On Grownups, A Commentary on The Little Prince Part 2/2

(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT)

The Geographer

Leaving the lamplighter’s small planet, the little prince reaches a bigger planet where the geographer resides. The geographer describes his work to the little prince as, “...a scholar who knows the location of all the seas, rivers, towns, mountains, and deserts.”

Enthused in meeting such a person, the little prince asks about the ocean, the river, the mountain and the desert. But to no avail, the geographer is unable to answer, confusing the little prince. To the geographer’s defense, he explains searching the land was the explorer’s job and not his. And to his misfortune, there’s no single explorer on his planet.

The geographer also expounds the process on qualifying an explorer’s report. Instead of going where the explorer went to get proof of his claim, an explorer will provide the evidence himself, his integrity will also be measured before his report is immortalized in a map.

Here’s a good, and funny, explanation of why integrity needs investigation, “. . . an explorer who told lies would bring disaster on the books of the geographer. So would an explorer who drank too much. Because intoxicated men see double.”

This part led me to think, that rather than experiencing life first-hand, there are those of us who are satisfied in taking the backseat as we let someone else take the wheel. It is always easier to be the passenger than the driver, but only the driver can steer the car to the direction that he intends to go to. The passenger may get to the same destination as the driver, but the driver will have greater appreciation of where he is than the passenger.

Ephemeral

Describing his planet to the geographer, with only a few distinctive feats to tell, the little prince is bound to emphasize the existence of his planet’s singular rose—his rose. But the moment it escapes from his mouth, the geographer, with crushing nonchalance, discards his rose as ephemeral, and it is unnecessary to record.

In protest, the little prince argues that his rose is unique on his planet and asks what does ephemeral mean. The geographer describes it as something “...in danger of speedy disappearance”. This broke the little prince’s heart. Regret starts gnawing at him, he should never have left his rose alone. But his journey wasn’t at an end; the geographer recommends visiting Earth.

We always forget how infinitely changing the world is. We usually forget how temporary everything is, thus we take things for granted, even people. It is usually in hindsight that we realize this fault. After all, regret is always felt after a mistake, never before it is committed. But once in a while, like the geographer’s remark to the little prince, we are reminded of our impermanence. 



Commentary Series Links:
> The Little Prince Book Review
> On Matters of Consequence
> On Talking Like a Grownup
> On Loving Figures
> On Grownups Part 1/2
> On Visiting Earth
> Quotes from The Little Prince