Critique

Mina, Japheth Kyle G.

HUM15-AC1 9/1/12


The Little Prince
Summary:
The story starts with the narrator crash-landing in the desert where he meets the little prince. The
little prince asked the narrator to draw him a sheep, and after several attempts, he draws a box
and says that the sheep is inside. To the narrators surprise, the little prince is happy with the
result. The plot then turns to the little princes origins, he comes from a small asteroid where
there are 3 volcanoes, 2 active and 1 dormant, and a single rose which the little prince fell in love
with. After the little prince found out that the rose lied to him, he decided not to trust her
anymore and to also leave the asteroid. Even after making up with the rose, the little prince still
left the asteroid because of his loneliness. The little prince visited six other planets before
coming to Earth. On the first planet, the little prince meets The King who claims he rules the
entire universe. On the second planet, the prince meets The Vain Man who wants admiration
from others but is alone on the planet to ensure that he was the most beautiful being on his
planet. On the third planet the prince visits, he meets The Drunkard, a man who drinks to forget
that he is ashamed of drinking. The businessman is the man on the fourth planet that the prince
visits; he owns the stars and was too busy to even greet the little prince. The Lamplighter, the
person on the fifth planet the prince visits before coming to Earth, had a sense of great duty and
was the only one that the prince didnt have any negative reactions to. The sixth planet had The
Geographer who tells the prince that flowers dont last forever and suggests that the prince visit
Earth. The little prince decides to visit Earth but lands in the middle of the desert and cannot find
any humans around. While the prince wanders the desert, a snake that speaks in riddles says that
he can send the little prince back home. The prince refuses the snakes offer and continues with
his adventure through the desert. He meets the desert flower which tells him that there are few
humans on Earth. After the prince climbs to a high mountain and thought he had a conversation
with his echo, he visits a rose garden which made him depressed because he thought that his rose
was unique. A fox befriends the prince soon after and explains to him that some things are seen
through the heart and not through the eyes. The little princes rose was unique because he loved
it, making it special and not like the others. The princes story ends when he tells of his
encounter with a salesman and a railway switchman. The story then shifts back to desert where
the narrator and prince just found a well for them to drink water. The prince makes plans to
return to his planet with help from the snake. The narrator figures out that the snake will bite the
prince and send him back to his asteroid, he never left the princes side and was there when the
snake bit him even though the prince said for him to look away because it will be sad. The story
ends with the narrator taking comfort that he did not find the princes body the next day and was
busy looking for signs that the prince has returned to Earth.

Characters:

Round Characters:
1. The Little Prince main character
2. The Narrator the princes story is being told to him

Flat Characters:
1. The men on the 1
st
six planets that the prince visits shows the diff. aspects of adults
2. The Snake only there to send the prince home
3. The Rose the one that the prince loves, only appears in the beginning, mentioned
throughout
4. The Fox befriends the prince
5. Flowers in desert talked to the prince
6. Other people on Earth little interaction with the prince
Literary Elements:
1. Allegory
2. Symbolism
3. Irony
Insight:
The story has several instances where the prince as the child character finds out about the
personality and attitude of the world of adults. His adventures make several references to the real
world at the time the novel was written. Overall the story is heavily allegorical as it pertains to
real world elements as well as using symbolism to further the deeper meaning behind the novel.
The sheep that the prince asked the narrator to draw can pertain to the innocence of a child with a
sheeps coat as a symbol of purity with the prince being the symbol of the purity of a curious
child. The desert they were in can represent the largeness of life and the dangers that come with
it. Like with most stories, the snake represents a manipulative being, talking in riddles hoping to
trick the prince, promising to send him back to his planet, but bites him only sending his soul to
the heavens. The fox can be a symbol of wisdom, as the fox helped the prince figure out his
feelings for the flower. The rose can symbolize affection when a boy likes a girl. The irony in the
story is that the prince travels all the way from his asteroid far from the rose he loves only to find
out that he wants to be there for the rose as he can care for her.