Criticism of “The Little Prince”

The Little Prince is one of the books that captured the hearts of readers around the world. It was first
appeared in 1943 and the tale was inspired by the author's experiences in the French Air Force namely
Antoine de Saint-Exupery. He is a French aristocrat, writer, and aviator and the book was his last and
became the most popular. It has been translated into more than 180 languages (originally in French
language) and has sold more than 80 million copies, It is philosophical in nature, autobiographical and
poetic and illustrated the book in watercolors by the author himself. The story follows a young prince
who visits various planets in space and discusses themes of friendship, loneliness, love and lost. It also
shows clear objectives that teaches us about the importance of "matters of consequences"

The original English translation of The Little Prince is ninety pages long and divided into twenty-seven
chapters. The language is very symbolic and simple and possesses extraordinary emotional intensity by
the used of poetic riddles and metaphor. The tone is based on facts and the author sketches the narrow
world of the adults or "grown-ups", who are obsessed with self-importance, money and power. It shows
that many of them has eyes that is blind to many important things and it is hard for them to understand
meanings behind things.

The story achieves presenting issues regarding adulthood because of the sincerity of the narrator and
the presentation of well-rounded characters. The main characters of the story is the prince, who is an
alien to earth and the pilot that is also the narrator of the story. They voiced the messages of the author.
Even though the prince is an alien, it appears to be a normal young boy with curly brown hair and wores
a very grand clothing, that makes him really look like a prince. The prince intentionally chose not to
answer some of the pilot's question to him that make the prince to fulfill the mysterious role. The prince
shows how he care for his only friend on his planet that is a rose by making it a screen or glass globe to
protect her from the cold wind, watering her, and keeping off the caterpillar. It tell the readers, how
special is a friend is.

The author presented his thoughts about the difference between a child and an adult by using his
drawings. The narrator briefly explained the idea of the whole story in the first pages, by drawing a
snake that ate an elephant (undigested). When he shows it to the adults, their answers are always the
same that the drawing is a hat. Which shows the thoughts about the difference of the mentality of the
adults and children. Even though the author said that the adults experienced a hard time understanding
simple things, adults are the one who is matured enough to think about the consequences and what is
good. But also, the author explains what adults lack, appreciating and enjoying simple things.

When the plane of the narrator crashed into the desert, he met the prince. The prince begins to
describe himself and that he lives in a house-sized asteroid known as "B 612" He tells that he needs to
remove pull-out the baobab trees the moment It was recognized before it is too late and the tree has
grown too large to remove, its roots will have a catastrophic effect on his planet. Researchers contented
it were meant to represent Nazism attempting to destroy the planet. Saint-Exupery used basic
symbolism to portray his thoughts and messages. It also shows that the prince portrays a child. This idea
is more enhanced, when the narrator (the pilot) shows to the prince what he drew (a snake that ate an
elephant) which before thought by the adults that it's a hat. But the prince answers it correctly that it is
a snake that ate an elephant which matches to what the pilot meant.
 The pilot drew it when he was a child. But the narrator and the prince are different in terms of
mindset, the pilot now portray the adult and plays the role of understanding the lessons of life and what
the prince presented to him, whereas the prince as a supernatural being, understands almost instantly
the lessons that are given to him. The pilot also plays the important role in understanding the objectives
of the story as we understand the lesson as he does and he became the character that we can relate to.
Using these two characters, the author successfully present the main objectives of the story and became
effective on sharing the life lessons in it.

Another lesson presented is when the prince visited the Earth, he encountered a whole row of rose
bushes, becoming downcast at he thought that his own rose was unique and she had lied. He know
thought that the rose that was he in loved with is now common. Later on, the fox contrast thoughts of
the prince and tells him the rose was still unique because it is the object of the prince's love and time. It
makes and idea that the important things can only be seen with the heart, not the eyes. It tells the
concept that we must not trust our eyes easily and consider our feelings or heart.

The Little Prince is written in a basic and simple style but full of symbols and the author's message
can only fully understand and decoded with careful reading and analyzing. Many people especially
scholars have published articles and discussion about the metaphor and symbolism in the book like the
prince himself, snake, roses and baobabs. Which many readers interpret it based on their view in the
story. The success of the book made other composers and writers to make their own prose fiction as
well as filmmakers, dramatists, composers, and dramatist. Until now, the messages of the story are
being studied and both adults and children continue to unlock the author's mind and thoughts and serve
these as an inspiration and guide towards their dreams.