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The novel The Little Prince was originally published in 1943. Antoine De Saint was a pioneering aviator, a prominent aristocrat, poet and writer, and thus the book; The Little Prince was inspired by his real-life experiences (Sís). He only added a few fictionalized imageries to enhance the merit and understandability of the book to his audience (Cengage Learning Gale).
The Little Prince has demonstrated massive success as it has sold over 140 million copies worldwide and translated into more than 300 languages and dialects consequently becoming the best-selling book ever published (Howard and Mortensen).
More significantly, this novel is one of the most key books because of its thoughtful and introspective nature, and hence bringing hope to human beings.
The Little Prince was written immediately after the outbreak of the 2nd World War which forced Saint-Exupery to seek refuge in North America. Notwithstanding his disturbances and poor health condition, he managed to produce virtually half of the book's writings for which he would be remembered for.
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“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”
For instance, an affectionate tale regarding his loneliness, loss, love, and friendship in the form of the Little Prince visiting Earth. Additionally, the author's early account shades lights to his aeronautics involvements in the desert regions of Sahara. Presumably, its believed that those experiences are drawn in The Little Prince (Cengage Learning Gale).
The Little Prince is one of the children’s must-read handbooks with philosophy for grown-ups. This is as a result of its significant poetic and optimistic reflections primarily on the existence of human beings (Cengage Learning Gale). The novel demonstrates the author's practical artistic skills through his lyrical, charming and well-illustrations made throughout the book, sweeping the audience into a whirl hood of childhood fancy (Saint-Exupéry). Also, it’s a simple book with a combination of satire, philosophy, science, imagination and childish vivacity that can command the attention of grown-ups and children’s hearts and minds.
Through his book, Antoine De Saint-Exupery communicates important values that "grown-ups" overlooks more often in everyday life. The Little Prince is written as a children's novel. However, it be can analyzed at various different levels. Therefore, it's important to note that a "child" or an "adult" is not defined by the age, but rather by the state of mind (Weber and Probert). Although The Little Prince is designed as a childhood novel, it makes several explanations and clarifications regarding human life and nature, and hence it's optimistic.
For instance, The Little Prince is depicted as one of the two protagonists of the story. Hence, after leaving his home planet and his rose which he adored so much, he traveled around the world, ending up on Earth. He was puzzled by the behavior of grown-ups (Howard and Mortensen). The Prince symbolizes love, hope and innocence of childhood that dominates the better part of our life in all of us. Additionally, the Prince is demonstrated as a friendly individual who enjoys meeting diverse characters of people as he travels. He is optimistic and never stopped being affectionate to his beloved rose on his home planet (Cengage Learning Gale).
The novel’s optimism is also demonstrated by the roses in the garden. The glimpse of the rose garden made the Prince loss confidence to his flower as he believed that it was not unique (Howard and Mortensen). However, after an in-depth guidance and knowledge from Fox, the Prince realized and understood that irrespective of the many similar flowers available, they were not meant to stop his flower from being unique and exclusive. He is determined and hopeful to achieve the uniqueness of his rose regardless of the availability of several similar flowers (Saint-Exupéry).
This was the moment when the Fox appeared, and the Prince asked to cheer him up by playing with him because he looked upset and unhappy. However, the Fox declined to play with him because he was not “tamed” (Howard and Mortensen). Fox described "tame" as establishing strong ties between him and The Little Prince so as they can be unique in each other’s eyes, notwithstanding all the other boys and foxes in the universe. Nonetheless, he believed that his flower was tamed (Saint-Exupéry).
Furthermore, Antoine De Saint-Exupery depicts the narrator as an optimistic individual and consequently the optimism of the novel as he shades lights to his childhood attempts at making an illustration of a boa constrictor eating an elephant. When the narrator created the image from the outside for the first time, all the “grown-ups” misinterpreted the illustration as they all believed it was a hat (Saint-Exupéry). Nevertheless, the narrator did not lose hope; he still made attempts to draw the boa constrictor from the inside.
In spite of being advised by the “grown-ups” to quit drawing a boa constrictor and instead devote his time to other subjects such as grammar, geography, and arithmetic, his determination and optimism are not deterred (Cengage Learning Gale). He believes that most of the “grown-ups” have lost their imagination and the ability to see and correctly interpret his pictorial drawing for the truth it contained. However, they can only jump to the most obvious conclusion that the hat-shaped creature was a hat (Howard and Mortensen).
Additionally, the novel’s optimism is portrayed by The Little Prince’s unrelenting effort in his attempts to learn more about the meaning and different forms of relationships with various characters of people (Sís). He is determined and pays more considerable attention to the fox as he teaches and makes clarity on the crucial procedural forms that bond between the tamer and the tamed. According to the fox, the connection between somebody or something with another person or thing is what makes the relationship unique. Uniqueness grows and develops out of a relationship (Cengage Learning Gale).
The optimistic nature of the novel is further depicted by water which symbolizes hope, spiritual nourishment and the joy we encounter in our healthy daily life. Usually, water is one of the typical resources that most people take for granted in life not being incognizant of the fact that, it becomes a rarity especial in desert regions. The pilot and The Little Prince becomes very thirsty particularly as the book nears the end, and thus abandoning their narration to search for water (Weber and Probert). After walking beneath the desert stars, they eventually came across a well that was in the middle of the desert and drunk water as if it was a "present." The most valuable and exclusive gift after walking for the such a long distance and enduring the hotness of the scorching sun (Weber and Probert).
Moreover, when The Little Prince met the merchant who was saving at least fifty-three minutes every single day by selling a pill that quenches thirst, he said that, he would instead use those minutes to trek towards a well to quench his thirst with fresh water. This suggested that there was nothing that can replace the happiness, hope, and determination of journeying towards a spring of water to quench thirst. Therefore, the sweetness of the water and the joy and happiness he feels after quenching his thirst at a spring of fresh water brings the sense of optimism and determination (Cengage Learning Gale).
Stars also help to demonstrate the optimistic nature of the novel, although they portray various and different meanings throughout the book. For instance, before his final departure, the little prince said that all the men have stars. However, they do not represent the same things for different people (Weber and Probert). For the travelers, the stars symbolize the guiding lights, and the number to count and own for the businesspersons. However, for the pilot, the stars represent the presence of the little prince on another planet giving him hope and laughter by watching them (Sís).
This is because the stars contained the laughter of the little prince as they represented hope and the character of his most dear, which was his rose flower (Weber and Probert). Thus, a singles blossom of the flower growing in all the millions and millions of stars was enough to give hope and bring him happiness, joy, and laughter by just looking at the stars (Cengage Learning Gale).
Finally, the author uses the baobab trees to help express the hopefulness of the novel. The baobab trees resemble the rose bushes, but if not monitored and taken care of appropriately, their roots are destructive and may damage a small planet like The Little Prince’s (Howard and Mortensen). Thus, the baobab trees symbolize any immoral behavior that is not taken care of at the early stages such as the obsession of the businessman with sums. Therefore, the author gives the audience optimism in rectifying some bad behaviors before they become immense. For instance, The Little Prince took advantage of the migration of the wild birds to leave his home planet. However, he made sure to clean the volcanoes on his planet, water his rose and pull the last shoots of the baobab trees (Cengage Learning Gale).
In conclusion, The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery is one of the most significant books in the world literature. This is because the its thoughtful and introspective, and thus brings optimism to human beings. The storyline is philosophical as it contains some social criticism, particularly to the adult world. Although meant for the children's must-read handbooks, the book is essential because it demonstrates significant poetry and optimistic reflections on the existence of human beings. Therefore, the novel is suitable for both the adults and children because it makes several observations regarding life and human nature. Thus, the novel is optimistic.
The Little Prince: One Of The Most Significant Books in The World Literature. (2024, Feb 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-little-prince-one-of-the-most-significant-books-in-the-world-literature-essay
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