book report.rtf

8/10/2019 book report.rtf

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For readers who would like a quick reminder of the book and its main

storyline, here is a summary of The Little Princes travels and those he met

along the way.

If aint!"#u$%ry is to be believed The Little Prince is a book for children

written for grown!u$s. It can be read on many di&erent levels to $rovide

$leasure and food for thought for readers of all ages.

The author, an aviator, crashes with his aero$lane in the middle of the ahara

desert. 'hile he is trying to re$air his aero$lane, a little boy a$$ears and

asks him to draw a shee$. The author learns that The Little Prince comes

from asteroid (!)*+ where he has left behind three volcanoes and a rose.

(efore reaching "arth, he has visited other $lanets and met some very odd

$eo$le a king, a conceited man, a drunkard, a lam$lighter, a geogra$her-

ince arriving on "arth, he has s$oken to a fo# who has taught him that to

know someone or something, you must tame / them, and that makes them

unique. 'hat is essential is invisible to the eye, says the fo#. /


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In order to return to his $lanet and his rose, The Little Prince allows himself to

be bitten by a $oisonous snake his $lanet is too far away, he cannot take his

shell /. The aviator, who has succeeded in re$airing his $lane, also quits the

desert. 0e still ho$es The Little Prince will return one day and asks us to writeand tell him if ever we should meet his friend.Pour les lecteurs qui souhaitent

se rem%morer le livre et ses $rinci$ales lignes, voici un r%sum% du voyage du

$etit bonhomme et de ses rencontres.

1ore about the $lanets visited by the Little Prince

"ach $lanet the Little Prince visits can be seen as an allegory of human

nature. If you have already read the book, we invite you now to take a new

look at the di&erent $lanets.

The king asteroid B 325

In the book, the Little Prince meets a king who claims to rule over all with

absolute $ower. 0is only 2sub3ect4, however, is an old rat that he hears at

night. The king e#ercises his $ower over the sun by ordering it to set 5 but

only at sunset. In order not to lose face, this oddity of a king gives only

2reasonable4 orders 62I order you to sit down47 5 as good a way as any to

satisfy his thirst for $ower. The Little Prince is not fooled, however, and sees

the monarch as no more than another odd grown!u$.


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The conceited man ! asteroid ( 8+)

'earing a hat as showy as it is ridiculous, the conceited man sees himself as

the handsomest and the most intelligent man on his tiny $lanet. The Little

Prince reminds the conceited man that he is, in fact, all alone on his $lanet,

but still the conceited man wishes to be admired and a$$lauded. The Little

Prince is $er$le#ed by such insistent vanity 29rown!u$s are really very odd,4

he says to himself.


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The drunkard 5asteroid ( 8+:

0e lives alone with his collection of bottles and s$ends his time drinking to

forget that he is ashamed of drinking. To the Little Prince, it is clear that the

drunkard is dee$ly unha$$y, and he wants to hel$. The drunkard, however,

withdraws into sadness and silence. The Little Prince is left $er$le#ed by this

adult who sees no way out of his misery.


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The businessman 5 asteroid ( 8+;

The businessman is a large gentleman who is so very busy that he does not

even have time to light his cigarette. 0e s$ends his time counting stars,

which he claims to own. Then he writes down the numbers on a $iece of

$a$er that he $uts in the bank. The Little Prince tries to make him see that he

is wasting his life and that 2owning4 means being useful to what you own. 0e


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s$eaks of his rose, which he waters and $rotects. The businessman is left

s$eechless, and the Little Prince once again rders are


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orders,4 says the lam$lighter to the Little Prince who, in s$ite of everything,

can only admire the e&ort this grown!u$ $uts into being faithful to his orders.

The geogra$her 5 ?steroid ( 88@

The geogra$her is an old gentleman who writes down, in thick books, the

information brought to him by e#$lorers. 0is $lanet is vast and magni


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a lie one day, he decided that he could not trust her anymore. 0e grew lonelyand decided to leave. Des$ite a last!minute reconciliation with the rose, the$rince set out to e#$lore other $lanets and cure his loneliness.

'hile 3ourneying, the narrator tells us, the little $rince $asses by neighboringasteroids and encounters for the n the


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mind, however, is


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go back to his star to take care of his s$ecial rose.

>utcome

The story ends in comedy. The Little Prince


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1a3or Themes

In The Little Prince, aint!"#u$%ry e#$lains the im$ortance of seeing thewhole truth in order to ne only knows the things that one tames....1en buy things already made in the stores. (ut as there are no stores wherefriends can be bought, men no

longer have friends.4 ? human must earn a friendshi$, not buy it.

Finally, aint!"#u$%ry e#$lains how all 3oy and $leasure must be earned, notgiven or received. ?s an e#am$le, he shows the 3oy that the Little Prince andthe $ilot feel when they taste the water from the well. Its sweetness comesfrom their 3ourney under the stars and the work of the $ilots arms makingthe $ulley sing. In the end, the Little Prince again e#$eriences a new 3oy.Leaving his 2shell4 behind, he has gone to the most beautiful $lace he canimagine !! his star, which is his loveA he has returned to his own little heaven.

1inor Themes

aint!"#u$%ry scorns mans obsession with the wrong things, such as wealth,$ower, and technologyA he uses the Ning, the (usinessman, and theLam$lighter to highlight this theme. The king $uts a great deal of im$ortanceinto being obeyed, even though he orders only what would ha$$en anyway.

The businessman takes great $ride in owning all the stars, but he is too busycounting them to gain any $leasure from their beauty. The Little Prince triesto teach him the $ointlessness of his 2$ro$erty.4 The Little Prince also scorns


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the Lam$lighters fascination with science and technology. 0e is so caught u$in the im$ortance of lighting his lam$, that he misses what is im$ortant inlife.

The need to have faith is another minor theme in the book. The Little Princearrives on the "arth during a s$iritually troubled $hase and stays until he hasresolved his confusions. During his stay, he teaches the narrator theim$ortance of having faith and belief. 1any critics have called the LittlePrince a Hhrist!>D

The mood is mostly adventurous and mysterious, with a $hiloso$hicalovertone. ?t


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H0?J?HT"J LIT

1a3or Hharacters

The narrator

The narrator is really the author, ?ntoine de aint!"#u$%ry. The reader hearshis voice throughout the book as he relates the story of the Little Prince andof his own friendshi$ with him. The narrator says $lainly that he is a romanticwho does not like adults, whom he


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$erson. The snake also says that he can solve all kinds of riddles.

The Desert Flower

The Prince meets a Eower in the desert. It tells him that there are only si# orseven men in e#istence and that one never knows where to


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The ahara Desert

It is in this desolate stretch of ?frica, largely un$o$ulated and mysterious,that the $ilot meets the little $rince. It is also here that the $rince landed oneyear $rior to meeting the $ilot. ?nd it is here that the $rince reconnects withthe snake...


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'hatMs K$ 'ith the TitleR

(?HN "ST

?t


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that $ers$ective, it sim$ly has to be named after the $rince. >therwise, itwouldnt be a very good memorial.

If you want to be fancy, you could refer to the title in its original French Le

Petit Prince. Thats not so hard to match, word for word, against the "nglishversion. 2Le,4 the article, is basically the same as saying 2The.4 2Prince4 isthe same word

in both languages. 2Petit4 can mean 2little,4 like in the "nglish title, or 2small4or 2young.4

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