Keep your Friends Close and your Enemies Closer

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Modern friendships are like a ticking time bomb of events that include support, betrayal, and an assortment of variability. Sun-Tzu once spoke the immortal words,” Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” Sun Tzu was no stranger to strategizing and when he wrote The Art of War, in which the quote originated from, his advice spoke of pure strategic intelligence. Sun-Tzu recognized that to be successful in life and in war, an individual had to surround himself with enemies who could conspire against him rather than friends who would remain loyal to him. A Little Princess, which was directed by Alfonso Cuarón, uses the relationship between Miss Mincin and Sara Crewe to illustrate the importance of keeping one’s enemies close rather than keeping them at a distance.
The film A Little Princess tells the story of Sara Crewe and Miss Minchin who have entirely different interpretations on life. While Sara Crewe feels that all girls are princesses in their own way, Miss Minchin feels that girls were put on earth to take life as is and work productively and efficiently. Throughout the film, Miss Minchin and Sara’s upbringings provide a clear understanding of why their characters act and behave as they do. Sara Crewe lived in India with her father, Captain Crewe and they moved because Captain Crewe had to fight for the British Government in World War One. Their father-daughter relationship is filled with love and support for one another. Sara subsequently is enrolled in Miss Minchin’s Seminary for Girls where she meets her future adversary, Miss Minchin. Miss Minchin is a tired old woman with a fierce attitude and two grey streaks in her hair. She desires nothing more than money and maintaining class. While the film does not show...

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...g Sun-Tzu’s words of keeping one’s enemies close rather than at a distance, Miss Minchin kept Sara as a servant despite her ability to throw Sara into the streets. Gaining two servants, rather than one, Miss Minchin is able to obtain yet again another precious item, servitude without pay. Miss Minchin does not gain any money whatsoever but now, she does not need to pay anyone to be a servant or a maid. Throughout the film, each time Miss Minchin gains something there is a connection between Miss Minchin and the students or Miss Minchin and Sara Crewe. This demonstrates that by maintaining closer bonds with individuals who one can feel are inferior or simply an enemy, can be more profitable than maintaining closer bonds with friends of loved ones who would remain loyal to anyone they call family or friend.

Works Cited

A Little Princess- Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

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