Philosophical View of the Little Prince Essay

Sartre believes that most relationship start out not because they are attracted to one another, but it is because of how one makes the other feel about himself/herself by how the other looks at him/her. They need each other in order to see themselves by basing it on the look of the other. This arrangement is often mistakenly known as love but it is really just both participants being enslaved by the look of the other that they feel the need to prove that they have control over the look. According to Sartre, love is the first attitude that one develops towards the other. But with this so-called â€Å"love†, one tries to understand the other’s freedom while also trying to preserve his freedom, thus creating conflict between the two participants. The paper will focus on love and the self-other relation through the story of the Little Prince. Through this book, the real essence of love is to be explained in line with the self-other relation. The concept of â€Å"The Lookâ €  will be used to explain the conflict of the characters in the story, especially the story of the rose and the Little Prince. â€Å"The Look† is to see yourself how others see you. You are conscious of your existence because you are aware that others see you. The book of The Little Prince tells us the story of a pilot who crashed and was stranded in the desert – which is also a personal experience of the author – where he meets the Little Prince. The Little Prince tells the pilot about his journeys and his experiences. The paper intends to tackle love and the self-other relation through the Little Prince, The Little Prince’s journeys, and the Pilot himself. In relation to love and the self-other relation, the story of the rose and the Little Prince is a good example to explain the real essence of love. The Little Prince’s love for his planet is to be given emphasis in this paper in line with him being the caretaker of it. Also, the paper will talk about the journey of the Little Prince and use this to explain why adults do not see what is deep inside but sees what is on the surface. The Pilot’s low opinion of adults will be explained through the self-other relation based on the experiences of the Little Prince in his journey. Lastly, the conversation between the fox and the Little Prince will be singled out to full answer and explain why we are responsible for the one/s we love. â€Å"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.† Using the quote, the real essence of love is to be explained and reason out the conflicting feelings of the Little Prince towards the rose before and after his conversation with the fox. HOW IMPORTANT WAS THE ROSE TO THE LITTLE PRINCE? WHY DID THE LITTLE PRINCE LEAVE HIS PLANET? The Little Prince sees himself as the caretaker of Asteroid B-612 because that is his home. The asteroid is so tiny that he can watch the sunset forty-four times in a single day. His whole existence, his life has been nothing but a bore, doing the same thing every single day. He watches every seed that sprouts out of the ground making sure that those seeds are not Baobabs and are not a threat to his home. He does nothing but makes sure that the Baobabs are taken out every time they start to sprout so that they would not destroy his home. Until one day, a peculiar seed shot up from the ground and he worried that this might be a new kind of Baobabs but it ended up being a flower he has never seen before; a rose so beautiful that he could not restrain his admiration. For the first time, he felt like he had another purpose in the planet and that is to love and protect the rose from harm. The Little Prince took care of the rose by watering it, protecting it from the wind, and from other p otential harm. Through the rose, the Little Prince saw himself as something much more than he was before the rose came. It was like the rose gave him another reason to exist. He needed the rose to realize his own importance and to seek another meaning for his existence. For example, when Lestat turned Louis into a vampire, he was happy because he found a friend, he knew that Louis needed him and that gave his vampire-existence meaning. Louis needed Lestat as a friend, as a teacher, and a lover. A friend in terms of giving each other company, as a teacher since he is new to this life, and a lover because Lestat makes and tells Louis that he is a beautiful creature – no one is to be compared to Louis beauty. Lestat, knowing that Louis needs him, makes him feel like he is important and suddenly, there is more than just being a vampire. In relation to the story of the Little Prince and the rose, the Little Prince felt his importance because he knew that the rose needed him to survive. Without him, the cold winds of the night would just take the rose away, ending its life. The Little Prince knew this so he took care of the rose very well because he cannot afford to lose the rose. He was attached to it and he knew that he loved the rose. The rose makes him feel very special and he sees himself as the caretaker of it because the rose sees him as its caretaker. He finds the definition of his being through the rose and when he started doubting the rose because he caught it lying, he also doubted his being. He felt like that him, being the caretaker and the lover of the rose, is not the real him because the rose lied to him and the rose could be lying to him the whole time. He could not see himself as the caretaker, the friend, and the lover of the rose because he also started doubting himself when he started doubting the rose. He also questioned his â€Å"love† for the rose and said â€Å"†¦but I was too young to know to love her†. He started doubting his knowledge about love when at the start, it was already evident that he knew about love because of how he took care of his planet and the more when the rose arrived. He saw himself as the rose saw him so when the rose lied to him, he saw himself as nothing. He felt like the rose didn’t see him as someone special because it lied to him and so he saw himself as nothing special. This led him to leave his dear planet but he didn’t leave without putting everything in order. Even before it leaving it, he still showed love for his planet and to the rose even if he himself doubts his own love. He needed to see himself in another way aside from how the rose sees him and he hoped to find this through his journey. WHY DO ADULTS TEND TO SEE WHAT IS ON THE SURFACE INSTEAD OF WHAT LIES BENEATH ACCORDING TO THE PILOT? HOW IS THIS EVIDENT BASED ON THE LITTLE PRINCE’S JOURNEYS? â€Å"I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.† The Pilot’s notion about the adults never changed. He always sees adults as ones who need constant explanations for them to be able to understand things. The adults only see what they think is important to society and they tend to neglect what is deep inside. Take the Turkish astronomer for an example, when he presented his findings in his local attire, the adults made fun of him and did not believe him. But when he changed what he was wearing into something more acceptable and presented the exact same thing, the adults believed him and accepted his findings. The Turkish changed his appearance because he needed the society to accept him and for this to happen, he needed to change. He saw himself as someone worthless and someone to be made fun of just because the others saw his works worthless and made fun of him. He was not a Turkish astronomer without his audience accepting his works. Also, in the Little Prince’s journey where he met the King. The King saw himself as the King of everything because he believes that that is his purpose. His commands are already what the people are expected to do. He sees himself as king because he thinks that he controls the stars, by commanding them to shine, and they do of course because they are stars – but the stars, being the other, is a very important factor in the King’s self because through the stars â€Å"obeying† his command, he believes that he has rule over them, therefore he is king. Same as the other people or things he thinks that he has control over just because he is already commanding them something they are supposed to do. The Little Prince’s visit on the planet of the conceited man was very short for the conceited man does not know anything but to be admired. Without his admirers, he is nothing. To be able to be vain, he needed constant admiration from the visitors of his planet. The Little Prince simply did not understand why the conceited man needed to be admired. The Tippler, on the other hand, cannot live without his bad drinking habits because that is what makes him the â€Å"tippler†. If he chose not to drink ever again, then he would no longer need alcohol and then he would lose sense of what he really is for being a tippler is what he has been his whole life. The businessman, who counted stars because he thinks that by doing this he owns them and could buy more if any are to be discovered, knew nothing but to count stars. Again, without the stars, he is nothing. There is nothing else to count that would require a lifetime. He found his being through the stars and by doing so, he felt like he owned the stars and is responsible for them. By doing so, he took away his own freedom by obsessing over the stars and letting the stars control his life. The Little Prince’s visit to the lamp lighter was different because according to him, the lamp lighter was not absurd like the others. The lamp lighter was faithful to his orders and he knew what he was doing and it served a purpose. To light the lamp at night means to give light in darkness, and to put it out in daylight because there already is light. The lamp lighter’s lamp is the Little Prince’s rose. The lamp lighter is responsible for the lamp the same way the Little Prince is responsible for his rose. The geographer was just like the others whose job is a little bit absurd. He is a geographer but has not explored any planet, even his. He just sat behind his desk and writes whatever his explorers have for him. All of the Little Prince’s visits, the adults spoke of the same thing: â€Å"matters of consequence†. The adults only saw what is important to the eye because through this, they find themselves important too. They think of the material things because this has value – concrete value – and to own something with great value means being one of great value too. This is all evident because they are all concerned with matters of consequence. The adults do not see what is beneath because they worry about how caring about something foolish would make them foolish and they cannot let see others see them foolish because then, being foolish would be their identifier. The adults concern themselves with only important things so that others would see them as important and they only see themselves as important because others see them that way. WHY ARE WE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ONE/S WE LOVE? †The Little Prince asked,â€Å" What is it to tame?† The fox replies, â€Å"It is to establish ties†¦ to me, you are nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys and I have no need of you†¦ But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in the entire world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world.†Ã¢â‚¬  In this dialogue between the fox and the Little Prince, the fox explains to the Little Prince the value of taming one. He explained that through taming, you are able to establish a relationship with each other. Because of this, the Little Prince was enlightened on how the rose is still unique even if he found a garden of rose in the desert. He took care of the rose until it grew and they established a relationship. They needed each other. The Little Prince needed the rose because he was the one who nurtured it and the rose needed the Little Prince because it needs someone to nurtur e itself. He realized that all the other roses are â€Å"beautiful but empty†. He knew that his rose is beautiful and unique because they share something that the other roses do not have. They have love for each other and they have given each other the gift of friendship. His love makes him responsible for the rose because it was his love for it that started the attachment. He encouraged the rose to depend on him and by showing it that he will always be there to protect and nurture it, hence him being responsible for it’s safety and existence. When you start to love someone, by showing your care and affection for him/her, you are somehow taming him/her, therefore making you responsible for him/her. With this realization, the Little Prince was happy because he knew that what the rose told him was not really a lie and so he saw himself again as someone special; special because he is responsible for the rose, which is of great value for him for he has tamed it. Not only did the Little Prince learn about the important of his rose and his own importance, he also learned about love. The thing he thought he was too young to know of, is now something he knows best about. â€Å"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.† The Little Prince’s mind is now clear of his doubts for the rose. He now knows why the rose is very important to him. â€Å"It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.† â€Å"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose.† The Little Prince kept repeating this to himself so that he would no longer forget and doubt the rose’s uniqueness, causing him to also forget and doubt his. CONCLUSION Love and the self-other relation was the explained through the story of The Little Prince. Three main arguments were presented: (1) the rose’s importance to the Little Prince and his reason for leaving his planet, (2) the probable reason why adults only see what is on the exterior and not what is inside, and (3) to give explanation on our responsibility towards the people we love. To explain the rose’s importance to the Little Prince, the Little Prince as the caretaker of his planet was used to why the rose’s existence changed his. He was just a simple prince; taking care of his planet until a flower of such beauty arrived and he had another purpose in the planet. This newfound purpose was used to elaborate why the Little Prince felt the need to leave his planet and clear his mind of his doubts. The journey of the Little Prince and his stories about the different habitants of each planet he visited were used to reason out the adults’ way of perceiving things, in line with the self-other relation and through the use of â€Å"The Look†. Finally, the last part of the paper explains one’s responsibility for the things or people he/she loves through the wise words of the fox to the Little Prince. The quote, â€Å"you become responsible for what you have tamed†, was used to explain why exactly are you responsible for it by aligning it with why the rose is that much of important to the Little Prince. In summary, love and the self-other relation are closely related because â€Å"love† is the first attraction that develops towards the other. Some just find conflict with the other because they let the look consume their freedom too much that they often confuse their feelings for it for something else. References: 1. Antoine de Saint-Exupà ©ry, The Little Prince (London: Egmont Books Limited, 2002), 5-89. 2. Noelle L. de la Cruz, Sartre on being-for-others & Interview with a Vampire (1994) (presentation at De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines, November 19, 2012). 3. Foxfoo, The Little Prince-Personal Footnotes, http://foxfoo.blogspot.com/2008/01/little-prince-personal-footnotes.html (January, 2008).