From Juby to Arras: ‘Engagement’ in Saint-Exupery

This book discusses the concept of engagement (commitment) in the life and works of the French author/pilot Antoine de Saint-ExupEry. This is a literary study concentrating on four major works: Courrier Sud, Vol de nuit, Terre des hommes, and Pilote de guerre. The study opens with a discussion of the influence of World War I on post-war literature, defines engagement, and compares concepts among Saint-ExupEry, Sartre, Camus, Malraux, and Hemingway. Following is an examination of the role of the airplane and flight in the literature of the 1920s and 1930s and an analysis of Saint-ExupEry’s personal experiences as reflected in Courrier Sud and in Vol de nuit. There is a further examination of how the author’s life is mirrored in Terre des hommes and Pilote de guerre. There is a final investigation of certain challenges and inspirations that demonstrate Saint-ExupEry’s view of engagement in relation to the four major topics of his works: nature, the desert, flight, and the enemy.