Sartre recalled this scene in his later years and said: "I can say that an 83-year-old man would rather bend over and pick up a dime coin by himself. This is simply God, the Heavenly Father, bent down to pick up this coin in order to keep me, a sinner, aside: this deeply stimulat

One day, Sartre accompanied his grandfather to the pharmacy to buy medicine. When his grandfather took out the money, a dime of coins fell to the ground. Just as Sartre was about to bend over to pick it up, his grandfather stopped him with his hands and said, "I'll do it myself!" The old man slowly bent down with great difficulty, his knees seemed to be raking.

Sartre recalled this scene in his later years and said: "I can say that an 83-year-old man would rather bend over and pick up a dime coin by himself. This is simply God, the Heavenly Father, bent down to pick up this coin in order to keep me, a sinner, aside: this deeply stimulated me." (Sartre's Self-Report) From then on, Sartre's relationship with his grandfather also broke down. This can be said to be the second biggest crack in his life.

Adults cannot understand Sartre's behavior: he does not lack food, wear, or use, buy whatever he wants, how can he steal money? There is only one explanation: he came to La Rosher to learn bad things and became morally degenerate. In fact, Sartre's actions were a kind of rejection and resistance to his stepfather's "allowing alms".

He would rather get what he wanted without his stepfather's permission, even if it is immoral and illegal to do so. For Sartre, this act of stealing money is not mainly to satisfy his material needs, but to express his desire for independence, freedom and no dependence on anyone in a distorted form. Unfortunately, none of the adults understand this.

This experience during adolescence has a significant impact on the formation of Sa's character. An adult Sartre has a characteristic, that is, no matter how big or small the matter is, it is unwilling to ask for help. He is much more sensitive than ordinary people when it comes to whether to rely on others. For example, when you get to an unfamiliar place and need to ask others for directions, Sartre is extremely reluctant to do it. He felt that this was asking for help, and others might hate him.

Also, when he was eating in a restaurant, he felt uncomfortable accepting the service of the waiter. In order to distance himself from the other party, or to compensate the other party, he often tips the waiter many times the normal amount. If you don’t know Sartre’s experience as a child, it will be difficult to understand his behavior. In short, Sartre had a particularly strong rebellious mentality about dependence, and he regarded his independence as more important than anything else.

(This article is excerpted from the book "A Centennial Sartre: The Journey of a Free Elf", written by Huang Zhongjing, Central Compilation and Publishing House 2005 Edition)