All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.

More we travel, more we share “The Little Prince” with people  

Point to Ponder: Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

 

Story Line: The Little Prince
At first glance one may assume that “The Little Prince” is a book for children. After all the cast of characters are: a Pilot, a boy named “The Little Prince”, a Fox, a Snake and a Rose. But in reality few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as “The Little Prince”. In my belief it is a story even more valuable for adults and it is easy one hour reading time.

Here are a few teasers from the book*:
The narrator begins with a discussion on the nature of grown-ups and their inability to perceive, especially relating to important things. The narrator becomes a pilot, and, one day, his plane crashes in the Sahara, far from civilization. In the middle of the desert, the narrator is unexpectedly greeted by a young boy who is nicknamed as "the little prince".

Over the course of eight days stranded in the desert, while the narrator attempts to repair his plane, the little prince recounts the story of his life.

The prince begins by describing life on his tiny home planet: in effect, a house-sized asteroid known as "B 612" on Earth.

The prince has since visited six other planets, each of which was inhabited by a single, irrational, narrow-minded adult, each meant to critique an element of society. They include:
• A king with no subjects, who only issues orders that can be followed, such as commanding the sun to set at sunset.
• A narcissistic man who only wants the praise which comes from admiration and being the most-admirable person on his otherwise uninhabited planet.
• A drunkard who drinks to forget the shame of drinking.
• A businessman who is blind to the beauty of the stars and instead endlessly counts and catalogs them in order to "own" them all
• A lamplighter on a planet so small, a full day lasts a minute. He wastes his life blindly following orders to extinguish and relight the lamppost every 30 seconds to correspond with his planet's day and night.
• An elderly geographer who has never been anywhere, or seen any of the things he records, providing a caricature of specialization in the contemporary world.
It is the geographer who tells the prince that the prince next visit the planet Earth.

The visit to Earth begins with a deeply pessimistic appraisal of humanity. The six absurd people the prince encountered earlier comprise, according to the narrator, just about the entire adult world on earth. Below are some sample dialogues before you dwell into the fascinating, deeply philosophical and meaningful story for life and relationships.

“People where you live," the little prince said, "grow five thousand roses in one garden... yet they don't find what they're looking for...And yet what they're looking for could be found in a single rose, or a little water..."

“Where are the people?” resumed the little prince at last. “It’s a little lonely in the desert…” “It is lonely when you’re among people, too,” said the snake.” 

“Grown-ups love figures... When you tell them you've made a new friend they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies? "Instead they demand "How old is he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make? "Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.”

“Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready-made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me...” said Fox.

Reflection: In the modern times where elementary school teachers have to remind the parents to slow down and let kids be kids, In the corporate orientation classes for the fresh graduates when the presenter tells them “Welcome to the ‘Real World’”, For people needing coaching in “Emotional Intelligence, The Little Prince will enlighten and open the eyes about what the real “Real World” is like. As the narrator says to the little prince “Men occupy little space on Earth”

The analysis of the book in Encyclopedia Britannica sums it up well: The Little Prince draws unflattering portraits of grown-ups as being hopelessly narrow-minded. In contrast, children come to wisdom through open-mindedness and a willingness to explore the world around them and within themselves. The main theme of the fable is expressed in the secret that the fox tells the little prince: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly: what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

*Source for the Story Line Teasers: Wikipedia.

Cover Photo from The Little Prince in my book collection. Motion Picture has since been released. If any further interest beyond this reflection, then Recommend to read the book first before watching the video.

 

Thanks to Saeed Malik for introducing me to “The Little Prince” in the year 1988

Comments

[FR team]

From previous publication of this FR

this is my favourite book. I bought it for my kid last year and it is interesting that he sees the book with a different perspective. Adults have much to learn from kids!

Posted by: JP | December 13, 2018 at 07:44 PM

Debasree
Immensely thought provoking, particularly for a new mom like me..

Posted by: Debasree | December 13, 2018 at 08:39 PM

sujat
Beautiful and innocent renditions of matters-of-fact. The paras/dialogues quoted are very indicative of the essence.

As I understand, what makes biologically adult people narrow minded and rigid are their own fears/insecurities, most of which are tbe result of social-cultural-religious conditioning.

Lesser the degree of externally injected conditioning, the closer is the mind to Innateness.

Posted by: sujat | December 13, 2018 at 08:52 PM

Levi's
It is one of my favorite books, with many memorable episodes, like the businessman who is so busy telling the prince how busy and important he is. If astronomy teaches men anything, it is how inconsequentially small we are in the grand universe. Also, how amateur our technologies are compared to mother nature. I am reminded of an old joke:

One day a group of scientists announced that they could now manipulate any DNA as they wished, even to create completely new life forms. Mankind had achieved the status of the gods!

So the scientists called out to the gods and said, "We no longer need to worship you. We've reached the point where we can clone people and do many miraculous things, without any help from deities."

The gods in Mount Olympus listened very patiently. After the scientist was done talking, they replied,
"Very well, then let us have a man-making contest. Show me how you can form a man out of only dirt."
The scientists agreed to the challenge and grabbed a few handfuls of dirt.
But the gods saw this and warned: "Oh no you don't! Go make your own dirt...First, you have to start by creating your own atoms and molecules!"

Posted by: Levi's | December 14, 2018 at 06:24 AM

Note from a friend from Costa Rica ( posted by FR team)
In 1985ish a friend had this book and loved it i was she was 9, I remember I hated trying to read the book it felt too complex to my simple brain so she rented the movie (on Betamax) oh what an awful movie I felt asleep.

Engineering brains don’t like poetry.

QThat same friend had an apple PC wow that was the thing to have I remember playing with it while she read books... thanks for the synopsis now finally I know what that book is about

Posted by: Note from a friend from Costa Rica ( posted by FR team) | December 14, 2018 at 10:15 AM

Humble Warrior

What I have learned the most from my kids (age 4 & 5) is empathy... I was so unaware and narrow minded of this emotion before I had them... My son said "kids are fragile- like legos, you have to be gentle with them" ... they teach me so much, I am grateful

PS thanks for the book Anand!

Posted by: Humble Warrior | December 14, 2018 at 02:56 PM

[Cebuana]

So true... thanks for sharing....have a great day..