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*Study Guide: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery*
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THE LITTLE PRINCE: FREE ONLINE STUDY GUIDE / LITERARY ANALYSIS
CONFLICT
/Protagonist
/
The protagonist of the short novel is the Little Prince. He is a simple,
yet mystical, creature from asteroid B-612. One day a seed arrives on
his planet and blooms into a beautiful flower. Though the flower is
lovely, it is vain and irritates the Prince. Finally he leaves his
planet, to escape the flower. After visiting several asteroids, the
Little Prince reaches Earth, where he meets the narrator in the Sahara
Desert.
/Antagonist
/
The problem, or antagonist, of the Little Prince is his thirst for
answers. He visits many planets and meets many people, whom he questions
about life. In particular, he wants to understand the existence and
pastimes of adults on Earth. He tries to find his answers from a snake,
a fox, and the narrator.
/Climax
/
The climax of the plot occurs when the Little Prince decides to return
to his planet and care for his special flower. He has learned from the
fox that the important things in life cannot be seen with the eye, only
felt with the heart. This lesson eventually makes the Little Prince
realize that the flower from which he has fled is really very special.
After meeting the narrator and explaining all that he has learned since
he left his planet, the Prince accepts that he really loves the flower
because she is his responsibility, and he has invested time and trouble
in her survival. As a result, he decides that he must go back to his
star to take care of his special rose.
/Outcome
/
The story ends in comedy. The Little Prince finds the answers to his
questions about what is important in life. When he realizes his love for
the flower, he accepts that he must return to his star to care for the
rose. He makes arrangements with the poisonous snake to bite him, which
will insure his safe passage back home. Before he departs, the Little
Prince makes a profound impression on the narrator.
SHORT SUMMARY (Synopsis)
The narrator begins the tale with an explanation of his dislike of
adults; he claims he does not enjoy them, for they are much too
practical. Instead, he prefers the company of children, who are natural
and curious.
The narrator next tells of how his plane crashed in the desert, where he
met the Little Prince, a mystical creature from another planet. The
narrator tells why the Prince left his planet and where he visited
before coming to Earth. His adventures on six different planets are
recounted, including the encounters with the king, the conceited man,
the tippler, the businessman, the lamplighter, the geographer, the
snake, the desert flower, the garden of roses, the railway switchman,
the merchant, the fox, and the narrator.
The narrator and the Prince share a rewarding relationship on the
desert, and when the Little Prince departs, the narrator misses his
company. He writes the novel in memory of the Little Prince.
THEMES
Major Themes
In /The Little Prince, /Saint-Exupry explains the importance of seeing
the whole truth in order to find beauty. He believes that visible things
are only shells that hint at the real worth hidden inside. He points out
that man has not learned to look beneath the surface, or perhaps, has
forgotten how to do so. Because adults never look inside, they will
never know themselves or others.
All his life, Saint-Exupry thought that grown-ups cared mostly about
inconsequential matters, such as golf and neckties. When they talked
about important matters, they always became dull and boring. They seemed
afraid to open up their hearts to the real issues of life; instead, they
chose to function on a surface level.
In the book, the fox teaches that one can see only what is important in
life by looking with the heart. Because of this lesson, Saint-Exupry
leaves the desert as a different person. He has accepted the Little
Prince's thought that 'the stars are beautiful because of a flower that
cannot be seen. In essence, the foxs lesson is about how to love, a
most important lesson for everybody to learn. The fox points out that it
is the time that one wastes on someone or something that makes it
important. The fox also tells the readers that love can overcome
existentialism: 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. A human must earn a friendship, not buy it.
Finally, Saint-Exupry explains how all joy and pleasure must be earned,
not given or received. As an example, he shows the joy that the Little
Prince and the pilot feel when they taste the water from the well. Its
sweetness comes from their journey under the stars and the work of the
pilots arms making the pulley sing. In the end, the Little Prince again
experiences a new joy. Leaving his shell behind, he has gone to the
most beautiful place he can imagine -- his star, which is his love; he
has returned to his own little heaven.
Minor Themes
Saint-Exupry scorns mans obsession with the wrong things, such as
wealth, power, and technology; he uses the King, the Businessman, and
the Lamplighter to highlight this theme. The king puts a great deal of
importance into being obeyed, even though he orders only what would
happen anyway. The businessman takes great pride in owning all the
stars, but he is too busy counting them to gain any pleasure from their
beauty. The Little Prince tries to teach him the pointlessness of his
property. The Little Prince also scorns the Lamplighters fascination
with science and technology. He is so caught up in the importance of
lighting his lamp, that he misses what is important in life.
The need to have faith is another minor theme in the book. The Little
Prince arrives on the Earth during a spiritually troubled phase and
stays until he has resolved his confusions. During his stay, he teaches
the narrator the importance of having faith and belief. Many critics
have called the Little Prince a Christ-figure, for he is described as
being free of sin. He also believes in a life after death. At the end of
the book, he returns to his star, his heaven.
MOOD
The mood is mostly adventurous and mysterious, with a philosophical
overtone. At first the Little Prince does not reveal his identity,
creating an initial sense of mystery. Then as the Little Prince recounts
his travels, the mood becomes adventurous. As he questions the fox and
the narrator, the mood becomes philosophic. At the end, when the Prince
arranges to be bitten by the snake, the mood again becomes mysterious.
Although he seems to die from the snake bite, the narrator cannot find
the Princes body when he looks for it the next morning. He can only
assume that the Prince successfully returns to his star.

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