The story, “The Little Prince” or “La Petit Prince” in French is a literary work written

by French writer and military pilot Antoine de de Saint-Exupéry. The story follows the
perspective of an aviator and his encounter with a little prince that came from a very small
planet where everything is very small. The aviator listens to what the little prince has been
through throughout his journey ever since leaving his little planet. I have read this story
multiple times ever since I watched the 2015 animated film with the same name based on
this novella, and it never fails to make me filled with wonder, there are parts of the story
that continues to leave me puzzled, but to me that only adds to the charm of the story.

As I’ve said in the previous paragraph, the story follows an aviator whose childhood
dreams and wonders were crushed due to the rationality and seriousness of grown ups’
mindsets. It starts of with the aviator as a child drawing a boa constrictor digesting an
elephant from the outside, shown to the grown ups and it being called a simple “hat”, when
drawing the boa constrictor digesting an elephant from the inside, that is when he was told
he should get rid of his focus on such pointless boa constrictor paintings and start to study
things that would be more beneficial to the society once he grows up. Which then lead to
him growing up to be an aviator.

One day the aviator was forced to crash land in the middle of the Sahara desert due
to an engine failure in his airplane. And there he meets the little prince. The little prince
asked the aviator to draw him multiple things and feigns ignorance to the aviator’s
questions. As confused as the aviator was, since the little prince could recognize his boa
constrictor digesting an elephant from the outside right away, he continues to entertain the
little prince and his childlike wonder.

The little prince tells the aviator about his encounters with multiple people from
different planets and the multiple creatures he has met throughout his time on planet Earth.
But nothing could compare to the single flower that grows on the little prince’s planet, his
flower, he holds this flower dear to his heart for there is no other flower like his flower that
he has spent his time to care for and show his love for. The little prince also tamed a fox
which taught him that “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly: what is essential is
invisible to the eye.” Along his adventures, he had also met a yellow snake which told him
that it knows how to take him back to his planet which is to get bitten by the snake.

Throughout his storytelling, the little prince has managed to bond with the aviator
and captured the heart of the aviator. The aviator wanted to keep this little prince safe,
wants to continue hearing his laughter, and wants to preserve his childlike innocence. But
alas, the aviator’s time with the little prince has come to an end. With the bite of the yellow
snake, it’s now time for the little prince and the aviator to part ways. And thus, the story of
the little prince comes to a bittersweet end whereas to aviator continues longing to hear the
little prince’s laughter once more.

The story ends on a bittersweet note, unsure of what happened to the little prince,
we can only assume that he managed to reunite with his beautiful flower. My favorite quote
from this story is the quote that was taught by the fox to the little prince, “It is only with the
heart that one can see rightly: what is essential is invisible to the eye.” To me this quote
means that being childish should not be taken negatively, because all that truly matters is
that the heart can see what is right. What is of great importance is invisible to the naked
eye. The heart is a truly beautiful thing and it knows what you truly want and what is
correct.

The Little Prince is a timeless classic and to this day continues to be referenced in
multiple media forms. It tackles the importance of how we shouldn’t lose ourselves to the
harsh treatment we get once we get older in life, we shouldn’t forget about that childlike
wonder we once had, although yes we can no longer be the same little kid we once were,
but we shouldn’t forget of the time that we were that little kid. Every part of our life is
important and we should never forget about any of it. Which is why I think that, “The Little
Prince” or “La Petit Prince” by Antoine de de Saint-Exupéry is an amazing piece of work and I
definitely recommend people to pick it up if they have yet to do so.

Karol Leigh - Anne Lacuarin

STEM 11 D - JUSTICE
The Little Prince “La Petit Prince” Book Review