The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Little Prince, written by
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry,
has been translated into
some 220 languages
and dialects so far.
The Little Prince
Mały Książę
El Principito
Küçük Prens
Il piccolo principe
Micul Prinţ
Ο μικρός Πρίγκιπας
Key Facts
full title · The Little Prince (in French, Le Petit Prince)
author · Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
type of work · Children’s story, novella
genre · Fable, allegory
language · French
time and place written · The summer and fall of 1942,
while Saint-Exupéry was living in Long Island, New York
• date of first publication · First published in English
translation in 1943. The first French edition did not appear
until 1946.
• publisher · Reynal & Hitchcock, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
Inc. (U.S. edition, both French and English); Gallimard
(French edition)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is
both a pioneer of aviation and
a well-known French writer.
He was born in Lyon, France,
in 1900. At an early age, he
dreamed of a life of adventure
and wanted to become a naval
officer.
Unfortunately,
he
failed the exam to qualify
him for naval officer training
school. As a result, he turned
his attention to the field of
aviation.
Even though flying was dangerous and risky in Saint-Exupéry’s time, he
joined the military and trained to be a pilot. After his military service, he
presented himself to the director of an airline company and expressed his
desire to become a commercial pilot. The director told him he must first
become an airplane mechanic. Finally, in 1927, after serving as a mechanic,
Saint-Exupéry became a pilot, opening up new air routes over
the Mediterranean Sea, North Africa, and the Sahara Desert. Because of
the danger of flying, he had a number of accidents, but he escaped any
major injuries. Later Saint-Exupéry became the director of his own aviation
company in South America, where he often flew dangerous routes over
the Andes Mountains.
For Saint-Exupéry, flying was not just piloting an airplane; it was a time for
meditation and reflection. While in the air, Saint-Exupéry would think deeply
about solitude, friendship, the meaning of life, the human condition, and
liberty. He decided to publish his reflections into a book, which was
successful. When his aviation company failed, Saint-Exupéry decided to
pursue writing as a career. He first became a journalist, traveling to Spain,
Russia, and Germany. He also wrote two philosophical books based on
aviation: Night Flight (1932) and Wind, Sand, and Stars (1939). Still in love
with piloting an airplane, Saint-Exupéry continued to fly whenever he had
the opportunity.
In 1939, when France went to war with Germany, Saint-Exupéry
immediately enlisted in the army, hoping to become a military pilot
in the war effort. France, however, was soon defeated and occupied by
Hitler's troops. Saint-Exupéry decided to leave his homeland, settle
in the United States, and pursue his writing career. It was in New York
that he published The Little Prince, his most celebrated book, in 1943.
Since its first publication, more than 25 million copies have been sold
in 75 different countries.
In 1942, when American troops landed in North Africa, Saint-Exupéry
decided to join the U.S. Army as a pilot. Since he was 42 years of age,
he was initially considered too old to be a pilot and was not allowed to
fly; however, Saint-Exupéry persisted and was finally given an airplane.
He accomplished many missions over occupied France. On July 31,
1944, Saint-Exupéry left for his last mission. His plane was destroyed by
the Germans over the Mediterranean.
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, asteroid B-612.
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 vain man, the drunkard, 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.
Character list
T h e N a r ra t o r
The Little Prince
The Rose
The Baobabs
The King
T h e Va i n M a n
T h e D r u n ka r d
The Businessman
The Lamplighter
T h e G e o g ra p h e r
The Snake
T h e Fo x
The Narrator
A lonely pilot who, while
stranded in the desert, befriends
the little prince. They spend
eight days together in the desert
before the little prince returns to
his home planet. Although he is
discouraged from drawing early in
his life because adults cannot
understand
his
drawings,
the narrator illustrates his own
story and makes several drawings
for the little prince. The narrator
is a grown-up, but his view of
the world is more like a child's
than an adult's. After the little
prince departs, the narrator feels
both refreshed and saddened.
The Little Prince
One of the two protagonists
of the story. After leaving his
home planet B – 612 and his
beloved rose, the prince
journeys around the universe,
ending up on Earth.
Frequently perplexed by
the behavior of grown - ups,
the prince symbolizes
the hope, love, innocence,
and insight of childhood that
lie dormant in all of us.
Though the prince is sociable
and meets a number of
characters as he travels, he
never stops loving and missing
the rose on his home planet.
The Rose
A coquettish flower who has
trouble expressing her love for
the
little
prince
and
consequently drives him away.
Simultaneously
vain
and
naïve, she informs the little
prince of her love for him too
late to persuade him to stay
home and not to travel.
Throughout the story, she
occupies the prince's thoughts
and heart.
The Baobabs
Baobabs, harmless trees
on Earth, pose a great
threat to smaller planets
like the prince's if left
unchecked.
They
can
squeeze whole planets to
pieces with their roots.
Although baobabs have no
malicious
opinions
or
intentions, they represent
the grave danger that can
befall people who are too
lazy or indifferent to keep
a wary eye on the world
around them.
The King
On the first planet
the little prince visits,
he encounters a king
who claims to rule
the entire universe.
While not unkindly,
the king's power is
empty. He is able to
command people to do
only what they already
would do.
The Vain Man
The sole resident of
the
second
planet
the little prince visits.
The vain man is lonely
and craves admiration
from all who pass by.
However, only by being
alone is he assured of
being the richest and
best-looking man on his
planet.
The Drunkard
The third person
the little prince
encounters after leaving
home is a drunkard,
who spends his days and
nights lost in a stupor.
The drunkard is a sad
figure, but he is also
foolish because he
drinks to forget that he
is ashamed of drinking.
The Businessman
A caricature of grown-ups
who is the fourth person
the little prince visits.
Too busy even to greet his
visitor, the businessman
owns all the stars. Yet he
cannot remember what
they are called and
contributes nothing to
them. Although the little
prince comments on
the oddity of the grown-ups
he meets, the businessman
is the only character
the prince actively
chastises.
The Lamplighter
The fifth and most complex
figure the prince encounters
before landing on Earth.
At first, the lamplighter
appears to be yet another
ridiculous character with no
real purpose, but his selfless
devotion to his orders earns
him the little prince's
admiration. Of all the adults
the little prince encounters
before reaching Earth,
the lamplighter is the only one
the prince thinks he could
befriend.
The Geographer
The sixth and final character
the little prince encounters
before he lands on Earth.
Although the geographer is
apparently well-read, he refuses
to learn about his own planet,
saying it is a job for explorers.
He recommends that the little
prince visit Earth and his
comments on the ephemeral
nature of flowers reveal to
the prince that his own flower
will not last forever.
The Snake
The first character
the prince meets on Earth,
who ultimately sends
the prince back to the heavens
by biting him. A constant
enigma, the snake speaks in
riddles and evokes the snake of
the Bible, which incites Adam
and Eve's eviction from Eden by
luring them into eating
the forbidden fruit.
The Fox
Although the fox asks
the little prince to tame him,
the fox is in some ways
the more knowledgeable of
the two characters, and he
helps steer the prince toward
what is important in life.
In the secret the fox tells
the little prince before they
say their good-byes, the fox
sums up three important
lessons: only the heart can see
correctly; the prince's time
away from his planet has
made him appreciate his rose
more; and love entails
responsibility.
ENDING
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. In essence, the fox’s lesson is about how to love,
a most important thing for everybody to learn. 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 and beloved rose.
• “Goodbye, said the fox. 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.”
• “All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them
remember it.”
• “People have forgotten this truth,” the fox said. „But you mustn’t
forget it. You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed.
You’re responsible for your rose.”
• “ I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say
nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings.”
• “But eyes are blind. You have to look with the heart.”
• “You see, one loves the sunset when one is so sad.”
• “The most beautiful things in the world cannot
be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”
The End
Thank you
Prepared:
Kamila Błaszczyk
Justyna Wcisło
Daria Szewczyk
Ewelina Szewczyk
Marlena Łęcka
Patrycja Kręgiel
Katarzyna Miśtal
Sylwia Wylot
Karolina Nowak
Katarzyna Prusek
Roksana Pabian
Poland,15.01.2013