The Little prince

Description

Little Prince is a novella by the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Published in 1943, it is one of the most translated works of literature and a favorite among readers because of its philosophical themes, magical storytelling, and whimsical illustrations. Not necessarily a children’s book, it carries important messages concerning life, love, and human nature. Thus, it is as popular as an adult book.
The story is told from the point of view of a pilot whose plane crash-lands in the Sahara Desert. While attempting to fix his plane, he meets a young boy, called the Little Prince, who originates from another distant asteroid called B-612. During his journey from one planet to another, he shares with the pilot reflections that are so very profound about life, people, and what such grown-ups are.

Main Characters
The Little Prince is a curious and innocent boy who traverses in space to find answers to these big questions about life. He embodies childlike wonder and purity.
The Pilot/Narrator – stranded in the desert, listening to the tale of the Prince; this is the pilot who gets transformed with his perspective toward the end of the book as he gets closer to the Little Prince.
The Rose – A fragile and coquettish flower that the Little Prince cherishes on his home planet. She is the symbol of love and the puzzles of the relationship between love and life.
The Fox – A wise animal who teaches him the most valuable lessons about love, trust, and friendship, saying famously, “One sees very clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”.
The Snake – A mystery who speaks in paradoxes and provides the Prince a way of going back to his home planet, or of returning to the unknown or death.
Plot Summary:
The Little Prince recounts his tale to the Pilot of his homeland on asteroid B-612. He lives alone with Rose whom he loves so much. He finds, however that she does not love him the way he loves her, so he needs to travel to other planets to realize why there are. He encounters the inhabitants of six planets which are each occupied by a single adult; the vices of adulthood incarnate: a king, a coxcomb, a drunkard, a
shopkeeper, a lamplighter, and a geographer. Such meetings portray how the mature air of grown-ups has finally been lost and they are so engrossed in trifles.

Finally, the Little Prince reaches Earth, where he encounters various creatures, with the most important being the Fox, who teaches him the value of love and relationships. Through time, the Little Prince wants to go back to his Rose and realizes that because he has taken time and care for her, there is no other love like his.

The final pages of the book present the decisions before a snake’s deadly bite kills him, which in his thinking will liberate his spirit and catapult it back to his home planet and especially to his Rose. As the Little Prince departs, the Pilot is plunged into loss at the loss of his friend, but he finds himself opened up to what really matters in the world around him.

Themes:
Love and Relations – The connection between the Little Prince and his Rose, along with his relationship with the Fox, becomes a reflection of complex love, trust, and care. Love requires responsibility and devotion, is what emphasized in the story.
Childlike Wonder vs. Adult Practicality – The Little Prince contrasts imaginative, open-mindedness of children with rigidity and petty, often meaningless concerns of adults. The former is fascinated by beauty, relations, and the meaning of life, while the latter are interested in matters like power, wealth, and rules.
The Invisible Things; amongst one of the most fundamental lessons taught is that nothing can be more important than what cannot be seen, yet can be felt in the heart. The things which are invisible are love, friendship, and connections.
Loss and Longing – The Little Prince loses all he loves during the entire journey. He misses his Rose during the entire trip. His “return” is both final and hopeful at once.
This little prince is a poignant, philosophical tale about innocence, love, and seeking life’s meaning. Simple yet full of profound meaning, it makes readers rediscover the world through a child’s eyes in order to honor the essential things in life that are so often left behind.