Childhood and “Grown-Up” Homes. Home-Leaving and Home-Coming in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Courrier Sud and Le Petit Prince

From Courrier sud to Le Petit prince, Saint-Exupéry’s literary quests have not changed much of their focus, but have yielded more refined and simplified insights. Both novels employ pairs of protagonists (one of whom is the narrator) who are constructed as versions of each other – an older and a younger self. The older self (the narrator) is passive and grown-up or earth-bound (in Courrier sud), while the younger one is “aerial”, adventurous and homeless. The “younger” perspective dominates the texts and operates as a source of revelation, inspiration and mentorship for its “older” counterpart – Bernis and the little prince’s home quests enlighten and invigorate their more rational and skeptical companions