There are cases where people are killed or injured by hitting a sign that falls out of the way. It is not uncommon for cars to hit the sidewalk. It’s a daily life. However, literature does not allow such a coincidence. So what is more common than everyday life is literature.
It’s at a party where many people gather. A young man is catching up with a beautiful woman.
“You’re such a beautiful woman. I’d go anywhere with you. I don’t care if it’s a bed. Miss, do you have any thoughts of going to the end of the world with me?”
At first, the face of the woman who just listened with a smile gradually changed. Then she said, “Look at this, do you know who I am? That’s the wife of the police chief over there. Do you understand?”
In response to that, the gangster said, “Oh, are you? Then do you know who I am?”
The women of course answer, “Why should I know someone like you?” Then the gangster said, “Oh, I’m alive!” and ran away. There are many stories like that.
How many mistakes and coincidences are there in this world? It is common in our daily lives that someone gossiped about us, but it was actually the opponent’s younger brother, or that greeted by a girl on the street and jestingly hitting on her in mistake for the girl having met at the bar, she was actually a friend’s younger sister. Because we live with such coincidences, there are countless fortune tellers and physiognomists around us, and they make money from it.
However, literature does not even tolerate such coincidences. It says what must happen must happen, and that there is truth in thinking about what must be thought. In fact, there are countless traffic accidents, but people do not hesitate to criticize as a poor work a novel in which a traffic accident unfolds.
For this reason, literature is more routine than everyday life. It is also said that literature is such a transparent world. Therefore, literature does not require the same skills as fortune-telling or physiognomy. Let’s take a look at a passage from Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince.”
Grown-ups like numbers. When you tell them about a new friend, they never ask questions about what really matters.
They never ask: “What does his voice sound like?” “What games does he like best?” “Does he collect butterflies?”. They ask: “How old is he?” “How many brothers does he have?” “How much does he weigh?” “How much money does his father make?” Only then do they think they know him.
If you tell grown-ups, “I saw a beautiful red brick house, with geraniums at the windows and doves on the roof…,” they won’t be able to imagine such a house. You have to tell them, “I saw a house worth a hundred thousand francs.” Then they exclaim, “What a pretty house!”
Therefore, if anyone tells adults, “The fact that the little prince was beautiful, laughed and wanted to have sheep is proof that he really existed. If anyone wants to have a sheep, it is a proof of his existence,” the adults will shrug and treat him or her as a child.
However, if he says, “The star he has left is the Small Planet B612,” the adults will understand and won’t bother him with various questions. Adults are like that, but adults should not be blamed. Children should have an understanding of adults.
The Little Prince is a story that was truly out of everyday life, and it was a work that was once predominant in the reading world because of its freshness.
However, it is also important to understand that this “out of everyday life” has filled many people’s longings and regrets in that it has rediscovered the forgotten truth. In this respect, the story is routine. We wouldn’t have read this piece if we hadn’t all had such a thirst as a routine.
Also, how plausible is the explanation for adults? They are really so. When you bring a friend, ask, “What’s your rank in the class?” If you live in an apartment, they should ask, “What’s the square footage are you in?” Of course, there are some who do not. But even so, it is said that if a literary work tells such a story, it is a coincidence.
In this regard, all everyday people, whose standard for choosing things is on the price list, already have citizenship to enjoy literature. So, what are we afraid of?