CENTRO REGIONAL UNIVERSITARIO CHIRIQUI ORIENTE

ENGLISH SHOOL
INTRODUCTIONT TO LITERACY GENRES
PROFESSOR ERNESTO CABALLERO

Analysis of the novel

“THE LITTLE PRINCE” BY ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY

STUDENT JOSUE GONZALEZ III

4-776-2097

DATE November, 22, 2017

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Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Biography of the author .................................................................................................................. 3
Plot .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Setting ............................................................................................................................................. 5
Conflict ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Theme ............................................................................................................................................. 5
Characters ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Literary figures................................................................................................................................ 8
Vocabulary ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 10

Introduction
I present this analysis about a novel which is called the “Little Prince Antoine”, written by
Antoine de Saint-Exupery in 1943.
The Little Prince is a novel as well as fable which contains in all 27 chapters and 91 pages. It is
simple, easy and fun to read. This fable deals about a little man who is very intelligent, polite,
and curious about learning useful thing. A person who was looking true friend. But he was
deception the fox was a good friend ne found.
The Little Prince is a special novel which shows that was lonely.

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Biography of the author
Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, Comte de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944) was a French writer,
poet, aristocrat, journalist, and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of several of France's
highest literary awards and also won the U.S. National Book Award. He was born on June 29,
1900, in Lyon, France, and died on July 31, 1944, in off the coast of Marseille, France (plane
crash). His height 6' 2" (1, 88 m).
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born into a family of old provincial nobility. Failing his final
exams at a preparatory school, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts to study architecture. In
1921, he began military service in the 2nd Regiment of Chasseurs, and sent to Strasbourg for
pilot training. The next year, he obtained his license, and was offered a transfer to the air force.
But his fiancée's family objected, so he settled in Paris and took an office job. His engagement
ultimately broke off, and he worked at several jobs over the next few years without success.

By 1926, he was flying again. He became one of the pioneers of international postal flight in the
days when aircrafts had few instruments and pilots flew by the seat of their pants. He worked on
the Aéropostale between Toulouse and Dakar. His first tale, L'Aviateur (The Aviator), was
published in the magazine Le Navire d'Argent. In 1928, he published his first book, Courrier-Sud
(Southern Mail), and flew the Casablanca/Dakar route. He became the director of Cap Juby
airfield in Rio de Oro, Sahara. In 1929, he moved to South America where he was appointed
director of the Aeroposta Argentina Company. In 1931, Vol de Nuit (Night Flight), which won
the Prix Femina, was published. He married Salvadoran artist and writer Consuelo Suncin
Sandoval de Gómez, who became the model for the temperamental Rose in Le Petit Prince.
Theirs was a stormy union as Saint-Exupéry traveled frequently and indulged in numerous
affairs.

During World War II, he was in New York City, but returned to France to join a squadron based
in the Mediterranean. Now 44, he agreed to collect data on German troop movements in the
Rhone River Valley. He took off the night of July 31, 1944, and was never seen again. A lady
reported having seen a plane crash around noon on August 1st near the Bay of Carqueiranne. A
body wearing a French uniform was found several days later, and buried. In 1998, a fisherman
found a silver chain bracelet south of Marseille which was identified as being Saint-Exupéry's.
On April 7, 2004, officials confirmed that the wreckage of a Lockheed Lightning P-38 found on
the seabed off the coast of Marseille in 2000 was Saint-Exupéry's.

Further research in 2006 by the dive team which recovered the wreckage located a German pilot
who was flying a mission at the Bay of Carqueiranne at the time Saint-Exupéry's plane went
down. Horst Rippert acknowledged that he shot at the plane, but did not report it, possibly
because he was not sure he actually downed it. When the Germans heard American radio
broadcasts that Saint-Exupéry was missing, Rippert said he knew that the plane he downed was
his. Rippert idolized Saint-Exupéry, read all his books, and had been bothered by the incident his
whole life. He told the dive team he would not have shot at the plane had he known it was Saint-
Exupéry's.

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Plot
The narrator, an airplane pilot, crashes in the Sahara desert. The crash badly damages his
airplane and leaves the narrator with very little food or water. As he is worrying over his
predicament, he is approached by the little prince, a very serious little blond boy who asks the
narrator to draw him a sheep. The narrator obliges, and the two become friends. The pilot learns
that the little prince comes from a small planet that the little prince calls Asteroid 325 but that
people on Earth call Asteroid B-612. The little prince took great care of this planet, preventing
any bad seeds from growing and making sure it was never overrun by baobab trees. One day, a
mysterious rose sprouted on the planet and the little prince fell in love with it. But when he
caught the rose in a lie one day, he decided that he could not trust her anymore. He grew lonely
and decided to leave. Despite a last-minute reconciliation with the rose, the prince set out to
explore other planets and cure his loneliness.
While journeying, the narrator tells us, the little prince passes by neighboring asteroids and
encounters for the first time the strange, narrow-minded world of grown-ups. On the first six
planets the little prince visits, he meets a king, a vain man, a drunkard, a businessman, a
lamplighter, and a geographer, all of whom live alone and are overly consumed by their chosen
occupations. Such strange behavior both amuses and perturbs the little prince. He does not
understand their need to order people around, to be admired, and to own everything. With the
exception of the lamplighter, whose dogged faithfulness he admires, the little prince does not
think much of the adults he visits, and he does not learn anything useful. However, he learns
from the geographer that flowers do not last forever, and he begins to miss the rose he has left
behind.
At the geographer’s suggestion, the little prince visits Earth, but he lands in the middle of the
desert and cannot find any humans. Instead, he meets a snake who speaks in riddles and hints
darkly that its lethal poison can send the little prince back to the heavens if he so wishes. The
little prince ignores the offer and continues his explorations, stopping to talk to a three-petaled
flower and to climb the tallest mountain he can find, where he confuses the echo of his voice for
conversation. Eventually, the little prince finds a rose garden, which surprises and depresses
him—his rose had told him that she was the only one of her kind.
The prince befriends a fox, who teaches him that the important things in life are visible only to
the heart that his time away from the rose makes the rose more special to him, and that love
makes a person responsible for the beings that one loves. The little prince realizes that, even
though there are many roses, his love for his rose makes her unique and that he is therefore
responsible for her. Despite this revelation, he still feels very lonely because he is so far away
from his rose. The prince ends his story by describing his encounters with two men, a railway
switchman and a salesclerk.
It is now the narrator’s eighth day in the desert, and at the prince’s suggestion, they set off to find
a well. The water feeds their hearts as much as their bodies, and the two share a moment of bliss
as they agree that too many people do not see what is truly important in life. The little prince’s
mind, however, is fixed on returning to his rose, and he begins making plans with the snake to
head back to his planet. The narrator is able to fix his plane on the day before the one-year
anniversary of the prince’s arrival on Earth, and he walks sadly with his friend out to the place
the prince landed. The snake bites the prince, who falls noiselessly to the sand.

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The narrator takes comfort when he cannot find the prince’s body the next day and is confident
that the prince has returned to his asteroid. The narrator is also comforted by the stars, in which
he now hears the tinkling of his friend’s laughter. Often, however, he grows sad and wonders if
the sheep he drew has eaten the prince’s rose. The narrator concludes by showing his readers a
drawing of the desert landscape and by asking us to stop for a while under the stars if we are ever
in the area and to let the narrator know immediately if the little prince has returned.

Setting
The story of The Little Prince begins and ends in the mid, in The Desert of Sahara. Some other
actions take place on the Little Prince’s home planet, and on other planets visited by him on his
way to the Earth. The time is believed to be the mid of the 20th century.

Conflict
It stands the beliefs of children and grown-ups.

Theme
Major themes

The main theme of The Little Prince is the importance of looking beneath the surface to find the
real truth and meaning of a thing. It is the fox who teaches the Prince to see with one’s heart
instead of just with one’s eyes. Unfortunately, most adults have difficulty doing this. In the
beginning of the book, the narrator points out how grown-ups can never see the real meaning of a
drawing; instead, they look at the surface, failing to probe a deeper meaning.

When the Little Prince first comes to earth, he also suffers from looking at the surface of things.
He leaves his planet because he is bothered by the vanity of his flower; he never stops to think
how important they are to each other. When he sees the garden of roses, which look just like his
special flower, he is crushed. He had imagined that his rose was unique and valuable; now he
believes it is common and worthless. The fox, however, makes him realizes that his flower is
unique. Because the Little Prince has loved and nurtured the flower, she is very special. Finally,
the Little Prince understands that he must look beneath the surface to understand the true
importance of things.

Throughout his book, Saint-Exupéry emphasizes the importance of looking beneath the surface
to find true beauty in even common things. The star of the Little Prince becomes special and
beautiful because it is home to his unique rose, made special by love. The narrator comments on
the Little Prince’s love: “What moves me so deeply about this Little Prince, who is sleeping here,
is his loyalty to a flower -- the image of a rose that shines through his whole being like the flame
of a lamp, even when he is asleep.” What makes the Little Prince so special is this ability to love
fully and completely. In the end, it is love that gives meaning to all existence. Without it, man is
lost and alone on the desert, much like the narrator until he encountered and befriended the Little
Prince.

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Minor themes

Throughout the book, Saint-Exupéry is very critical of many of the characteristics of mankind.
He claims that humans are too preoccupied with wealth, power, and technology, missing the
important things in life -- beauty, love, and friendship. Because they do not invest the time in
loving others and noticing the small wonders of the world, people rush from place to place in
search of something; but since they look for the wrong things, they are never happy with where
they are and rush onward again, much like the trains that the switchman controls. People are also
duped into believing that facts and figures are important, just like the geographer; however, the
facts often hide the truth and cause a person to miss out on the true meaning of life.

In a similar manner, when a human succeeds and accumulates some wealth, they spend all of
their time counting their assets instead of investing it in the important things of life. When they
finally realize their lives have no meaning, people then turn to crutches, such as alcohol,
believing that these things can supply the answer; in truth, the answer always lies inside if a
person will only seek the truth beneath the surface.

Characters

The Little Prince

One of the two protagonists of the story. After leaving his home planet 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 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 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 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

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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.
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 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

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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 Railway Switchman
The railway switchman works at the hub for the enormous trains that rush back and forth
carrying dissatisfied adults from one place to the other. He has more perspective on life than the
unhappy, thoughtless passengers his trains ferry. He agrees with the prince that the children are
the only ones who appreciate and enjoy the beauty of the train rides.
The Salesclerk
The salesclerk sells pills that quench thirst on the grounds that people can save up to fifty-three
minutes a day if they don’t have to stop to drink. He symbolizes the modern world’s misplaced
emphasis on saving time and taking shortcuts.
The Roses in the Rose Garden
The sight of the rose garden first leads the prince to believe that his flower is not, in fact, unique.
However, with the fox’s guidance, the prince realizes that even so many similar flowers cannot
stop his own rose from being unique.
The dessert flower with three petals
The flower lives alone in the desert, watching the occasional caravan pass by. She mistakenly
informs the prince that there are only a handful of men in the world and that their lack of roots
means they are often blown along.
The little prince’s echo
The little prince’s echo is not really a character, but the little prince mistakes it for one. When he
shouts from a mountaintop, he hears his echo and believes that Earth people simply repeat what
is said to them.
The Turkish astronomer
The first human to discover the prince’s home, Asteroid B-612. When the Turkish astronomer
first presents his discovery, no one believes him on account of his Turkish costume. Years later,
he makes the same presentation wearing Western clothes, and his discovery is well received. The
scientific community’s treatment of the Turkish astronomer reveals that ignorance propels
xenophobia (a fear or hatred of foreigners) and racism.

Literary figures
Connotation
 Stars:
Denotation

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  Geographer: "A geographer is a scholar who knows the location of all the seas, rivers,
towns, mountains, and deserts."
 Ephemeral: “It means, 'which is in danger of speedy disappearance.”
 Tame: It means to establish ties
Personification
 Flower: "Good morning," said the flower. “She dressed herself slowly. She adjusted her
petals one by one”. The flower is represented as a young lady, who is into her looks.
 Snake: "Good evening," said the snake.
 Echo: "I am lonely…The echo answered
Simile
 “His face was white as snow.”
 “Save peaks of rock that were sharpened like needles.”

Vocabulary
1. Acquaintance: personal knowledge or information about someone or something
2. Blunder: an embarrassing mistake
3. Coquettish: like a flirtatious woman
4. Curiosity: a state in which you want to learn more about something
5. Hasten: move fast
6. Masterpiece: the most outstanding work of a creative artist or craftsman
7. Painstaking: characterized by extreme care and great effort
8. Ponder: reflect deeply on a subject
9. Retort: a quick reply to a question or remark
10. Twilight: the time of day immediately following sunset

Conclusion

To conclude, “The Little Prince” has been for me not only an interesting work but also an
amazing fable which contains practical lessons for life such as: friendship, bond, love. It makes
us be the person we should be as an English learners, that is to say, always asking questions in
order to learn more about persons.
This fable has taught me how to become an questioner, how to learn, how to ask so many
questions, how to be more curious about learning from people like The Little Prince because The
Little Prince never let go of a question in all his life, once he had asked it. This is why I think
that this is such as great treasure for everyone who love personal development.
Questioning was a keystone habit that The Little Prince had to learn more. If we wish to learn
about something we should do it by asking many questions until one knows the answers in order
to increase personal knowledge.
Many types of planets (people) are around us so we should be careful with them because they
can be dangerous or toxic people who often tell you lies, they are negative people who destroy

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our relationship and people who cause depression they does not agree with you because there are
few true friends, but we need to test them like The Little Prince.
So, we can’t adopt people bad attitudes, bad behaviors, bad habits, and dangerous vicious

Bibliography

Saint-Exupery, A.(1943). The Little Prince. United States: The Bomoo.com. Retrieved
from: http://yoanaj.co.il/uploadimages/The_Little_Prince.pdf Acessed: 22/11/2017

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