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JOSEPH T. McKEON
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Joseph T. McKeon
meaning of life to one man, his destiny, and
through him the meaning of life itself and the
destiny of mankind.
Such is, in broad outline, the metamorphosis of
the myth of the pilot as revealed in the four novels
under discussion. But so broad an outline would
be of relatively small interest without examining
that metamorphosis in more detail.
Undoubtedly, a pilot at the time of SaintExupery was a young man who assumed, in the
eyes of the uninitiated, an impressive posture peculiar to those who practiced a profession to
which few seemed called, and fewer chosen, but all
of whom seemed wreathed in an aura of glory. It
is not surprising that the pen of the young writer
would express in heroic and legendary terms the
qualities of so select a group to which he now belonged. These qualities permeate the early imagery
of Saint-Exupery.It is he who, in the person of the
narrator, accompanies Bernis, the young hero of
Courrier Sud, on a visit to their old school.
Initiates of a new cult, it was now Bernis and the
narrator's turn "d'expliquer Lucrece ou 1'Ecclesiaste et de conseiller," to leap out as it were from
the pages of history to dazzle their old professors:
"les heros qu'ils celebraient depuis toujours, ils les
touchaient enfin du doigt et les ayant enfin connus,
pouvaient mourir. Ils parlerent de Jules Cesar."2
Heroic historicity then gives way to a sorcerous
mood. Back in Paris on several days' leave, Bernis
cannot help but contrast his life with the monotonous life of his friends where each day seems like
every other day: "Tous etaient prisonniers d'euxmemes, limites par ce frein obscur et non comme
lui, ce fugitif, cet enfant pauvre, ce magicien"
(pp. 37-38). Evasion is one element of a double
leitmotif that orchestrates the story of Courrier
Sud and sounds the counterpoint of a compulsive
nameless search on the part of its hapless hero. It
would seem to presage an unfulfilled spiritual
search that was to mark Saint-Exupery'sown life.
For the moment, the magical power that lies
within the grasp of the aviator derives from a profession that permits him to escape the ordinaryand
vulgar, to search for life's treasure. It is thus that
Bernis, in a letter to the narrator, characterizes
himself, "tu me connais, cette hate de repartir, de
chercher plus loin ce que je pressentais et ne
comprenais pas, car j'etais ce sorcier dont le
coudrier tremble et qu'il promene sur le monde
jusqu'au tresor" (p. 43).
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vol, et vers la ville immense, descendraient lentement de leur ciel d'orage ou de paix, comme
d'etranges paysans descendent de leurs montagnes" (p. 11). One must note in any case that
the image "d'etranges paysans" is far removed
from its usual connotation. They are strange
peasants in the sense of being otherworldly, and
they seem to quit the heights they normally inhabit
with a certain reluctance if not condescension, to
live but a while amongst men. Thus, in place of
introducing in Vol de nuit a new tone thanks to a
new image, one more subdued and more moderate
such as might be expected in the image of the
peasant, Saint-Exupery sustains the myth of the
pilot on its original idealistic plane.
If in Terre des hommesthe element of the fabulous does not entirely disappear it is remarkably
attenuated and is indicative of the subtle but defi-
. . .
Je ne regrette
terrain se rapprochait, mais ce vieil omnibus branlant n'etait plus qu'une chrysalide grise dont
l'homme sortirait transfigure"(p. 19).
Recollections of earlier days inevitably evince
the nostalgia of the author, reveal the spirit of
high adventure that marked that part of his life,
and are almost all clothed in the imagery of the
fantastic: "La magie du metier m'ouvre un mode
ou j'affronterai .
JosephT. McKeon
nuit venue, delivre, je lirai mon chemin dans les
astres" (pp. 23-24).
Like Bernis of CourrierSud, Saint-Exupery experiences the occasional forced landing either in
the desert or at the intermediate landing fields
where the pilots are received "comme des envoyes
du ciel," or "des beaux messagers." Like the old
sergeant of the first novel, the sergeant that SaintExupery himself meets regards pilots as "des dieux
perpetuellement en marche." These constitute the
last allusion made in this vein in the ever-changing
myth of the pilot. A new element in both tone and
imagery is introduced.
The tone remains intense if more somber and
muted, the imagery, if less grandiose, no less
singular. In placing the pilot in a new context implied by the image of the savant, it is clear that
Saint-Exupery is perfectly aware of certain possibilities inherent in the nature of flight. It is interesting to note that these possibilities have been
realized in a manner that is as practicable as it is
spectacular.6Saint-Exupery'sforesight is revealed
in his discussion on "l'avion et la planete" in
which he indicates to what extent the airplane has
enlarged our knowledge of the earth. For the first
time man, freed to move in another dimension in
space, can see the true face of the earth: "Nous
voila changes en physiciens, en biologistes, examinant ces civilisations qui ornent des fonds de
vallees, et, parfois par miracles, s'epanouissent
comme des parcs la ou le climat les favorise"
(Terre des hommes, p. 69).
It is not only our physical and spatial vantage
point that has been changed; our moral and historical appreciation of man undergoes a significant
modification: "Nous voila donc jugeant l'homme
a l'echelle cosmique, l'observant a travers nos
hublots, comme a travers des instruments d'etude,
nous voila relisant notre histoire" (p. 69). But behind the detached image of the biologist studying
his slide under the microscope hovers the pilot
ever aware of the terrible possibilities of the role
he plays. The character of flight apparently so detached in its perspective of the earth can change
brutally and abruptly. It is then that the tranquillity of the imagery is shattered. What was moments
before but a simple play of microbes can become
by the sheer force of fate an environment into
which the pilot is suddenly plunged and from
which there is no escape. It is to that kind of
eventuality that we owe one of the most charming
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stories of Terre des hommes, the meeting of SaintExupery with the young girls who tame snakes.7
However, the real merit of the pilot and the
grandeur of his profession are clothed in humbler
imagery, the forms of which are simpler in line,
more modest in proportion. The most poignant of
these refers to the death of Mermoz, lost over the
middle of the South Atlantic: "I1nous a bien fallu
comprendre que nos camarades ne rentreraient
plus, qu'ils reposaient dans cet Atlantique-Sud
dont ils avaient si souvent laboure le ciel. Mermoz,
decidement, s'etait retranchederriereson ouvrage,
pareil au moissonneur qui, ayant bien lie sa gerbe,
se couche dans son champ" (pp. 39-40).
The same thought is expressed in the person of
his friend Guillaumet whose greatest quality is
revealed in the image "du charpentierqui s'installe
d'egal en face de sa piece de bois . . . et, loin de la
traiter a la legere rassemblea son propos toutes ses
vertus" (p. 46). Thus in the final analysis the true
merit of the pilot is revealed not in the extraordinary qualities that the risks and exigencies of his
work would seem to demand but rather in the
most fundamental quality any work demands of
all men, to be first and last a man: "etre un
homme, c'est precisement etre responsable." It is
in the same vein that Saint-Exupery employs the
image of the tree when he alludes to his friendship
with Guillaumet, "il fait partie des etres larges qui
acceptent de couvrir de larges horizons de leur
feuillage" (p. 59).
The humble image of the laborer reinforces the
impression the author gives us of an emotion
stripped now of its former pretentiousness. And in
order to underline and emphasize this rapprochement of the innate dignity of man and that of his
work, whatever form that work may take, SaintExupery speaks of the death of a gardeneras of an
irreplaceable loss: "C'est sentir, en posant sa
pierre, que l'on contribue a batir le monde" (p. 59).
And it is by the same care and devotion that the
gardener brings in spading the earth, in trimming
the trees, that the pilot realizes the greatest fulfillment in his vocation. At this point, the thoughts of
Saint-Exupery are such that the myth of the pilot
begins to fade before the image of man, for in the
last novel, Pilote de guerre,the pilot, in spite of the
plot, is present only as an intermediary to plead
the cause of mankind.
Thus, it is not surprising that4 the imagery
through which the myth of the pilot can be traced
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Ma conscience est en
Joseph T. McKeon
cepted the thankless role of a "menagere" the
image of the pilot emerges, the dross of all exaggeration burned completely away, a man thankful
to be able once more to rejoin his own in "l'homme
commune mesure des peuples et des races," in a
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Notes
1 Leon Werth, La Vie de Saint-Exupe'ry (Paris: Editions
. .
. The experi-