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The Little Prince: By: Antoine de Saint - Exupery
The Little Prince: By: Antoine de Saint - Exupery
the world In their time together, the Little Prince relates his adventures and speaks about his
homeland, Asteroid B-612. He tells the pilot of how his planet has three volcanoes, one of which is
cannot be extinct, and how he rakes them. He also mentions the importance of getting rid of bad seeds, especially
seen or those of the Baobabs, who if allowed to grow can cause much harm to his planet. Beside this he mentions
that he has a rose that he loves very much but has come to distrust because of her lies. She is very vain and
touched, th doesn’t treat the Little Prince very nicely, it is for this reason that he decided to leave his home planet.
ey are felt While on his travels, he visits seven planets, which include Earth. In his visits he encounters
many different adults: the king, vain man, drunkard and businessman among them. He finds them to be very
with the perplexing and mostly concerned with themselves. Only the Lamplighter, seems to gain some respect with
heart ” the Little Prince, because in doing his job, he is thinking of others. As he travels he starts to miss and worry
about his rose, who is left to fend on her own.
He eventually comes to Earth where he ventures upon a rose garden, he is surprised to find
that his rose isn’t the only rose around as she had claimed. This encounter only makes him long for his rose
more. He also encounters a fox, who gives the Little Prince wise lessons about humans and life. Than he
comes upon a poisonous snake that assures him that he can help get him back home. The story ends with the
Little Prince deciding to return to his home planet with the aide of the poisonous snake. As he prepares to be
bitten by the snake he tells the sadden pilot that the stars will always serve to be a reminder of him. The
stars will appear to be laughing at him, a reminder of the Little Prince’s laughter.
Characters
The Little Prince: The real main character of the story, he is described as being a child, with
golden hair who comes from the Asteroid B-612. He runs away after having a confrontation
with his rose and ends up relating his travels to the pilot in the eight day that they are
together.
The Pilot / Narrator: He is among one of the principle characters who retells his memories of
meeting the Little Prince while stranded in the Sahara Desert after crash landing his
airplane. He relates the story of how as a youth he was told by adult to focus on important
things like History and Geography rather than on his drawings.
The Little Prince’s Rose: With the exception of three volcanoes, one of which is extinct and
the Baobabs, the only other thing that lives in the same planet as the Little Prince is his
friend a single rose. She isn’t very modest and gives the Little Prince so much grief with how
she treats him that he decided to leave his planet because of it. However as the story
proceeds the Little Prince grows to miss his rose and fear for her well being since he isn’t
their to tend to her.
The Fox: The Little Prince first encounters the fox while visiting Earth. The fox teaches the
Little Prince about the ways of humans and the importance of being tamed. He then asks the
Little Prince to tame him, to which the Little Prince agrees to. Before leaving the fox, he is
told by him ,“One sees clearly with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes”
(De Saint – Exupery, 1943, p. 63)
Characters
The Snake: While on Earth the Little Prince also encounters a snake who tells him that
there aren’t any people on account that they are both in an African desert. The Little
Prince finds him to be a curious creature and judges the snake to have little power. The
snake assures him that he has more power than it seems, being able to send people to
the land they come from. Eventually it is the snake the will aide the Little Prince in
returning to his planet.
The King: While visiting different planets the Little Prince comes upon the planet of a
lonely king sitting on his thrown. The king is happy to see the Little Prince as it gives
him a chance to have a subject to rule over. He assures the Little Prince that he is rule
of everything including all the planets and the stars. The king while given to giving many
commands assures that he only give those that are reasonable and that can be
performed by those commanded. He is sadden to see the Little Prince leave as he is the
only true subject the King has.
Vain Man: On another planet, the Little Prince encounters a vain man who is convinced
the Little Prince’s trip is on account of his admiration for him. When asked whether the
Little Prince admires him, the Little Prince is confused by the word. He doesn’t quite
understand the concept and therefore doesn’t see the big deal in being admired. He
soon leaves this planet to visit another.
The Drunkard: On another planet the Little Prince briefly meets a drunkard and in doing
so becomes depressed. The drunkard admits that he drinks because he feels shame that
he is a drunkard.
Characters
The Businessman: On a trip to another planet, the Little Prince meets a businessman, who assures
him that he is a “very serious man”, who is too busy making calculations of the stars to bothered by
the Little Prince. He states the stars belong to him, because he had the forethought to claim them
first. When the Little Prince tries to interject by mentioning that the king has taken ownership, the
man corrects him stating that Kings reign over things, which is quite different. Unsatisfied with the
answer the businessman gives him after asking what the stars do for him, he ends up leave.
The Lamplighter: When visiting his fifth planet, the Little Prince meets the lamplighter, whose job it
is to light it every morning and put it out at night. Unfortunately for the lamplighter days consist of
minutes and therefore he finds himself doing this constantly. The Lamplighter laments that he never
gets any rest and does it on account of having been ordered to (although there aren’t any houses in
this planet). Unlike the other people that he meets on the other planets, the Little Prince doesn’t
find him to be ridiculous because his thoughts are on something besides himself.
The Geographer: On another planet the Little Prince meets the geographer who sits on a desk with a
big empty book. The geographer explains to the Little Prince what his job entails. When asked about
geographical landforms on the planet, the geographer isn’t able to answer because after all he is a
geographer not an explorer. While he is tasked with knowing about the landforms , he is dependent
on explores to relay information about them, for his job is to write down what the explores say.
The Turkish Astronomer: He is the one that first discovered Asteroid B-612, the home planet of the
Little Prince. The Little Prince explains that the Turkish astronomer first discovered his planet in
1909 but because of his clothes wasn’t taken seriously until 1920, when the Turkish King ordered
that European cloths be worn. It wasn’t until the Turkish astronomer reported his finding in a suit
, that people took him seriously.
Characters
Railway Switchman: The Little Prince meets him while on Earth. He asks him what the
passengers are looking for, and in seeing another train car asks if the passengers are
coming back because they aren’t satisfied. The switchman tells him that he doesn’t know
what they are looking for and that the train car is a different one than the previous but
that nobody is ever satisfied where they are at.
Three Petal Flower: The three petal flower mistakenly tells the Little Prince that there
aren’t many people on Earth. She lives in the desert and therefore hasn’t seen many.
Sales Clerk: The Little Prince also meets him while on Earth, and finds that this sale clerk
sales pills that quench people’s thirst. The sales clerk claims to sell them to save people
some time, the Little Prince however doesn’t seem to understand why it’s even
necessary.
Roses in the Rose Garden: While on Earth, he stumbles upon a rose garden and is surprise
to find that his rose isn’t the only rose that exists , as she had claimed.
The Baobabs: Dangerous seeds that have the potential to destroy the home planet of the
Little Prince, if they aren’t disposed of.
The Where and When of the Little Prince
Bottom left
picture: soldiers
during WWII
occupying France in
front of the Arc de
Triomphe.
Right picture:
Hitler standing in
front of the Eiffel
Tower in France.
The Little Prince encounters a fox Saint-Exupéry lost his brother, Francois,
while on Earth. to a fever after caring for him. Years later
when describing the death of his brother,
he stated that his brother “...remained
motionless for an instant. He did not cry
out. He fell as gently as a [young] tree
falls” (Saint-Exupery, Wikipedia).
“ He feel gently, the way a tree falls” Saint- Exupéry travelled to various places
on account of him being a pilot. After 27
(Saint-Exupéry, 1943, p.81). This is months of being in the United States, it
how the Little Prince is described has been suggested that he was eager to
after he is bitten by the snake. go back to his home of France.
Parallels of Saint Exupéry and the Little Prince
Middle Picture:
Saint-Exupery’s
illustration for
the book. The
Little Prince
tending to his
rose
Picture on the
right: Picture of
Saint-Exupery
and his plane
after crash
landing in the
Sahara Desert.
Exupery
Antoine De Saint -
1900 – On June 29th Antoine De Saint – Exupery is born
in Lyon, France.
Exupery
Antoine De Saint -
1929 – His job transfers him to Argentina and Southern
Mail is published.
Exupery
Antoine De Saint -
1940 – Because of the armistice between France and
Germany, Saint-Exupéry no longer is needed in the air
force and therefore ends up going to the United States.
He stays there for approximately 27 months hoping to
persuade the United States to enter the war against
the Nazis.