Literary Journal - 1 : The Little Prince (1/2)

  
   Like many others say, it was hard to understand The Little Prince fully when I first read it. It is quite surprising to me many times I find this book in children's section at local bookstores. Though it was an entertaining reading when I first read the book more than ten years ago, it took a while to really understand what the story really wanted to say.
   To me, the "little prince" was a heroic figure. Well, first of all, he is not from this planet. And as many other kids did, I have been always admiring the space outside this planet and the power of universe. The prince always looked like a coolest kid to me. But as I grew up, I started to forget about my childhood dreams and fantasies. And I one day found myself trying to fit myself into this world. It is really depressing when you realize you are becoming more and more realistic. You forget how to dream.
   Although many people consider (I really don't know why, but they do) this story as children's book, I am certain this work is one of the greatest literary achievement of the last century.
 Probably what most people would think of when they hear "The Little Prince" is the picture above. The little prince tried to draw a snake eating an elephant. But not very surprisingly, the picture looks like a hat. He does and says things most people don't do. In other words, he is totally "nonsense." But that is what makes him so special. His rejection to compromise with the dominating thoughts of the rest emphasizes how pure this character is. He absolutely has no mask. He is purity itself. He doesn't try to hide a bit of his feelings or try to achieve anything. Perhaps he is too young and ignorant to understand or pursue anything, but being young and ignorant is not always a bad thing.
   I realize as we grow up, we tend to think too much. Thoughts dominate our bodies. Not many people are motivated by their original feelings but they want to run their life the exact way they want and design. Like Sartre said, human existence preceeds essence. But a lot of us try to set the essence first and let the existence follow. When I think about the path of life, we come empty handed and leave empty handed. My flesh will deteriorate into the soil and become a handful of dirt. But my spirit and soul will not perish.(sounds very grandiose but true) So I don't have to and don't necessarily want to care about the earthly matters.