ANGELICA'S BOOKS: THE LITTLE PRINCE

 

The Little Prince is a fable written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and published in 1943. The book starts with the meeting between an aviator, fallen onto the Sahara desert, and a child, the little prince of an asteroid called B-612.

The prince starts to tell the aviator his story. In his asteroid, there are only three volcanoes, which he used to clean each morning, and a self-regarding rose, which he used to take care of, because he loved her a lot.

However, one day the prince decided to go away from his asteroid in order to visit other planets. In his journey, he met six characters in six different planets.

The first was a monarch. Even though he was alone in his asteroid, he loved to give orders. The second was a self-regarding man who demanded to be admired. 

The third was a drunkard who drank because he felt ashamed to drink. The fourth was a businessman who counted stars as his own.

Then, he met a lamp-lighter who lit and turned off every minute the only lamp on the planet. The last character the prince met was a geographer. He did not know how his asteroid was because no exploration had been carried out on that planet.

Later, he came to the Earth. Here, the prince discovered that his rose is not the only one because there are thousands on the earth.

“<<People where you live,>>the little prince said, <<grow five thousand roses in one garden... yet they don't find what they're looking for...>>

[Aviator] <<They don't find it,>> I answered.

[Prince] <<And yet what they're looking for could be found in a single rose, or a little water...>>

[Aviator]<<Of course,>> I answered.

And the little prince added, <<But eyes are blind. You have to look with the heart.>>”

However, in spite of that, his rose was to him unparalleled.

“[the prince while he is talking with a rose] <<You're beautiful, but you're empty...One couldn't die for you. Of course, an ordinary passerby would think my rose looked just like you. But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she's the one I've watered. Since she's the one I put under glass, since she's the one I sheltered behind the screen. Since she's the one for whom I killed the caterpillars (except the two or three butterflies). Since she's the one I listened to when she complained, or when she boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all. Since she's my rose.>>”

Then, he met a fox who asked him to be tamed. In this way, the fox taught him what friendship means.

"<<Just that,>> said the fox. <<To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world....>>”

 

Finally, he meets the aviator. At the end of the story, after one year from his departure, the prince decides to return to his asteroid because he misses his rose. The aviator is sad because the prince for him is a friend. However, the prince tries to console the aviator.

“All men have stars, but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travellers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems... But all these stars are silent. You-You alone will have stars as no one else has them... In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night.. You, only you, will have stars that can laugh! And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me... You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure... It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh”

This book, like every fable, gives us important teachings. First of all, the meeting between the fox and the prince shows us the meaning of friendship. The fox explains that it is the most important thing in a man’s life. However, sometimes adults take friendship for granted and they consider it something childish.

“<<We only know the things we tame, >> said the fox. <<Men no longer have the time to know anything. They buy ready-made things from merchants. But as there are no merchants of friends, men no longer have friends. If you want a friend, tame me!>><<What should be done?>> Said the little prince.

<<You must be very patient, >> replied the fox. <<You will sit first a little far from me, like that, in the grass. I will look at you from the corner of your eye and you will not say anything. Language is a source of misunderstanding. But every day you can sit a little closer …>> “

The reason of that is adults usually focus just on what they can see. Though, what really matters is not seen by the eyes, but  felt by the heart.

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Through The Little Prince, the author wants to remind adults that they were children, even though some of them ignore it. Indeed, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry dedicated this book to an adult.

“To Leon Werth

I apologize to the children for dedicating this book to a grown-up. I have a good excuse: this grown-up is the best friend I have in the world. I have another good excuse: this grown-up can understand everything, even children’s books. I have a third good excuse: this grown-up lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs to be comforted. If all these excuses are not enough, I will then dedicate this book to the child who became that grown-up. All grown-ups were first children. (But few of them remember it.) So I correct my dedication:

To Leon Werth

when he was a little boy.”

 

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

 

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born in Lyon on 29^th June 1900. His family was aristocratic: his father was a viscount and his mother a paintress. His father, though, died when Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was four.

He had a religious education; indeed, he attended the Jesuit college of Notre Dame de Sainte Crois.

In 1921, he left for military service and went to Strasbourg to become an aviator. On 9^th July of the same year, he made his first fight aboard the Sopwith F-CTEE.

In 1928, he became the director of the aviation camp of Cap Juby, in Sahara.

However, the next year, he moved to South America to transport posts across Andes.

Moreover, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry personally experienced  plane crashes. For example, in 1938, he had an accident while he was trying to set a record flying from New York to Land of Fire.

In 1943, he published his best-known novel, The Little Prince. In this book, like in his other works, there are many autobiographical elements, for example, the protagonist of this book is an aviator like him. Indeed, he said that to write something you have to live it.  

During the Second World War, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry took part in tasks, in spite of his being considered unable because of his accident. For this reason, he received the Cross of War.

On 31^st July 1944, he left for his ninth mission in the Mediterranean Sea. However, he did not come back ,and he was considered missing. Probably, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry plummeted into the sea while he was trying to avoid the fire of the German anti-aircraft. 

 Angelica, 4scB