s enough: you look at the sky and feel happy.” And the author is very sad to say that people They don’t see this and turn their lives into a meaningless existence.
The fox says that for him the prince is only one of thousands of other little boys, just as he is for the prince only an ordinary fox, of which there are hundreds of thousands. “But if you tame me, we will need each other. You will be the only one for me in the whole world. And I will be the only one for you in the whole world. If you tame me, my life will be illuminated as if by the sun. I will begin to distinguish your steps among thousands others." The fox reveals to the Little Prince the secret of taming: to tame means to create bonds of love and unity of souls.
A. Bukovskaya notes that love not only connects us with other beings, but also helps us better understand the world around us, makes our life richer. own life. And the Fox reveals one more secret to the baby: “Only the heart is vigilant. You cannot see the most important thing with your eyes. Your Rose is so dear to you because you gave her your whole soul. People have forgotten this truth, but don’t forget: you are forever responsible for everyone he has tamed.”
To tame means to bind oneself to another creature with tenderness, love, and a sense of responsibility. To tame means to destroy facelessness and indifference towards all living things. To tame means to make the world significant and generous, because everything in it reminds of a beloved creature. The narrator comprehends this truth, and the stars come to life for him, and he hears the ringing of silver bells in the sky, reminiscent of the laughter of the Little Prince. The theme of “expansion of the soul” through love runs through the entire tale.
The little prince comprehends this wisdom, and with him it is revealed to both the pilot-narrator and the reader. Together with the little hero, we rediscover for ourselves the main thing in life that was hidden, buried by all sorts of husk, but which constitutes the only value for a person. The little prince learns what the bonds of friendship are.
· A little about friendship
Saint-Exupery also speaks about friendship on the first page of the story - in the dedication. In the author's system of values, the theme of friendship occupies one of the main places. Only friendship can melt the ice of loneliness and alienation, since it is based on mutual understanding, mutual trust and mutual assistance.
“It’s sad when friends are forgotten. Not everyone has a friend,” says the hero of the fairy tale. The little heroine from A. Gaidar’s story “The Blue Cup.” Svetlanka, like the Little Prince, has the ability to see the true essence of the world around her. She looks at the world with an open mind. And her father is similar to the author. Among the eternal bustle of “adult” life, he does not remember human happiness. Constantly guided by reason, he forgets to listen to the most important thing - the voice of his own heart. And the little girl, regardless of her desire, managed to show her father absolutely new world human relationships, childhood relationships; the world is also complex, but richer in feelings and some kind of internal understanding of the beauty of the people around us and nature [Bukovskaya A., 1983, p. 84].
At the beginning of the fairy tale, the Little Prince leaves his only Rose, then he leaves his new friend Fox on Earth. “There is no perfection in the world,” the Fox will say. But there is harmony, there is humanity, there is a person’s responsibility for the work entrusted to him, for the person close to him, there is also responsibility for his planet, for everything that happens on it.
A deep meaning is hidden in the image of the planet to which the Little Prince returns: it is a symbol of the human soul, a symbol of the home of the human heart. Exupery wants to say that each person has his own planet, his own island and his own guiding star, which a person should not forget about. “I would like to know why the stars glow,” he said /The Little Prince/ thoughtfully. “Probably so that sooner or later everyone can find theirs again.” The heroes of the fairy tale, having passed thorny path, have found their star, and the author believes that the reader will also find his distant star.
B.L. Gubman repeats that “The Little Prince” is a romantic fairy tale, a dream that has not disappeared, but is kept by people, cherished by them, like something precious from childhood. Childhood is somewhere nearby and comes in moments of the most terrible despair and loneliness, when there is nowhere to go. Then everything will fall into place, and an adult will return to that clarity and transparency, fearless directness of judgments and assessments, which only happens in children [Gubman B.L., 1992, p. 11].
N.P. Kubareva notes that in ancient chronicles, beliefs and legends, dragons guarded water, but the Saint-Exupéry desert can guard it no worse than dragons, it can hide it so that no one will ever find it. Each person is the ruler of his own springs, the sources of his soul, but not everyone can find them.
The author's fervent faith in the existence of hidden springs gives the ending of the fairy tale-parable a life-affirming sound. The story contains a powerful creative moment, faith in improvement and change in the unjust order of things. The life aspirations of the heroes are in harmony with the moral universal principle. Their fusion is the meaning and general direction of the work. [Kubareva N.P., 1999, p. 107].
Summing up the research
During the time that the pilot and the prince - an adult and a child - spent together, they discovered a lot of new things about each other and in life. Having parted, they took pieces of each other with them, they became wiser, learned the other’s world and revealed their own from the other side.
We have already talked about the genre features of the story in the initial part of our study. As a result, it is worth noting and highlighting the following: “The Little Prince” is not the traditional and generally accepted type of fairy tale-parable familiar to us all. This is an option adapted to modern times. This is confirmed by numerous details, images and hints taken from reality. public life XX century.
The work has a very rich language, the writer uses many means of expression, most striking are the fresh metaphors. He is natural and expressive: “laughter is like a spring in the desert”, “five hundred million bells”, seemingly ordinary, familiar concepts suddenly acquire a new original meaning for him. Exupery's language is full of memories of life, the world and childhood; it contains very paradoxical combinations of words, which gives originality to this work.
The style and special manner of Saint-Exupery, unlike anything else, is a transition from image to generalization, from parable to morality. You need to have great writing talent to see the world the way Antoine does. There is a secret in this manner of expressing your thoughts; it tells old truths in a new way, reveals their true meaning, making readers think.
The narrative style of the story also has a number of features. This is a confidential conversation between old friends - this is how the author communicates with the reader. Therefore, I want to believe him, knowing that he cannot deceive. We feel the presence of an author who believes in goodness and reason, soon when life on earth will change.
The phenomenon of the fairy tale "The Little Prince" is that, written for adults, it has firmly entered the circle of children's reading.
Not everything accessible to adults will be immediately revealed to children, because many readers understand a fairy tale only after becoming adults and re-reading it. Despite this, children read this book with pleasure, as it attracts them with the simplicity of its presentation, the atmosphere of spirituality, the shortage of which is so acutely felt these days; Children are also close to the vision of the author’s ideal in a child’s soul. Only in children does Exupery see the most valuable, unclouded basis of human existence, because only they know how to see things in their true light, regardless of their practical significance!
The main idea of the work “The Little Prince” by Exupery is easily determined after reading.
The main idea of "The Little Prince" by Exupery
The author, in the person of the Little Prince, shows us what is important and makes sense in life. How to learn to trust each other, be kind and understand that we are responsible for those we have tamed, that we must remember that we all “come from childhood.” After all, the Little Prince himself walked this path, learned about the world around him, and learned to listen to his heart.
“Loving does not mean looking at each other, it means looking in the same direction” - this thought defines ideological plan fairy tale stories. “The Little Prince” was written in 1943, and the tragedy of Europe in World War II and the writer’s memories of defeated, occupied France leave their mark on the work. With his bright, sad and wise tale, Exupery defended undying humanity, a living spark in the souls of people. In a certain sense, the story was the result of the writer’s creative path, his philosophical and artistic comprehension. Only an artist is able to see the essence - the inner beauty and harmony of the world around him. Even on the lamplighter’s planet, the Little Prince remarks: “When he lights a lantern, it’s as if one more star or flower is being born. And when he turns off the lantern, it’s as if a star or a flower is falling asleep. Great activity. It’s really useful because it’s beautiful.” The main character speaks to the inner side of beauty, and not to its outer shell. Human work must have meaning, and not simply turn into mechanical actions. Any business is useful only when it is internally beautiful.
Features of the plot of “The Little Prince”
Saint-Exupéry takes as a basis the traditional fairy tale plot(Because of unhappy love, Prince Charming leaves his father’s house and wanders along endless roads in search of happiness and adventure. He tries to gain fame and thereby conquer the unapproachable heart of the princess.), but reinterprets it in his own way, even ironically. His handsome prince is just a child, suffering from a capricious and eccentric flower. Naturally, oh happy ending The wedding is out of the question. In his wanderings, the Little Prince meets not with fairy-tale monsters, but with people bewitched, as if by an evil spell, by selfish and petty passions. But this is only the external side of the plot. Despite the fact that the Little Prince is a child, a true vision of the world is revealed to him, inaccessible even to an adult. And the people with dead souls whom the main character meets on his way are much more terrible than fairy-tale monsters. The relationship between the prince and Rose is much more complex than the relationship between princes and princesses from folk tales. After all, it is for the sake of Rose that the Little Prince sacrifices his material shell - he chooses physical death. The story has two storylines: the narrator and the related theme of the world of adults and the line of the Little Prince, the story of his life.
“The Little Prince” is childish, but at the same time a thoughtful work. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry placed a reflection of the real adult world with its advantages and disadvantages in a light and short fairy tale. In places it is satire, myth, fantasy and tragic story. Therefore, the multifaceted book appeals to both small and large readers.
"The Little Prince" was born during the Great Patriotic War. It all started with Exupery’s drawings, in which he depicted that very “little prince”.
Exupery, being a military pilot, once got into a plane crash, this happened in 1935 in the Libyan desert. Opening old wounds, memories of the disaster and news of the outbreak of the World War inspired the writer to create the work. He thought about the fact that each of us is responsible for the place where he lives, be it a small apartment or the whole planet. And the struggle calls this responsibility into question, because it was during that fierce battle of many countries that lethal force was first used nuclear weapon. Alas, many people did not care about their home, since they allowed wars to bring humanity to such extreme measures.
The work was created in 1942 in the USA, a year later it became available to the reader. The Little Prince became the author's final creation and brought him worldwide fame. The author dedicated his book to his friend (Leon Werth), moreover, to the boy his friend once was. It is worth noting that Leon, who was a writer and critic, being a Jew, suffered from persecution during the development of Nazism. He also had to leave his planet, but not of his own free will.
Genre, direction
Exupery talked about the meaning of life, and in this he was helped by the genre of parable, which is characterized by a clearly expressed morality in the finale and an edifying tone of the narrative. A fairy tale as a parable is the most common crossing of genres. Distinctive feature A fairy tale can be called because it has a fantastic and simple plot, but at the same time it is instructive in nature, helps young readers to form moral qualities, and adults to think about their views and behavior. Fairy tale - reflection real life, but reality is presented to the reader through fiction, no matter how paradoxical it may sound. Genre originality The work suggests that “The Little Prince” is a philosophical fairy tale-parable.
The work can also be classified as a fantasy story.
Meaning of the name
The Little Prince is a story about a traveler who travels throughout the universe. He does not just travel, but is in search of the meaning of life, the essence of love and the secret of friendship. He learns not only the world around him, but also himself, and self-knowledge is his main goal. It is still growing, developing and symbolizing an immaculate and tender childhood. Therefore, the author called it “small”.
Why a prince? He is alone on his planet, it all belongs to him. He takes his role as a master very responsibly and, despite his modest age, has already learned to care for her. Such behavior suggests that this is a noble boy who rules his domain, but what should we call him? A prince, because he is endowed with power and wisdom.
The essence
The plot begins in the Sahara Desert. The pilot of the plane, having made an emergency landing, meets the same Little Prince who arrived on Earth from another planet. The boy told his new acquaintance about his journey, about the planets he had visited, about his former life, about the rose that was his faithful friend. The little prince loved his rose so much that he was ready to give his life for it. The boy loved his home, he liked to watch sunsets, it’s good that on his planet they could be seen several times a day, and for this the Little Prince only had to move his chair.
One day, the boy felt unhappy and decided to go in search of adventure. Rose was proud and rarely gave her patron her warmth, so she did not withhold him. During his journey, the Little Prince met: a Ruler who is confident in his absolute power over the stars, an Ambitious man for whom the main thing is to be admired, a Drunkard who drinks out of guilt for alcohol abuse, no matter how paradoxical it may sound. The boy even met a Business Man, whose main occupation is counting stars. The little prince encountered the Lamplighter, who lit and extinguished the lantern on his planet every minute. He also met the Geographer, who in his entire life had never seen anything except his planet. Last place The traveler's position became planet Earth, where he found a true friend. All the main events are described by us in a summary of the book for the reader's diary.
The main characters and their characteristics
Loving does not mean looking at each other, it means looking in the same direction.
A person should take care of his home, and not tear it apart by wars into bloody, lifeless parts. This idea was especially relevant then, during the Second World War. The little prince cleaned his planet every day, preventing the baobabs from growing to alarming proportions. If the world had been able to unite in time and sweep away the National Socialist movement led by Hitler, then the bloodshed could have been prevented. For those who love the world should have taken care of it, and not locked themselves on their little planets, thinking that the storm will pass by. Because of this disunity and irresponsibility of governments and peoples, millions of people have suffered, and the writer calls on us to finally learn to faithfully and responsibly love the harmony that only friendship provides.
What does it teach?
The story of the Little Prince is surprisingly heartfelt and instructive. Exupery's creation tells the story of how important it is to have a faithful friend nearby and how important it is to bear responsibility for those whom you have “tamed.” The fairy tale teaches love, friendship, and warns against loneliness. In addition, you should not lock yourself in your small territory, fencing yourself off from the whole world around you. You need to get out of your comfort zone, learn new things, look for yourself.
Exupery also encourages the reader to listen not only to his mind when making decisions, but also to his heart, because you cannot see the main thing with your eyes.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!Dudar Ksenia
“There are books that last forever. They are good advisers, mentors and friends. If such a book comes into life, you will not be alone. I have such books. Some grow with me, others came into my life relatively recently. It’s amazing that As a person grows up, the meaning of the works he reads changes. A wonderful book led me to this idea. French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery "The Little Prince". "
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"Why do the stars shine"
(The problem of the meaning of life in the fairy tale of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
"A little prince")
I wish I knew why the stars shine
He said thoughtfully.
(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince)
1. Introduction
There are books that last forever. They are good advisers, mentors and friends. If such a book comes into your life, you will not be alone. I have such books. Some grow with me, others entered my life relatively recently. It is surprising that as a person grows up, the meaning of the works he reads changes. The book of the wonderful French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery “The Little Prince” led me to this idea. This amazing work is a fairy tale for both children and adults. The phenomenon of the fairy tale “The Little Prince” is that, written for adults, it has firmly entered the circle of children’s reading. Not everything available to adults will be immediately revealed to children. But children read this book with pleasure, as it attracts them with the simplicity of its presentation, designed for children, with that special atmosphere of spirituality inherent in this fairy tale, the shortage of which is so acutely felt these days.
Children are also close to the vision of the author’s ideal in a child’s soul. Only in children does Exupery see the most valuable, unclouded foundation of human existence. For only children know how to see things in their true light, regardless of their “practical benefits”!
Listening to the Little Prince's reasoning and following his travels, you come to the conclusion that all human wisdom is collected on the pages of this fairy tale. Traveling around planets and getting to know their inhabitants, a little boy explores the world, and I along with it.
This fairy tale makes you think about many things, especially about the meaning of life and its value. These thoughts sooner or later visit a person, including me. The problem of the meaning of life has worried, worries and will continue to worry people. If they know how to think and feel. If they want to understand themselves and the world around them. In my opinion, this question is relevant for everyone. I draw grains of wisdom from the Books of the Great. And one of them is “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
The purpose of my workis a consideration of the problem of the meaning of human life, based on the work of the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry “The Little Prince”.
When working on this topic, the following questions were raised: tasks:
consider the work of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry “The Little Prince”;
- trace the main ideas of the work, which will help to better understand the problem of the meaning of life;
- study the problem of the meaning of life in philosophy and religion;
- trace views on the problem of the meaning of life in philosophy and religion;
- consider the views of two age categories on this problem, based on a survey;
- analyze the results obtained;
- compare your own point of view with the findings and ideas of the book.
I believe that mine research has a widepractical significance, which consists of the following aspects:
1) intellectual baggage (assistance in passing the Unified State Examination);
In this book I can find many useful quotes and arguments for them about love, friendship, childhood, the psychology of an adult and a child, spiritual stagnation and, of course, the meaning of life, which will help me when passing the Unified State Exam in Russian language, literature and social studies ;
2) “vaccination” against suicide;
The work I did made me look into myself, into the essence of things, to think that suicide contradicts all the laws of morality and morality, to think about the value and beauty of life, about the amazing mystery of existence, which can only be comprehended by a living, active soul.
3) a step towards Orthodoxy;
The work "The Little Prince" touches on many important topics, which sound in unison with Christianity. They forced me into Once again understand that God is Love.
4)personal development. This book develops a person’s personality: his character, his view of the world, helps him evaluate his actions, thoughts, desires, understand his rights and, above all, his responsibilities.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote few books, but in them he managed to tell people the most important things.
French writer, poet and professional pilot was born on June 29, 1900 in the city of Lyon. He first began writing in school years. At this age, Antoine suffered a heavy loss - his brother Francois died. And this death caused the first serious thoughts about life.
After graduating from college, he was preparing to enter the Naval Academy. But the career of a brilliant naval officer did not materialize. A young man obsessed with writing failed his literature exam. Even then it was obvious to Antoine: he could only write about what he personally experienced. “Before you write, you need to live,” he later remarked.
Aviation and literature entered Antoine’s life almost simultaneously. One day he was asked directly: what does he prefer - flying or writing? He replied: “I don’t understand how these things can be separated. For me, flying and writing are the same thing.” Antoine contrasted the serene, stagnant existence of ordinary people with an active, active life, life among storms, dangers, lightning, a life inspired by the high goal of serving people and progress. His whole life passed under this worthy motto.
“...I chose to work to the maximum and, since you always have to push yourself to the limit, I won’t back down. I just wish this vile war would end before I fade away like a candle in a stream of oxygen.”
On July 31, 1944, less than two weeks before the liberation of France from the Nazi invaders, military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry died while carrying out his last combat mission. For a long time he was considered missing. Only in the 50s, a document was found in the diary of a former German officer confirming his death.
Exupery was making a reconnaissance flight; there was no machine gun on board. Saint-Exupéry found himself defenseless against the fascist fighter. The plane caught fire and began to descend towards the sea...
Saint-Exupery left us completely unnoticed, but is it really so complete?
All his life, Saint-Exupéry was looking for the meaning that would justify future death and thereby destroy it: “They die only for what is worth living for.”
For what, in his understanding, was it worth living? For the sake of people, adults and children, for the sake of poetry and love - for the sake of life itself...
Yours best work Saint-Exupéry created it during the war, in 1942. “The Little Prince” is the most widely read fairy tale in the world for children and adults. It’s surprising, because not every book can interest seemingly such opposite ages.
In my opinion, the answer lies in the fact that children read this book with pleasure, as it attracts them with its simplicity of presentation and unusual plot; adults see in it the incorruptible truth, a faithful adviser.
3. "The Little Prince"
At the age of six, the boy read about how a boa constrictor swallows its prey and drew a picture of a snake swallowing an elephant. It was a drawing of a boa constrictor on the outside, but the adults claimed it was a hat. Adults always need to explain everything, so the boy made another drawing - a boa constrictor from the inside. Then the adults advised the boy to quit this nonsense - according to them, he should have studied more geography, history, arithmetic and spelling. So the boy abandoned his brilliant career as an artist. He had to choose a different profession: he grew up and became a pilot, but still showed his first drawing to those adults who seemed to him smarter and more understanding than the others - and everyone answered that it was a hat. It was impossible to talk heart to heart with them - about boa constrictors, the jungle and the stars. And the pilot lived alone until he met the Little Prince.
This happened in the Sahara. Something broke in the plane's engine: the pilot had to fix it or die, because there was only enough water left for a week. At dawn, the pilot was awakened by a thin voice - a tiny baby with golden hair, who somehow ended up in the desert, asked him to draw a lamb for him. The astonished pilot did not dare refuse, especially since his new friend was the only one who was able to see the boa constrictor swallowing the elephant in the first drawing. It gradually became clear that the Little Prince had arrived from a planet called “asteroid B-612”.
The entire planet was the size of a house, and the Little Prince had to take care of it: every day he cleaned three volcanoes - two active and one extinct, and also weeded out baobab sprouts. But his life was sad and lonely, so he loved to watch the sunset - especially when he was sad. He did this several times a day, simply moving the chair after the sun. Everything changed when a wonderful rose appeared on his planet. She was a beauty with thorns - proud, touchy and simple-minded. The little prince fell in love with her, but the rose seemed capricious, cruel and arrogant to him - he was too young then and did not understand how this flower illuminated his life. And so the Little Prince cleaned out last time his volcanoes, tore out the baobab sprouts, and then said goodbye to his flower, who only at the moment of farewell admitted that he loved him.
He went on a journey and visited six neighboring asteroids. The king lived on the first one: he wanted to have subjects so much that he invited the Little Prince to become a minister, and the little one thought that adults were a very strange people. On the second planet lived an ambitious man, on the third a drunkard, on the fourth a business man, and on the fifth a lamplighter. All the adults seemed extremely strange to the Little Prince, and he only liked the Lamplighter: this man remained faithful to the agreement to light the lanterns in the evenings and turn off the lanterns in the mornings, although his planet had shrunk so much that day and night changed every minute. Don't have so little space here. The little prince would have stayed with the Lamplighter, because he really wanted to make friends with someone - besides, on this planet you could admire the sunset one thousand four hundred and forty times a day!
On the sixth planet there lived a geographer. And since he was a geographer, he was supposed to ask travelers about the countries from which they came in order to record their stories in books. The little prince wanted to talk about his flower, but the geographer explained that only mountains and oceans are written down in books, because they are eternal and unchanging, and flowers do not live long. Only then did the Little Prince realize that his beauty would soon disappear, and he left her alone, without protection and help! But the resentment had not yet passed, and the Little Prince moved on, but he only thought about his abandoned flower.
The seventh was Earth - a very difficult planet! Suffice it to say that there are one hundred and eleven kings, seven thousand geographers, nine hundred thousand businessmen, seven and a half million drunkards, three hundred and eleven million ambitious people - a total of about two billion adults. But the Little Prince made friends only with the snake, the Fox and the pilot. The snake promised to help him when he bitterly regretted his planet. And the Fox taught him to be friends. Anyone can tame someone and become their friend, but you always need to be responsible for those you tame. Then the Little Prince decided to return to his rose, because he was responsible for it. He went into the desert - to the very place where he fell. There he met the pilot. The little prince found a yellow snake whose bite kills in half a minute: she helped him, as she promised. The kid told the pilot that it would only look like death, so there was no need to be sad - let the pilot remember it while looking at the night sky. And when the Little Prince laughs, it will seem to the pilot that all the stars are laughing, like five hundred million bells...
After reading the book again, I decided to trace the main ideas of the work, which will help to better understand the problem of the meaning of life.
Previously, I opened the textbook by R. Januskevicius, O. Januskevicien. “Fundamentals of Morality”, monographs by Solovyov V.S. “Justification of Good”, Trubetskoy E.N. “The Meaning of Life”, Sherdakova V.N. “The Meaning of Life as a Philosophical and Ethical Problem”. I realized that the search for the meaning of life is a relevant problem at all times and among all peoples.
4.The meaning of life in philosophy and religion
The meaning of life, the meaning of being is a philosophical and spiritual problem related to determining the ultimate goal of existence, the purpose of humanity, man as a biological species, one of the basic ideological concepts that is of great importance for the formation of the spiritual and moral image of an individual.
The question of the meaning of life is one of the traditional problems of philosophy, theology and fiction, where it is considered primarily from the point of view of determining what the most worthy meaning of life for a person is.
Ideas about the meaning of life are formed in the process of people’s activities and depend on their social status, the content of the problems being solved, lifestyle, worldview, and the specific historical situation.
Philosophical vision of the problem
Subjecting the theoretical analysis of ideas mass consciousness about the meaning of life, many philosophers proceeded from the recognition of a certain unchangeable “human nature”, constructing on this basis a certain ideal of man, in the achievement of which the meaning of life, the main purpose of human activity, was seen.
Ancient philosophy
The ancient Greek philosopher and encyclopedist Aristotle, for example, believed that the goal of all human actions is happiness (eudaimonia), which consists in the fulfillment of the essence of man.
Epicurus and his followers proclaimed the goal of human life to be pleasure (hedonism), understood not only as sensual pleasure, but also as deliverance from physical pain, mental anxiety, suffering, and fear of death. The ideal is life in a “secluded place”, in a close circle of friends, non-participation in state life, distant contemplation. The Gods themselves, according to Epicurus, are blissful beings who do not interfere in the affairs of the earthly world.
According to the teachings of the Stoics, the goal of human aspirations should be morality, which is impossible without true knowledge. The human soul is immortal, and virtue consists in human life, in harmony with nature and the world mind (logos). The life ideal of the Stoics is equanimity and calmness in relation to external and internal irritants
Existentialism
The problem of choosing the meaning of life, in particular, is devoted to the works of existentialist philosophers of the 20th century - Albert Camus(“The Myth of Sisyphus”), Jean-Paul Sartre (“Nausea”), Martin Heidegger (“Conversation on a Country Road”), Karl Jaspers (“The Meaning and Purpose of History”).
Speaking about the meaning of human life and death, Sartre wrote: “If we must die, then our life has no meaning, because its problems remain unresolved and the very meaning of the problems remains uncertain... Everything that exists is born without a reason, continues in weakness and dies by accident... Absurd that we were born, it is absurd that we will die
Nihilism
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche characterized nihilism as the emptying of the world and especially human existence of meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth or essential value. Nihilism denies the claims of knowledge and truth, and explores the meaning of existence without knowable truth. Nihilism, taken to an extreme state, turns into pragmatism, the denial of what is unhelpful and irrational in relation to one’s own body, serving to satisfy basic human needs; in recognition that the best thing you can do in this life is to enjoy it.
Positivism
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Things in personal life may have meaning (importance), but life itself has no meaning different from these things.
Pragmatism
William James
Pragmatic philosophers believe that instead of seeking the truth about life, we should seek useful understanding of life. William James argued that truth can be created, but not found. Thus, meaning in life is a belief in a purpose in life that is not inconsistent with one's experience of a meaningful life. Roughly speaking, it might sound like: “The meaning of life is those goals that make you value it.” For a pragmatist, the meaning of life, your life, can only be discovered through experience.
Arthur Schopenhauer
The 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer defined human life as a manifestation of a certain world will: it seems to people that they are acting of their own free will, but in fact they are driven by someone else’s will. According to Schopenhauer, life is a hell in which a fool pursues pleasures and comes to disappointment, and a wise man, on the contrary, tries to avoid troubles through self-restraint - a wisely living person realizes the inevitability of disasters, and therefore curbs his passions and sets a limit to his desires. Human life, according to Schopenhauer, is a constant struggle with death, constant suffering, and all efforts to free oneself from suffering only lead to the fact that one suffering is replaced by another, while the satisfaction of basic life needs only results in satiety and boredom.
Religious approaches and theories
Most religions embrace and express certain concepts about the meaning of life, offering metaphysical reasons to explain why humans and all other organisms exist. Perhaps the fundamental definition of religious faith is the belief that life serves a Higher, Divine purpose. Most people who believe in a personal God would agree that God is the One “in whom we live, move, have our being.”
The meaning of life from a Christian point of view
The true meaning of life is accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This is our salvation and eternal life. We are reconciled to God through the Calvary Sacrifice of the Son of God - we are forgiven, and redeemed, and justified, and accepted into the eternal abode by Jesus Christ. And although we still continue to live on earth, we are with God in spirit - we are His children, heirs of a beautiful eternity. Then our life is completely renewed, we are born again - the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, dwells in us - we overcome sin with the Power from Above, the Power of Jesus Christ!
Only after the resurrection of Christ are true progress and development possible.
The meaning of life is God's plan for man, and it is different for different people. It can be seen only by washing away the adhering dirt of lies and sin, but it cannot be “invented.”
The meaning of the earthly stage of life is the acquisition of eternal life, which is possible only through the personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the promise to serve Him with a true and clear conscience, and participation in the sacrifice of Christ and His resurrection.
Seraphim of Sarovin 1831, during a conversation with Nikolai Alexandrovich Motovilov, he said:
“Prayer, fasting, vigil and all other Christian deeds, no matter how good they are in themselves, however, the goal of our Christian life is not in doing them alone, although they serve as necessary means for achieving it. The true goal of our Christian life is to acquire the Holy Spirit of God.”
“The true goal of Christian life is to acquire the Holy Spirit of God.”
Judaism
According to the Torah, the Almighty created man as an interlocutor and co-creator. Both the world and man were created imperfect intentionally - so that man, with the help of the Almighty, would raise himself and the world around him to the highest levels of perfection.
The meaning of any person’s life is to serve the Creator, even in the most everyday affairs - when a person eats, sleeps, satisfies natural needs, performs marital duty - he must do this with the thought that he is taking care of the body - in order to be able to serve the Creator with complete dedication.
The meaning of human life is to contribute to the establishment of the kingdom of the Almighty over the world, to reveal its light to all peoples of the world.
Islam
Islam implies a special relationship between man and God - “surrendering oneself to God”, “submission to God”; Followers of Islam are Muslims, that is, “devotees.” The meaning of a Muslim's life is to worship the Almighty: “I created jinn and people only so that they would worship Me.” (Quran, 51:56).
According to the fundamental tenets of Islam, “Allah (God) rules over everything and takes care of his creations. He is Gracious, Merciful and Forgiving. People must completely surrender themselves to Him, be submissive and humble, and always and in everything rely only on the will and mercy of Allah. At the same time, a person is responsible for his actions - both righteous and unrighteous. For their actions, each person will receive retribution at the Judgment, to which Allah will subject everyone, resurrecting them from the dead. The righteous will go to heaven, but the sinners will face severe punishment in hell.
Buddhism
According to the teachings of the Buddha, the dominant, inherent property of every person’s life is suffering (dukkha), and the meaning and highest goal of life is the cessation of suffering. The source of suffering is human desires. It is considered possible to stop suffering only after achieving a special, fundamentally inexpressible state - enlightenment (nirvana - a state of complete absence of desires, and therefore suffering).
I, of course, respect the opinion of people who think and seek, but I believe that the meaning of any person’s life is to serve the Creator, that Christianity, namely Orthodoxy, helps a person consider himself a servant of God and be happy because of it.
5. Main ideas of the work
And so, “The Little Prince”...
Amazing personifications and deep philosophical images give this work a special personality and flavor. I would compare “The Little Prince” to a diamond with many facets: I just want to hold it in my hands longer, looking at it gem from all sides. First of all, this book makes a person a Human, touching the hidden strings of the soul, it shapes his personality. The Little Prince reminds adults that they were once children too, and teaches them to see with their hearts, because “you can’t see the most important things with your eyes.”
We can talk endlessly about the wisdom of each chapter of the fairy tale.
1) Antoine de Saint-Exupery tells us about amazing planets, meaning the souls of people. These mysterious planets with their inhabitants, with whom the author introduces us, personify an apartment building, where each apartment (planet) has its own way of life and peculiar inner world different people live.
They are strangers to each other. The inhabitants are blind and deaf to the call of the heart, the impulse of the soul. Their tragedy is that they do not strive to become a Personality. “Serious people” live in their own artificially created world, fenced off from the rest (everyone has their own planet!) and consider it the true meaning of existence! These faceless masks will never know what it is true love, friendship and beauty
For some, flaws dominate in their souls, like the dream of power in a king, selfishness and narcissism in an ambitious person, and some tell us about true moral values, like the fox about friendship and love, the lamplighter about dedication. In the images of the Little Prince and the Pilot, on whose behalf the story is told, the writer embodies the brightest human qualities- philanthropy, touching and defenseless beauty. The pilot and the little prince see the world in the same way, in a childish way: for them it is important whether he likes to catch butterflies, and they are not at all interested in how old someone is. The pilot is a man who has retained the pure soul of a child within himself; he has not lost his childish spontaneity. The true gift of a person, his talent, can only be understood by people with an open heart. The Little Prince finds a friend in the person of the Pilot, because they understand each other without words and are ready to reveal all the secrets of their souls.
The character of the Little Prince clearly captures the Christian ideas of childhood purity, openness and meekness. “Be like children” - to psychologists, even those farthest from Christianity, this phrase is clear as day. The fact is that until the age of seven, a child’s consciousness is not able to separate itself and the world. I am the whole world, and the whole world is me. A child's consciousness is not limited and expressive; it contains absolutely everything. Life, like a whole apple, is beautiful in its inseparability and simplicity. Therefore, it is necessary to remember that by offending a child, we offend the world; By giving him joy, we paint the world with thousands of colors.
One of the steps leading to understanding the meaning of life is the understanding that you need to live with an open heart. As children.
The little prince lives in a secluded corner of every person's soul. He personifies our dreams, bright thoughts and, probably, conscience. Like a guardian angel with golden hair, he rejoices at our good deeds. When we commit unseemly acts, he grieves and waits for our return to the righteous path.
2) It is very important for every person to understand that important point in life is the understanding of one’s sinfulness and the ability to fight sin.
I probably didn’t understand this before, but I kept trying to dwell on the meaning of the metaphor that eluded me. When I started going to church and learned what sin was, I understood what the writer was talking about. Baobab is a sin. Now it’s clear to me why the meaning “eluded.” After all, I simply didn’t have this word in my vocabulary, much less an understanding of its meaning. It was a sin for me not to follow my “I want”. The author told us about how a small tender sprout - a sin not plucked out in time - grows and becomes stronger, turns to stone and tears the soul into pieces, depriving it of the opportunity to grow something living.
« On the planet of the Little Prince, like on any other planet, useful and harmful herbs grow. This means that there are good seeds of good, healthy herbs and harmful seeds of bad, weedy grass. But the seeds are invisible. They sleep deep underground until one of them decides to wake up. Then it sprouts; he straightens up and reaches out to the sun, at first so cute and harmless. If this is a future radish or rose bush, let him grow in health. But if it is some kind of bad herb, you need to pull it out by the roots as soon as you recognize it. And on the planet of the Little Prince there are terrible, evil seeds... these are the seeds of the baobabs. The entire soil of the planet is contaminated with them. And if the baobab is not recognized in time, then you will no longer be able to get rid of it. He will take over the entire planet. He will penetrate it right through with his roots. And if the planet is very small, and there are a lot of baobabs, they will tear it to pieces.”
The Holy Fathers managed to snatch the seed of the baobab-sin from their souls. We have to conduct a daily inspection of our souls and pull out the sprouts of baobabs with the Sacrament of repentance. Otherwise, the prognosis is disappointing. A sprout that is not pulled out in time turns into a monolithic tree of sin, which, obscuring the light, dooms the soul to destruction. Therefore, let me exclaim after the author: “People, beware of baobabs!!!” And don't forget the wonderful advice of the Little Prince:
“There is such a firm rule,” the Little Prince told me later. - Get up in the morning, wash your face, put yourself in order - and immediately put your planet in order».
I can’t help but compare this to morning prayer. Every morning, looking deeply into our hearts, we must remember the need to “clean up our planet” - our soul.
What, according to Saint-Exupéry, does a person live for: to love, to improve his soul or to grow baobabs?.. Of course, in order to improve himself and develop.
A small tender sprout - sin, not plucked out in time - grows and strengthens, turns to stone and tears the soul into pieces, depriving it of the opportunity to grow something living.
3) Our life is focused on things called the improvement of human life and scientific and technological progress. And so, spending all their energy on maintaining a “decent standard of living,” people increasingly began to understand that this path does not make them happy.
Where are the people? It's so lonely in the desert...
It's also lonely among people.
People have become aggressive, closed and unkind to each other, while forgetting that our lives are a consequence of our actions. Therefore, you should not give in to the blues and resentment towards others, but learn to feel the movements of your soul and follow them.
4)"… It is no longer possible to live by refrigerators, politics, balance sheets and crossword puzzles! Completely impossible. It is impossible to live without poetry, without colors, without love...”, - Saint-Exupery writes in his memoirs. The author forces the reader to change their perspective on familiar things. After all, the truly valuable thing is the desired sip of water, thirst human communication, one - the only rose, friendship, love for a person, mutual understanding, mercy, enjoyment of the beauty of nature.
- “You are not at all like my rose,” he told them. - You are nothing yet. No one has tamed you, and you have not tamed anyone. This is how my Fox used to be. He was no different from a hundred thousand other foxes. But I became friends with him, and now he is the only one in the whole world.
The fox generously shared his secrets and his wisdom with the little prince. “Tame each other” is one of his secrets. Taming is an art that can be learned. Before meeting the Little Prince, the Fox did nothing but fight for his existence: he hunted for chickens, and the hunters hunted him. Having tamed the Fox, he was able to break out of the vicious circle in which attack and defense alternated. He found spiritual harmony, the joy of communication, gradually opening his heart to the Little Prince.
These are invisible bonds. They cannot be seen, they can only be felt. To tame - to create bonds of love, unity of souls. To tame means to make the world more valuable and kinder, because everything in it will remind you of your beloved creature: the stars will laugh, the ears of rye will come to life. To tame means to bind oneself to another creature with love, care and responsibility.
Each person is responsible not only for his own destiny, but also for the one he has “tamed.” You must be faithful in love and friendship; you cannot be indifferent to what is happening in the world. The main character discovers the truth for himself and the readers - only that which is filled with content and deep meaning, into which the soul is invested, is beautiful.
The little prince knows that his rose is the only one because he has “tamed” it.
A rose is a symbol of love and beauty that needs to be grown from a small seed to a beautiful flower.
“I didn’t understand anything then! -admits the Little Prince.- We should have judged not by words, but by deeds. She gave me her scent and illuminated my life. I shouldn't have run... Behind these pitiful tricks and tricks, I should have guessed tenderness. The flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young. I didn’t know how to love yet.”
Now he understands that she alone is dearer to him than all the roses in the world. So he sacrifices his life and returns to where he is needed.
Together with the Little Prince, I realized that the meaning of life, first of all, is to learn to love. This science is complex and simple at the same time. If the Lord is in your heart, everything is possible! To truly love means to be tolerant and sensitive, not to find fault with words, and to be able to forgive. I would very much like to complement this thought with the statement of the Apostle Paul:" Love is patient, merciful, love does not envy, love is not arrogant, is not proud, is not rude, does not seek its own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends".
And thanks to The Little Prince, I also realized that “they only die for what is worth living for”...
What are the main guidelines that will help me better understand the problem of the meaning of life that I took away from this book?
- « You can't see the most important thing with your eyes. Only the heart is vigilant."
- Everything around us - from a blade of grass to a person - is alive, filled
Mysterious life - just stop and listen.
- Truly valuable is the desired sip of water, the thirst for human communication, the one and only rose, friendship, love for a person, mutual understanding, mercy, enjoyment of the beauty of nature.
- “We are responsible for those we have tamed.”
- To tame - to create bonds of love, unity of souls.
- To tame means to bind oneself to another creature with love, care and responsibility.
- “You got up in the morning, washed your face, put yourself in order - and immediately put your planet in order.”
- You need to work every day to fill your soul with light and keep it pure.
- You should not give in to the blues and resentment towards others, but learn to feel the movements of your soul and follow them.
- “They only die for what is worth living for.”
- Only that which is filled with content and deep meaning, into which the soul is invested, is beautiful.
6. Language of the work
The language of the fairy tale attracts with its amazing richness and variety of techniques. It is melodic (“...And at night I like to listen to the stars. Like five hundred million bells...”), simple and unusually accurate. This is the language of memories, dreams and thoughts:
“...When I was six years old... I once saw an amazing
picture..." or: "...It's been six years since my friend and the lamb
left me." This is the language of tradition, legend, parable. Stylistic manner - the transition from image to generalization, from parable to morality - is a characteristic feature of Saint-Exupery's writing talent.
The language of his work is natural and expressive: “laughter is like a spring in the desert,” “five hundred million bells.” It would seem that ordinary, familiar concepts suddenly acquire a new original meaning for him: “water”, “fire”, “friendship”, etc. Many of his metaphors are equally fresh and natural: “they (volcanoes) sleep deep underground, until one of them decides to wake up”; the writer uses paradoxical combinations of words that you won’t find in ordinary speech: “children should be very lenient towards adults”, “if you go straight and straight, you won’t get far...” or “people no longer have enough time to learn anything "
Thanks to such features of language, known truths are perceived in a new way, their true meaning is revealed, forcing readers to think: is the familiar always the best and correct.
In the language of the fairy tale one can find many traditional concepts about goodness, justice, common sense, characteristic of folklore; it contains ancient mythological overtones. Thus, the Snake conceals the mystery of life and death, light is the circle of human warmth, communication and intimacy. Peculiar and narrative style stories. The author seems to be having a confidential and sincere conversation with the reader, reflecting on the essence of human existence. We feel the constant invisible presence of the author, who passionately desires to change life on earth and believes that the kingdom of goodness and reason will come. We can talk about a peculiar melody of the narrative, sad and thoughtful, built on soft transitions from humor to serious thoughts, on halftones, transparent and light, like watercolor illustrations of a fairy tale, created by the writer himself and being an integral part of the artistic fabric of the work.
Understanding the wisdom of life, the little hero simultaneously teaches a moral lesson to adults, to all people in general. The moral beauty of love, friendship, happiness and human life is revealed to the characters and readers by the end of the story.
In essence, we have before us a reimagined plot of the parable of the Prodigal Son, in which lost adults listen to the words of the child.
7. Images-symbols of a fairy tale
The images written in the tradition of a romantic philosophical fairy tale are deeply symbolic. The images are precisely symbolic, since we can only guess what the author wanted to say and interpret each image depending on personal perception. The main symbolic images are the Little Prince, Fox, Rose and desert.
The Little Prince is a symbol of a person - a wanderer in the Universe, looking for the hidden meaning of things and his own life.
The desert is a symbol of spiritual thirst. It is beautiful because springs are hidden in it, which only the heart helps a person to find.
The narrator suffers an accident in the desert - this is one of the plot lines in the story, its background.
He finds himself face to face with the dead desert, the sands. The Little Prince, an alien from the “planet of childhood,” helps him see what is true and what is false in life. Therefore, the meaning of this image in the work is special - it is similar x-ray, helping a person see what is hidden from the superficial gaze. Therefore, the theme of childhood with its unclouded view, crystal clear and clear consciousness and freshness of feelings occupies a central place in the story. Truly, “the truth speaks through the mouth of a child.”
“...Do you know why the desert is good?” - the Little Prince asks the pilot. And he himself answers: “Somewhere in it springs are hidden...” A well in the desert, water - this is another important image-symbol for Saint-Exupery, filled with deep philosophical content. Water is the fundamental principle of life, the source of all existence, the ability to restore, regenerate, a source of strength that gives immortality. In legends, water was guarded by dragons; in Saint-Exupéry, it was guarded by the desert. The author believes that “springs are hidden” in every person; you just need to be able to find them and open them.
The water that the heroes find turns out to be not ordinary water: “It was born from long journey under the stars, from the creaking of a gate, from the effort of hands... She was like a gift to the heart...” This allegory is not difficult to understand: we are all driven by faith and the desire to find this pure spring, this life truth, which is protected by the author and the Little Prince - each of a kind.
The theme of hidden springs and the author’s belief in their existence give the ending of the fairy tale-parable an optimistic sound. The story contains a powerful creative, sublime pathos; the moral principle in it does not oppose the life aspirations of the heroes, but, on the contrary, merges with the general orientation of the work.
15 people aged 16-17 years were interviewed.
The main leitmotif of mental development in this adolescence is the formation of a new, still rather unstable self-awareness, an attempt to understand oneself and one’s capabilities. This age is usually called transitional. At this time, the formation of a person’s personality and character takes place, a reassessment of life guidelines, the teenager searches for himself and learns about the adult world.
Having learned the opinion of my comrades, I decided to ask the same questions to teachers (age category from 30 to 45 years), and compare the opinions of students and teachers. And this is what I got.
- When was the first time you thought about the meaning of life? What caused this?
Students | Answers | Number of people |
1. Relatively recently, at 14–15 years old. | ||
2. In childhood, at 7-8 years old. | ||
3. Didn't think about the meaning of life. | ||
Reasons: death loved one, tragic family circumstances, choice future profession(graduation). | ||
Teachers | 1. In the last grades of school, at 16–17 years old. | |
2. In childhood, at 10–11 years old. | ||
3.In my youth. | ||
Reasons: death of a loved one, tragic family circumstances, choice of future profession (finishing school), books read. |
Most of the two age categories thought about the problem of the meaning of life in high school. And this, in my opinion, is not surprising, because finishing school is the beginning of adult life. During this period, the teenager must decide what to devote his life to and outline value guidelines.
Another reason why most respondents thought about the meaning of life was the death of a loved one or tragic family circumstances. This is a good enough reason, because death loved one or family problems are always something sudden and depressing. But at the same time, this is also an impetus to think about your actions, the days you have lived and what is worth continuing to live for. I tried for a long time to remember when I thought about this question. Since childhood, I have loved reading and drawing; probably, it was these hobbies that developed my ability to think.
2.What helps you not to despair in difficult life situations?
situations?
Of course, the most popular answer to this question is the support of loved ones. And I admit that I am glad, this is exactly so. After all, loneliness is, in most cases, a painful human condition that leads to negative consequences.
I believe that the other answers to this question are also important. After all, for me, willpower, faith, humor and hope for the best are faithful helpers in the fight against life problems, troubles and blues.
3. Health, friends.
I was pleased with the fact that for both teachers and students, in most cases, family is one of the main aspects in the concept of “meaning of life.” After all, the family is a unit of society, a significant component of a strong country.
In my opinion, the concepts of “hobbies” and “self-realization” have some kinship, because a person wants to do what he likes to do. This means that, self-realizing in what he loves, he will do his job better.
Health is not the most important, although it is also a fairly significant aspect. This probably depends to some extent on our mentality. The Russian person has amazing ability to dedication and dedication to your work. On the one hand this good feature, but on the other hand, an increase in work volumes often has a detrimental effect on health.
For me, the meaning of life is revealed by such words as a strong family, love for people and the world around them, hobbies (self-realization), faith in God and the intimacy of life.
4.Name historical figures, heroes of literary works that you can imitate (without fanaticism), from whom you can learn.
students | 1. I don't imitate anyone. | |
2. Literary heroes (Jane Eyre, A. Stolz) | ||
3. Historical figures (Joan of Arc, Suvorov, Kutuzov, F. Ushakov, Yu. Gagarin) | ||
Teachers | 1. Historical figures (M. Lomonosov, Yu. Gagarin, Seraphim of Sarov, Catherine II, N. Nekrasov) | |
2. Literary heroes (Pavel Korchagin, d’Artagnan, A. Maresyev) | ||
3. I don't imitate anyone. |
A large number of my classmates believe that you should not imitate anyone. I think this fact is somewhat ambiguous. On the one hand, it’s good that teenagers don’t want to blindly follow someone. They themselves try to stand out from the crowd and not be like someone else. But, in my opinion, they treated this issue critically. You can imitate in different ways. Perhaps, due to their age, they simply have not yet found that person from whom they can learn something, or they do not want to find one yet, trying to live by their principles. Perhaps we can also say here about a reluctance to think, and about the lack of a certain amount of knowledge.
I was pleased that other classmates named different historical figures, literary heroes from whom you can learn something.
I can name many literary heroes and historical figures who deserve attention. If we use examples from literature, I would name Alexei Karamazov (his pure soul and love for people), the St. Petersburg dreamer (for his ability to see beauty and life in everything) and, of course, the Little Prince (surprisingly wise and kind).
9. Conclusion
Exupery forces the reader to change the angle of view on familiar phenomena. It leads to the comprehension of obvious truths: you cannot hide the stars in a jar and count them pointlessly, you need to take care of those for whom you are responsible and listen to the voice of your own heart. Everything is simple and complex at the same time.
“On your planet,” said the Little Prince, “people grow five thousand roses in one garden... and do not find what they are looking for...
They don’t find it,” I agreed.
But what they are looking for can be found only in one single rose, a sip of water..."
It is important that children remember this truth and not ignore the main thing - one must be faithful in love and friendship, one must listen to the voice of the heart, one cannot be indifferent to what is happening in the world, one cannot be passive towards evil, everyone is responsible not only for your own destiny, but also for the destiny of another person.
The main thing that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wanted to convey to the reader, he was able to fit into one book. I love The Little Prince for its inexhaustible idea of love, love of life and all living things. You need to read books like this because they make you think, they make you human soul live. Read and reread the fairy tale “The Little Prince” at different times and at any age. Draw from this bottomless well the life-giving moisture of wisdom for your spiritual improvement.
A man lives an ordinary life. Sometimes he is like a hardworking ant: he works until exhaustion, taking care of his daily bread, while sometimes forgetting to look at the stars. But still, the human soul feels that earthly things are transitory, temporary, and therefore, albeit subconsciously, each of us strives to understand why and for what he lives. And all of man’s guesses about this being, all of his attempts to get closer to this being, all of his aspirations to penetrate its secret are, in fact, a huge question asked of heaven. Thousands of questions, thousands of attempts and thousands of guesses...
An instant gift, a wonderful gift,
Life, why were you given to us?
The mind is silent, but the heart is clear:
Life for Life is given to us...
10. Literature
1.A. de Saint-Exupéry. A little prince. – M., 2007.
2.R. Januskevicius, O. Januskevicien. Fundamentals of morality. Textbook for schoolchildren and students. – M., 2002.
1975.
4. The meaning of life in Russian philosophy, late XIX- beginning of the 20th century SPb.:
The science. St. Petersburg ed. firm, 1995. - P. 12, 218
5. Solovyov V. S. Justification of good. M.: Republic, 1996. - pp. 29-30,
189-193, 195-196.
6. Trubetskoy E. N. The meaning of life. Moscow, 1998
7. Frank S. L. The meaning of life. Berlin, 1995
8. Sherdakov V. N.. The meaning of life as a philosophical and ethical problem //
Philosophical Sciences. 1985. No. 2.