The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The combination in the book of fantasy, satire, philosophy, poetry,

science, imagination, and childish gaiety can capture the hearts and minds

of 'grown-ups' as well as 'children' in only ninety-two short pages,moreover,

this little boy teaches the reader many values that older people seem to

forget more often in everyday life.

This mystical adventure begins when Saint-Exupery makes a forced

landing in the Sahara Desert. A small, golden-haired visitor appears at

dawn, asking the downed aviator for a drawing of a sheep. A traveler from

his home on a small asteroid, the little prince describes his journey to Earth

and his experiences here. The story ends with the little prince's departure

from Earth on the anniversary of his arrival. I think that The Little

Prince is written as a children's book but can be analyzed on many different

levels. It is necessary to clarify this statement: one is defined as 'child' or

an 'adult' not by age, but by state of mind. Maybe it is better to

explain that it is a story for children, but not specifically for them alone.

The story of the little prince exists on many different levels. Saint-

Exupery explains the importance of seeing beneath the surface by beginning

his book with the story about drawings of closed and open boa constrictors.

Later, he relates a story about the Turkish astronomer who discovers the

little prince's home, Asteroid B-612. When he presents his findings to the

International Congress of Astronomy, dressed in his comical Turkish outfit,

he is not believed . Because adults never look inside, they will never know

themselves or others.

All his life, The Little Prince has thought that grown-ups care only

about inconsequential matters, such as golf and neckties, and are very dull

when talking about important matters. He has never met anyone whom he

could talk to about what is really important.

Throughout his book, Saint-Exupery teaches the importance of looking

beneath the surface to find true beauty. Analyzed on an instructive level, his

book casts a mysterious wonder over common things by showing what is

beneath . Visible things are only shells that hint at the real beauty of what is

inside. From the fox's lesson that one can see only what is important by

looking with the heart Saint-Exupery leaves the desert as a different person.

Saint-Exupery, the author, also teaches us how to love -- the only way

to overcome the existential boundary between men. Love, for The Little

Prince, is not a matter of choice; it is a matter of consequence; indeed, it is

a matter of survival. Men must learn to love one another or perish. Love is

what gives life meaning . The little prince's love for his rose is so important

to him that the stranded aviator comments.What moves me so deeply about

this little prince who is sleeping here, is his loyalty to a flower -- the image

of a rose that shines through his whole being like the flame of a lamp, even

when he is asleep. His love gives his life purpose and direction (Price, 151).

The fox teaches the little prince how to love -- a lesson for us all. It is

the time that one "wastes" on someone or something that makes it

important. It is the fox that tells us how love overcomes existance.

One only knows the things that one tames.... Men buy things already made

in the stores. But as there are no stores where friends can be bought, men

no longer have friends. Joy and pleasure must be earned -- not given or

received -- like the joy the water from the well gives to the little prince and

the pilot. Its sweetness comes from the journey under the stars and the

work of the pilot's arms making the pulley sing .

The Little Prince can also be analyzed as a satire. It presents

caricatures of man's preoccupations with useless pastimes, wealth and

power, and technology (Price, 151). It is these human characteristics that

cause man to miss the essentials in life: beauty, love and friendship.

Saint-Exupery scorns drinking as a pointless activity. The roundabout

logic of the tippler shows the stupidity of this activity. Saint-Exupery also

scorns man's obsession with wealth and power, this through the King and

Businessman. The king puts a great deal of importance into being obeyed

when he orders only what would happen anyway. The businessman takes

great pride in owning all the stars, a collector too busy counting them to get

any pleasure from their beauty. The little prince tries to show the

pointlessness of his "property" by explaining that it does the stars no good

to be owned. The little prince then tells how he owns a flower and three

volcanoes. The fact that he owns and takes care of them does them some

good. The businessman does not help the stars.

The little prince arrives on Earth in the desert beneath "his" star. He

recognizes the drawing of the closed boa constrictor immediately and knows

that the author's attempts to fix his engine have been successful before

Saint-Exupery can tell him. When the author runs out of water in the desert,

the little prince "miraculously" leadshim to a village well -- even though they

are in the middle of the desert without a town in sight. The time of the little

prince's departure from Earth is predetermined. He tells the author that he

will look like he has died, but will live on .

Through reading and researching The Little Prince, I have learned that

this seemingly simple book is truly a complex literary work and can be

analyzed on many levels. I love The Little Prince for its simplistic beauty and

childlike wonder. I believe that it is a work that means different things to

different people.