Le Petit Prince
Learning about life from a children’s perspective. The myriad of things I learned from one of my favorite books.
The story started with the narrator explaining about his childhood. How he loved to draw and shared his drawings to the adults. But the adults never understood his drawings. They told him to instead focus on geography, history, arithmetic and grammar instead. So, he gave up on drawing and went on to become a pilot.
He then one day had an accident and crashed his plane on a desert where he met a little boy who claimed that he had come from another planet. The story then follows the little boy telling his story about his planet and his adventures which follows.
“Because where I live, everything is so small” said the little boy. The little boy explained how where he lived, everything was so small. This described how in the eyes of a child, the world is a much simple and smaller place. This particular line made me reflect and focus on my own small world that I live in. The things that are immediately around me and for myself wanting to have a great effect on it.
In the world of grown ups, it is never as simple. In the case of getting to know other people for example, it tends to turn mostly into things such as how much money does he earn? how much does she weigh? and how old is he? Instead of things that would help truly understand a person such as what games does he prefer? Or does she like collecting butterflies? This made me realize how little I really know about the many people around me and how superficial the connection which I would establish with them.
The story then continues with the little boy describing the planet where he lived. He told stories about how he would have responsibility of taking care all the things in his little planet. He told the pilot about the good plants and the bad plants. There will always be good and bad plants in his planet and it is his job to tend to the good plants and pull out the bad plants once recognized. I would interpret this as it would be my job to identify and tend to the things in my life which are good plants, which brings me great positive effect while pulling out all the bad ones which have the opposite effect.
The little prince then said he owns a single flower on his planet which he loved so much. He would tend to the flower’s every needs. The flower would have thorns but they were weak and naïve. They would also think their thorns are terrible. “Let them come, the tigers with their claws” said the flower. But there were no tigers on his planet. The flower would be very vain and guilt trip him whenever he does not tend to her needs, which soon made him unhappy. “One should never listen to flowers. One must admire them and breathe their fragrance. But I did not know how to enjoy her. I was too young to know how to love her.” said the little prince. This passage made me think about love. Loving should make my world a better place. admire them and breathe their fragrance. Flowers could also be complex creatures. They would have thorns and would be proud of it but at the same time think their thorns are terrible. I want to be able to look through their façade of having unlovable thorns and create them a world without having to worry about tigers.
Because he was unhappy, the little prince then went and set out on a journey. He visited other planets which would see him meet different kinds of people. The first planet he went to had a king who ruled over it but curiously had no one to rule over.
The king would give out orders which must be obeyed. But he would claim his orders to be reasonable and would change them if they were unable to be completed. “If I ordered a general to change into a sea-bird, and if the general did not obey, it wouldn’t be the general’s fault. It would be my fault for ordering him to do the impossible. One must demand of each and everyone what he or she is capable of” said the king. This chapter made me contemplate about the expectations we have for other people. I cannot make people obey every expectations that I have for them, especially ones which would only satisfy my ego. “There is nothing to judge in a small world except oneself. That is the most difficult thing of all and it is far more difficult than to judge others” the king also said. In the end, the king could not order the little prince to not leave and the little prince went on to continue his journey.
On the next planet, he met a conceited individual wearing a top hat. He did not hear anything but praise and wants everyone to admire him. He would tell the little prince to keep clapping for him and he would raise his hat.
“And to make you lower your hat, what should one do?” asked the little prince. But the conceited man didn’t hear him. This chapter made me think about how we often obsess towards the validation of others and forgetting to give admiration. “I admire you. But why should that mean so much to you?” said the little prince.
On the next planet, the little prince would meet a drunkard. He said that he drinks to forget. When asked to forget what, he answered to forget of being ashamed. When asked of being ashamed of what, he answered to being ashamed of drinking. The little prince then went off once again growing even more puzzled with adults saying how very odd they are. This one described how many times, our problems sometimes are just ourselves without realizing it and so getting stuck on a loop without ever finding a solution.
Next, he met a business man who was endlessly counting stars and claims to own them. He puts them in a bank and uses it for nothing. But the little prince said he had a flower he waters each day. He owned three volcanoes which he cleaned out every week. Meanwhile, the man was not any use to the stars. This little passage told me about people’s obsession with material wealth. They would count and count all their lives but forgets the true meaning behind the wealth that we have. Like the little prince who may not have millions of stars but what he had was significant and important to him. That was all that mattered to the little prince.
On the next planet, he met someone who he finally liked. There was a lamplighter and a single lamp post on the tiniest planet. He is very obedient with his job which was to light up the lamp post in the morning and put it out in the evenings.
Unfortunately, since the planet’s rotation has increased to one rotation per minute, he could not have any rest. It was unfortunate because what he truly loved to do was to sleep, something he could not enjoy anymore. What was unfortunate was that his calling turned out to be something which hinders him to do what he truly loved. The planet was also too small for the little prince to stay so he had to leave the lamplighter alone with his lamp post. This made me think about my own calling. This passage was a warning for myself in the future, as selfless as my calling is, try not to put myself on a situation where I could not enjoy the things I do anymore or could not do the things I love.
On the final planet, he met an old geographer who would ask explorers about their own planets. He would count all the things such as mountains and volcanoes but skip other things he would describe as ephemeral.
When the little prince described his flower, the geographer did not write it down and said that it was insignificant because it would easily disappear. The little prince shouted at protest at first but then realized that he had left his flower which he missed dearly alone. This chapter made me contemplate about all the temporary things in my life and that the most meaningful things are the things most likely to disappear or are temporary.
The little prince then asked the old geographer of a suggestion where he should go next which the geographer told him to visit earth. There he found himself in the middle of a desert with only a snake as company. It was lonely in the desert, there was no one around. From earth, the little prince could see his planet but it looked so far away. He wonders if the stars were lit up so that we can find our own stars again. The snake said it could return him to the planet which he came from with a single bite. This chapter gave me hope that although it seems so far away, we could always find how we perceived the world as a child. The snake and it’s bite signifies the necessary “death” of ourselves in order to reach another planet or revert back to our own.
On earth, he then climbed a high mountain trying to find people but was still unable to find anyone. He talked with his own echo and claimed how people just repeat whatever is said to them. “On my planet, I had a flower who was always the first to speak” he shouted. I interpret this as how in life we seem to follow what is meaningful or important according to other people when instead on the little prince’s planet, he had a flower he loved which he follows. He follows his heart and what is meaningful to it instead of what others thinks are important.
He also then saw a garden of flowers. It came to his realization that what he has in reality was very common. It ruined his perception of how special his flower was when he compared it to the thousands similar to it in the garden of flowers. But on his little planet, he had no need to compare. This reminded me of how comparing things makes us lose how special are the things we truly have.
Then suddenly a fox appeared. The little prince asked the fox to play but the fox refused because he wasn’t tamed.
“To me you’re just a little boy like a hundred thousand others. And to you, I’m just a fox like hundred thousand other foxes. Unless you tame me. Then we’ll be unique to each other. If you tamed me, my life would be full of sunshine. The yellow wheat fields which had no meaning to me at all would remind me of you and your golden hair” said the fox. This chapter to me was about connection. To establish connections such as friendships and love to make the world not feel as lonely. How connections can give a lot of meaning towards life.
But then, it was the time for the little prince’s departure. “Oh, then I shall cry” said the fox. “Then I have not helped you and it was your own fault” said the prince. “Yes indeed, but it has helped me. Because of the colors of the wheat fields. Go and have another look at your rose and you will find that it is unique to all other roses in the world” replied the fox and so will the fox be to the little prince. The prince then understood, none of it was like anything that he owned because of his connection to it. This passage told me to not be afraid of building connections and significance for being afraid of losing them. Because they will forever give meaning to a lot of things in the world. Even if you will cry when you lose them.
“Now here is my secret, it is very simple. It is only with one’s heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye” claimed the fox . Such as the importance of the little prince’s own flower, something invisible to the eye which turns out to be the most important thing, was his connection to it. Only with the heart can things be meaningful, and it is something people tend to forget in the things that we own, in the experiences that we had, it may seem a lot less or mundane compared to others. But it will always be our own and that is what makes it special. Our struggles, our happiness, everything in our lives.
The story then went back to the present. The pilot and the prince searches for the well. They talked about how the beauty of the desert was that it was hiding a well somewhere. Even if they were desperately thirsty for water. This means that the beauty of life is in having a single ray of hope.
When they finally found the well, the little prince drank the water which was as sweet as a festival treat and the pilot finally understood. The water was born out of the walk under the stars, and all the efforts to acquire it. That was what made it as sweet as it is and gave more then quenching thirst. It gave nourishment to the soul.
This water’s quality will always be invisible to the eye and will only be as sweet to who has given meaning to acquiring it. One day when we have acquired what we wanted and own what we own, even right now in many aspects of our lives, never forget that what makes it special is our connection to it and what we went through to get there and hence there would be no need for any comparisons. There would be no shortage of love and gratitude for what we have. For what is essential is invisible to the eye. Only with the heart can we see clearly. Such is life.
