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He got his pilot's license in 1922 and in 1926 he joined the Compagnie Latécoère in Toulouse. He became a commercial pilot and published his first story in 1926. He helped establish airmail routes over French colonies in northwest Africa, the South Atlantic, and South America. Being involved in the nascent airmail industry, he flew in Europe, Africa, and South America. After his military service, he presented himself to the director of an airline company and expressed to him his desire to become a pilot. The director told him to do what everyone else did. First, he had to start of as a mechanic.
Saint-Exupéry worked hard to become a mechanic. In 1927, he finally reached his goal. He was the pilot of a formation. In the 1930s he worked as a test pilot, a publicity man for Air-France, and a reporter for Paris-Soir. He completed dangerous missions over the Mediterranean, over the Sahara. He had many accidents over the middle of the desert. Later, he was named the director of his own aviation company in South America. There also, he accomplished many dangerous missions over the Andes.
For Saint-Exupéry, flying wasn't just piloting an airplane. It was also meditating, reflecting. During his missions, Saint-Exupéry thought deeply about solitude, friendship, the meaning of life, the human condition, and liberty. He published his reflections. His books had immediate success.
Unfortunately, the Aviation Company for which Saint-Exupéry worked was having serious financial problems. Saint-Exupéry had to quit the company. He became a journalist. He went to Spain, Russia, and Germany. He flew when he could.
In 1939, France went to war with Germany. Saint-Exupéry enlisted immediately in the army. Defeat came soon. France was occupied by Hitler's troops. Saint-Exupéry didn't accept the defeat. He decided to leave France. He settled in the United States, where he continued to write. It was in New York that he published The Little Prince, one of his most celebrated books. In 1939, despite permanent disabilities resulting from serious flying accidents, he became a military reconnaissance pilot & when in 1942, American troops landed in North Africa, Saint-Exupéry decided to join the
American army. At age 42, he volunteered to be a pilot. He was told that he was too old. He persisted. Finally he obtained satisfaction. He was given an airplane. He accomplished many missions over occupied France. In 1943 he rejoined the Air Force in North Africa. On the 31st of July 1944,
Saint-Exupéry left for his last mission. On that day, Saint-Exupéry didn't return. In the open sky, he found risk, death, and glory and disappeared over the Mediterranean, apparently because German airplanes destroyed his airplane over the Mediterranean.
His writings reflect his feeling for the open skies and desert, and embody his love of freedom of action. Some of his other works
Courrier Sud (1929, tr. Southern Mail, 1933), Vol de nuit (1931, tr. Night Flight, 1932), and Terre des hommes (1939, tr. Wind, Sand, and Stars, 1939) are impressionistic, poetic narratives expressing a highly personal philosophy that stresses individual responsibility and the life of the mind. Pilote de guerre (1942, tr. Flight to Arras, 1942) tells of a hopeless French
reconnaissance flight in 1940. His fable Le Petit Prince (1943, tr. The Little Prince, 1943) is a classic, read & enjoyed by adults and children alike. |
