Broken man as mirrored in the Little Prince and Hope for the Flowers

Abstract

Literature has been one of the ways in which man tries to deliver thoughts and ideas about man’s situation and man’s dilemma. It is a vehicle where man can express his feelings, experience, emotions, and thoughts in life. Stories aim to deliver the meaning by finding the significant connection to a situation. Almost all people regardless of age are fond of listening to and reading stories. Stories can serve as a powerful device to deliver thoughts. People are moved by stories; the mystery beyond the meaning of the story is the possibility of change. Even one story can have the effect of changing a person's life. These thoughts embedded in stories are weaved to form a philosophy which is fundamental in man's quest for meaning. In this study, the researcher employed the philosophy of Existentialism. This philosophical thought, which emerged in the twentieth century, recognizes the importance of feelings and emotion in the individual. It is considered as a reaction against traditional philosophies, such as-rationalism and empiricism, which seek to discover an ultimate order in the structure of the observed world, and thereby discover ultimate meaning. This study is based on two children's book namely, "The - Little Prince" and "Hope for the flowers." The book "The Little Prince" presents a child's view of the world, of the purpose of human life and of relations between people, while "Hope for the Flowers" is about the struggle of two caterpillars in becoming a butterfly. To find the meaning of life is to shape one's life. It will give a person a sense of fulfillment and direction as an individual person, as a man. As the German philosopher Nietzsche (1966) stated "he who has a Why.to live for can bear with almost any How." This study does not show that human existence as such is meaningful. Instead, it aims to show that human quest should be towards finding and realizing the meaning of human existence This thesis entitled Broken Man as Mirrored in the Little Prince and Hope for the Flowers sought to analyze the aforementioned books in the context of existentialism. This thesis rests on the assumption that modern man is broken or fragmented-not just in the physical but also in the emotional, spiritual, and symbolic level. Using the two books "The Little Prince" and "Hope for the Flowers", the study aimed to mirror human dilemma and show how modern man became fragmented. This study of the books by Antoine De Saint-Exupery and Trina Paulus, made use of the formalistic approach. Applying the existentialist point of view, the researcher presented the similarities between the characters and situations from the two books to present day attitudes and situations. The researcher used passages, characters and situations from the book to support the main ideas and views. Using Gabriel Marcell's "Primary and Secondary Reflection," the researcher made use of philosophical and psychological theories from different philosophers to address the existential themes from the two books. Martin Buber's "I-Thou" was used as a foundation for the discussion of "Relations." The Psychological-Existential theories of Erich Fromm, Viktor Frankl, and Rollo May were used to support the view of brokenness and fragmentation of modern man. This thesis specifically discussed the existentialist motifs portrayed in the two books, "The Little Prince" and "Hope for the Flowers." It also analyzed the worldviews held by selected characters from the two books. Presented below is a recapitulation of the main points that were analyzed and discussed in the study. 1. The following are the World Views found in Hope for the Flowers and The Little Prince as represented by the different characters: a. Children's Worldview- The Little Prince, the Pilot, and the Fox. b. Grown-Up's Worldview- Grown-ups, the King, the vain man, the Businessman, the Geographer, and the Pilot. c. Childish Worldview- The Rose, The Little Prince, and the King. d. Duty-Bound Worldview- The Lamplighter e. Existentialist Worldview- Stripe, Yellow, the Grey haired caterpillar, the Little Prince, the Pilot, and the Fox. f. Conformist Worldview- Stripe, Yellow, and the Crowd of caterpillars. g. Pessimistic Worldview- the Boababs, and the Tippler. 2. The existentialist motifs that portray the brokenness of man in the Little Prince and Hope for the Flowers were the following: a. Alienation-described as estrangement, mental or emotional detachment, the state of not being involved. This was evident in the character of the Pilot in the Little Prince and the character of Stripe in Hope for the Flowers. Alienation as embodied in the "I-It" relationship coined by Martin Buber was seen in the attitudes of the King and the Businessman in the Little Prince. b. Boredom-a reactive state of emotion that I interprets the condition of one's environment as wearingly dull due to repetitive, non-existent, or tedious stimuli. This motif was evident in the initial mindset and behavior of Stripe, one of the protagonists in Hope for the Flowers. In the Little Prince, it is the character named Tippler who has lost his sense of meaning and instead of doing something productive with his life, he drinks away his time rendering him captive to boredom and its vicious cycle. c. Anxiety-being afraid when there is nothing to fear. Anxiety was seen in the character of Yellow in Hope for the Flowers as she becomes torn between her old life as a caterpillar and her desire to become a butterfly. She however conquered her anxiety and was able to eventually metamorphose into a butterfly. Tippler, a character from the Little Prince on the other hand, was not able to face his anxiety constructively and wasted his time by constantly worrying and getting drunk. d. Freedom and Choice- Existentialists believe that it is when one starts to choose freely for one's self can one's life become meaningful. This motif was predominantly seen in the character of Yellow and Stripe in 'Hope For the Flowers' and the Little Prince in the 'The Little Prince'. They became authentic individuals because they lived according to their own free choices and not merely according to what a majority of individuals are doing or dictating. Based on the findings, the following conclusions are 1. Man's life is dependent on the worldview he espouses. 2. Man is broken because of his alienation, boredom, anxiety, freedom, and choice. 3. Man is solely responsible for finding meaning in his own life. Based on the findings, the following are recommended: 1. Further analysis of The Little Prince and Hope for the Flowers utilizing other existentialist motifs could be undertaken to determine the other existentialist thoughts that might still be embedded in the two works. 2. An analysis of other works of literature with the existentialist thought as springboard for literary discourse. 3. A comparative literary analysis could also be undertaken using the existentialist perspective or other philosophical perspectives as approaches. 4. Results of this study may be incorporated in classroom and other literature discussions involving the specific books herein studied.