Antoine De Saint Exupery and the Quest for Truth
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University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1957 Antoine de Saint Exupery and the quest for truth Owen Ardell Wollam The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Wollam, Owen Ardell, "Antoine de Saint Exupery and the quest for truth" (1957). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 1570. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/1570 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ANTOINE DE SAINT EXÜPERY AND THE QUEST PW TRUTH by OWEN ARDELL WOLLAîî B. A, MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY, I 9AC Presented in partial fulfillm ent of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts MONTANA STATS UNIVERSITY 1957 Approved by: r.imonj Board of Ex A Dean, Cïpaduato School Dato UMI Number: EP35363 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. in the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMT Olssartatlon PuUlsNng UMI EP35363 Published by ProQuest LLC (2012). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17. United States Code uest' ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346 TABLE OF CONTENTS Pa-o FORElfARD.................................................................................................... Iv B o te s , V ÎÜ Ghaptor I* BIOGRAPHICAL SICETCH.................................... 1 M otes, 5 I I , CODES IN CONFLICT.............................................................. 6 La vie douce et protéréo, 6 La vie d*action, 9 The Questions, 12 N o te s , 13 I I I . A Î1EANI1IG FOR I^IAN............................................................. 14 The F r a g ilit y o f Man, 14 Salvation tNrourh v.'or!:, 16 The leader, 17 Salvation throurh Creation, 18 N o te s , 20 IV , THE ESSENCE OF MAI. ................................................ 21 Relationships, 21 L’Etendue, 23 T rutli, 24 The R u le s, 25 S p i r i t , 26 K o to s, 29 V, A CODE FOR MAN ........................................... 30 The Individual, 30 The Model, 31 The Code, 34 Civilization, 36 N o te s, 39 - 11- CS^àptor xcs'e V I. TÎÎE IIEGSAGE .......................................................... 4l Surnmary, 4î Conclusions, 44 " O tes, 46 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................... 47 - i l l - FORE',;.iRD Before bo^irnln# t'ls stuCy of Saint 2xupery,^ one nay find it useful to review cone of the critical naterial available, Excepting reviews of particular works, the material is not copious and, much of it appeared before the publication of Saint Exupory's nocthunous work Citadelle, Moreover, of the studies Imovjn to be In existence, few had been done by English v/ritors and few hrd been translated from the French, Of the French works on our c-’t'nor, o e of the most understanding is that of his very close friend, Won Worth, Worth indicates that the life of Saint Exup^ry was a continual search for ”s<5rénitd," but adds that it was 2 "une aspiration toujours d^çue,"" However, the latter part of his assumption is not capable of proof. The depth of our author, it seons, has been rreatly 3 4 underestimated by both Maurois and Fowlie, Eiey botli place him among the adventurers and tend to emphasize his heroism. In the face of Saint hxupcry's explicit and C repeated repudiation of the code of the "toreador," they completely ignore the sensitive, compassionate nature of the man. Certainly, it was this very nature which spurred him to his reappraisal of marihlnd, Armand Hoog seems to agree that Saint Exup^ry was striving for a new meaning for - I v - mankind* for he eaysi "Saint Sxupery a voulu or^er un nou veau mythe de force et de courage de l'Homme."^ André Gide, In hlB prefoce to Vol de nuit, appears to be in accord, for he praises Saint Exupéry for glvln'* us the hero "si suscep tible de tendresse," He adds that %4hat pleases him most, "c'est sa noblesse# Les faiblesses, les abandons, les dé- (üiéancos de 1 *homme, nous l e s co n n a isso n s de r e s t e e t l a littérature de nos Jours n'est que trop habile à les dénon cer J modo ce surpassement de soi qu'obtient lo volonté ten due, c'est là ce que nous pvone surtout besoin qu'on nous - y montre." iCvon Gide is prone to ovorerp’ aslze the heroic tendency. Yves Lévy, in a fine article which appeared in the tTonacnn review, Paru, lias torched the essential mark of the philosophy of Saint Gxupéry when he writes t "Vertu sur humaine? Mais Gaint Exupéry eat l'homme qui plus qi'aucun autre tende à s'inscrire dans l'humain, . • • Il ne s'in téresse pas aux êtres mais plutôt à l'Homme et il fi"'Ira 8 par exalter l'Hoimne," Louis Barjon calls Saint Exuocr;: "l'hommo qui con quiert sa variété." Ke continues by saying that sacrifice is not enough; one must discover the reason for the sacri fice. This reason is the truth which is outside the indi vidual and which gives a value to life; the tri.it’:: .Alch surpasses the individual; truth -hlch is lasting; truth Q Which is the reality found in God. Huguet, in a recent study, says that Srlnt Exupéry 18 ^celui de le quête de l ’absolu, celui de l'attention passionnée à l'homne, et celui de la uarche vers Dieu"; that he has measured the extreme spiritual poverty of hia times and revealed its profoundest aspirations*^^ Daniel Anet stresses "la force» la grandeur et la fécondité d'une philosophie de 1 'acceptation" for the entire species, and adds that the chief characteristic is optimism In his b elief in manJclnd.^^ Luo Estang is a bit more cautious. He ends his study on a tragic note, for he believes that there is "une tristesse exupérienne, quelque sentiment de l'échec en pro- 1 ^ fondeur, malgré les apparences d'une vie comblée." He says that in his continual pursuit of serenity, he never quite reaches his goal. Dr. Georges Pélissier, a good friend of Saint Exupéry, is of essentially the seme opinion. He says that Saint Exupéry "garda toujours une certaine 13 inquiétude spirituelle," An effort was made to obtain Haxi/ell Smith's A 14 ^night of the Air. the only full-length portrait of our author in English, but it did not arrive in tine for this s tu d y . This brief survey shows considerable variation among critics concerning the evaluation of the imrks and thouglit of Saint Exupéry. Suc^ variation is, perhaps, to be 03cpected, since our author seems not to follow/ the trend of Ids time in regard to his attitude toward Han, He, it - V i - appears, believed in a apiritual progress which is denied, at least in part, by many of his contenporaries; to be searching for an inner peace or "eërënltd." To investigate Saint SsEup^ry's search for tiiis "sdr^nité" WAS the original plan of this study. However, there proved to be something greater, more universal» his quest for truth compatible with spiritual progress; for truth iTlilch he could communicate to Man, This quest, then, becaia© the subject of our study. - v l l - NOTES PORSWâRIJ ^ since the traditional spelling of Saint Sxup^ry is vritliout a hyphen, that spellinf, has been followed throurh- o u t . ^h6on V/erth, Tel cme Je I'M. oonnut (Paris* Editions du S e u i l , 1 9 4 9), p, l7^ “ 3 Andrd Maurois, "Antoine de Saint E:a;p(?ry," Etudes L ittéraires. II (New York ; Editions de la Kaison Française, 1944), pp. 153-84. 4 Wallace Powllo, "Kaaoue du héros littéraire, le poète de l ' action* Saint Exupéry," Les OlXivres Nouvelles. IV (New York: Editions de la Haison F*rençaiBC, li^44), p p . 110- 17 , 5 Soe Antoine de Saint Fxi>péry, Pilote de pu erre (Paris* Gallimard, 1942), p. l44, "Los toréadors vivent pour les spectateurs, nous ne ooîanios pas des toréadors." See Antoine de Saint Exupéry, Teri^ dos bonnes (Paris* G alli mard, 1939)» p. 180 , "Les toreadors ne me plaisent ruère." Hero, h® expresses hia diolike for tho "show-off." Here after, references to these works will simply be to Pilote de ruerre and to Terre des hommes. 6 Statem en t made by Dr. Jm ond Hoop o f P rin ceto n in his lectures on "Le Roman Contemporain" at lüddlebury Col le g e d u rin g th e summer o f 1956. Tîie author qu otes from notes Which he took at the lectures, 7 See André Glde's Preface to Antoine de Saint Exu péry 's Vol de nuit (Paris: Gallimard, 1931), p. 11. ^Yves Lévy, "Antoine de Saint Exunéry," Paru. Augwst-Septsmber, 1945, pp. 11-16, 'Louis Barjon, S* J ., "Un homme conquiert sa variété." Etudes. February, 1945, pp. 162-53. ^^Jean Huguet, Saint E^aioéry ou l*Enoel-ne^ont du désert (Paris* La Colombe, T95o), î^ . ”1T8-9, - v i i i - Daniel Anet, Antoine âe s r ln t i n ____ romancier, moraliste (Paris» Sdltions Correa, 1 9^^ pp.