"Night Flight · The Land of Humans" is a text as charming as his "The Little Prince." After criticizing a young man who committed suicide because of love, the author wrote: 'In the face of this small life, I once remembered the death of a real person. The death of a gardener.' Because 'he left a piece of land to be cultivated. He left a planet to be developed. His love extended to all lands and all the trees on Earth. He was a generous person, a magnanimous person, a noble person: when he fought death in the name of his creation, like Guillaumet, he was a brave person.'
When I finished reading this passage, the subway had just arrived at Fuchengmen, and I planned to transfer to Line 1 at the next station, Fuxingmen. Suddenly, a broadcast announced that the train would not stop at Fuxingmen. I had no choice but to get off. It was raining outside, with locust flowers scattered all over the ground. After walking a distance to the bus stop, I arrived at the company at 9:30. Colleagues arrived one after another, all delayed because of subway issues. Later, I learned from the news that early in the morning, a young man had jumped onto the tracks at Nanlishi Road Station and committed suicide.
Everyone's departure takes away a world unknown to anyone; yet the departure of some leaves us a world to be developed, one to which we look forward. However, to judge such people who commit suicide using Saint-Exupéry's words is cowardly.
Yes, in "Night Flight" and "The Land of Humans," we also feel the presence of death, but it is seen in the form of a heroic sacrifice, like the pilot Fabian who calmly gave his life to pioneer air routes. Likewise, the author himself experiences life while flying and ultimately disappears into the vast sky.
Those who live day after day like a copier have a hard time feeling and understanding the life of a pilot, especially during the early stage of the aviation industry at the beginning of this century. Each flight is shadowed by death, and it is common to engage in battles with hurricanes, dark clouds, lightning, and dangerous peaks. Yet every victorious return is merely to set off again. The plane piloted by Guillaumet crashed into the snow and ice valleys of the Andes, and he endured hunger and walked through the icy mountains for an entire week, finally miraculously being rescued.The author was once trapped in the desert on the border of Egypt and Libya, going three days without water and walking hundreds of kilometers across the vast desert. Flying means facing these hardships and difficulties.
Flying also signifies another height that we cannot reach. Those who navigate the skies at night come into contact with the wind, the stars, the darkness, the desert, and the ocean. They can sense the secrets of humanity more keenly than those on the ground—the calls, the lights, and that unease. 'Night flights and thousands of stars, that serenity, those dozens of hours of sacred, supreme power—money cannot buy this.' The airplane is not a goal but a means. People do not risk their lives for the airplane itself… rather, through the airplane, people can rediscover the true meaning of life. People can transcend themselves and humanity, seeing higher and farther.
