Man, Objectivism and the World : an objectivist analysis of Saint-Exupéry's Wind, Sand and Stars

Man, his ideals and place in this world is a constant question for all people.How should man act in accordance with others? How should he perceivereality and himself? This essay attempts to answer these questions by lookingat Terre des Hommes (Wind, Sand and Stars) by the author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) with an Objectivist perspective (the philosophy of AynRand). The essay analyzes the book by applying the four main principles ofObjectivism: reason, reality, rational self-interest and capitalism. It begins bylooking at how both Saint-Exupéry and Rand perceive the machine and laboras rational ways of self-sustainment and discovery. The machine serves as aphysical representation of rationality which furthers productivity and alsoeases labor. Later, the essay analyzes how charity, rational egoism and theirrepresentations in the book correspond with Objectivist philosophy.Afterwards it analyzes how reality and truth are represented with language asits proxy of representation and discovers that both authors perceive reality asan absolute and truth as its recognition. Lastly, the essay analyzes therelationship between war and ideology and Rand's and Saint-Exupéry'sthoughts on the subject. It finds some similarities between the two: they bothfind war distasteful and ultimately destructive. However, a difference wasdiscovered concerning the use of ideology. Saint-Exupéry finds little to nouse of it, whereas Rand sees it at man's main defense against philosophicalfallacies. Therefore, the final conclusion is that Terre des Hommes is notentirely an Objectivist book, but there are objectivist principles presented init