The Little Prince

Article written by Chioma Julie

Degree in M.C.M. Awarded Best Graduating Student in Literature-in-English at UNISEC.

‘The Little Prince’ is a novel based on adventure, fiction, and fantasy. It is inspired by the voyages, reflections, and realizations of the author. It takes place, mostly in a desert in Africa. The narrator, who is expected to be the main character, but who isn’t, finds himself trapped in a desert. There, he meets the protagonist- the little prince. Our beloved little prince. The little prince changes his life forever.

All his life, before the accident that wrecked his aircraft’s engine and landed him in the desert, he was always disappointed in the grown-ups- continued to be, in fact, but, his forever memorable encounter with the little prince, shifted his perspective or approach to things, a lot. It made him realize that he was slowly becoming like the grown-ups who mostly understood nothing or very little, but who liked to think they know everything that should matter. Once in a while, even after the encounter, he slacks. But that experience is always there to awaken him, once more.

Key Facts about The Little Prince

• Title: The Little Prince
• Original title: Le Petit Prince
• Author’s Name: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• Published: 6 April 1943
• Literary Period: Modern Times
• Genre: Adventure, fantasy; an adult fable, styled as a children’s book.
• Climax: The little prince’s death (or more appropriately, when the little prince dropped his shell and became a star).
• Antagonist[s]: Those with a generally blurred perspective or approach to life and what matters in life, so basically, the grown-ups.
• Style of Writing/Diction/Structure– Simple sentence structure, simple vocabulary, and a very simple structure, generally. The book has 27 chapters, consisting of 96 pages of hard copy, with some chapters having just a few sentences in them, making them much shorter than the others.
• Setting: Most of the events in The Little Prince take place in a desert in Africa.
• Point of View: First-Person

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and The Little Prince

Antoine was a French writer, and he was also one of the pioneers of aviation. Similar to the eye and the main character in the book, he was an adventurer. He wanted to become a naval officer but wrote the exam and failed it. He then joined aviation, instead. This line of work, especially at that time, was dangerous by the way. In 1927, he finally reached his goal of becoming a pilot, after having been a mechanic for some time, as the rite of passage. He completed dangerous missions- had many accidents in the middle of the desert. During his missions, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry thought deeply about solitude, friendship, the meaning of life, the human condition, and liberty, which are also some of the main themes in ‘The Little Prince.’ He published his reflections. These thoughts resulted in ‘The Little Prince,’ amongst many other books by the author.

Antoine’s story is similar in many ways to the story this book tells- a story on the value of friendship. The book starts off with a brief biography of the boy- the narrator, who later becomes the little prince’s friend- how he had to let go of his ambition of becoming a painter, and become a pilot instead. Although he later picks up his pencil to draw again, on encountering the little prince, he never quite did master the plan, like he would have if the grown-ups in his life didn’t laugh or smirk at him, and misunderstand his first two drawings- the boa constrictor from the outside and the boa constrictor from the inside- the only things he admits to knowing how to draw, and even then, adults never quite understood what it was- they called the first one a hat. That was demoralizing for the child.

Most of what’s written in the books was inspired by Antoine’s wealth of experience, gotten especially, during his voyages. Antoine was well-traveled. He even became a journalist at some point; that was when the company he worked with began to face financial challenges. When France went to war with Germany in 1939, he enlisted. Even though France was later defeated, he refused to accept defeat, and Instead, left France for the US, where he continued to write. It was then that he published ‘The Little Prince,’ which went on to become one of his most celebrated books.

Even when he volunteered to join the American Army against North Africa to be a pilot at age 42 and was told he was too old for that, he persisted. One dominantly remarkable attitude the little prince has is that of being persistent, especially with questions. He asked and asked until he got answers. Antoine’s last mission was in July 1944. His aeroplane was destroyed by the Germans over the Mediterranean. In the open sky, he found risk, death, and glory. A little like the little prince, for both found glory in the open sky.

Antoine’s other books include- ‘Wind, Sand and Stars’ [1948], ‘Night Flight‘ [1931], ‘Flight to Arras‘ [1942], ‘‘The Aviator’ [1926], ‘Letter to a Hostage’ [1943], ‘‘Airman’s Odyssey’ [1942], ‘Man Sieht NUR MIT Den Herzen Gut’ [1984] ‘Sense of Life’ [1956], ‘‘Letters to His Mother’ [2018], ‘Manon, Ballerina’ [2007], ‘Kuttị ilavaracan’ [2009], and ‘Manon Danseuse’ [2007].

The last seven books listed were published after Antoine’s passing.

So far, his work, ‘The Little Prince‘ has been translated into English, Spanish, German, and Latin.

Books Related to The Little Prince

‘Wind, Sand and Stars’ by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry– a memoir, focusing on meditation, anecdotes, and thoughts about flying; ‘Fox 8’ by George Saunders- focuses on Fox 8, a daydreamer who spends time listening to children; ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’ by Charlie Mackesy- published in 2019, it is an illustrated book focusing on friendship; ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho- a 1988 novel which tells the story of Santiago, it combines magic and wonder; ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ by Jonathan Swift- a prose satire which mixes fantasy and realism; ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell– a story that focuses on living beings and how insatiable they can be; ‘The Fox and the Star’ by Coralie Bickford-Smith- a story of a friendship between a fox and a star; ‘The Happy Prince and Other Tales’ by Oscar Wilde- a collection of stories for children; ‘The 13 Clocks’ by James Thurber- a fantasy tale of love.

The Lasting Impact of The Little Prince