The Little Prince: Great Books Explained

Summary

The script explores 'The Little Prince', a timeless tale by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that celebrates the purity and simplicity of children's minds while critiquing the dullness of adult life. It delves into the author's life, from aristocratic beginnings to his passion for flying, and his experiences that influenced the narrative. The story, a philosophical fable, discusses themes of love, loss, and the essence of relationships, ultimately teaching that wisdom lies in recognizing life's complexities and finding hope in despair.

Takeaways

• 📚 The Little Prince is a celebrated book that highlights children's natural curiosity and open-mindedness, while contrasting it with the dullness and lack of imagination often found in adults.
• 🌟 Despite its essential meaning being far from clear, The Little Prince has become a classic, recognized as a beautiful and urgent parable, and has been translated into 345 languages, making it one of the most widely translated books ever.
• 👶 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, born into an aristocratic French family, had a challenging early life, including the death of his father and brother, which influenced his writing.
• 🚀 Saint-Exupéry's passion for flying began with his first airplane ride and led to a career in pioneering postal flights, which he later wrote about, gaining international acclaim for his book 'Night Flight'.
• 💐 The character of the Rose in The Little Prince is believed to represent Saint-Exupéry's tempestuous marriage to Consuelo Suncin, symbolizing capricious and demanding lovers.
• 🏜️ A near-death experience in the Libyan Desert, where Saint-Exupéry and his mechanic-navigator survived a crash and were saved by a Bedouin, influenced the central event in his memoir and the setting of The Little Prince.
• 🌍 The Little Prince was written in exile in North America during World War II, reflecting themes of love, loss, loyalty, separation, and sacrifice.
• 🎨 All illustrations in The Little Prince were drawn by Saint-Exupéry, but he chose not to include an image of the pilot narrator to maintain the boundary between fantasy and reality.
• 🌌 The story of The Little Prince involves the prince's travels across various small planets, encountering characters that represent different human failings, and ultimately finding wisdom and understanding through his experiences.
• 🦊 A key philosophical insight from the book is the importance of building relationships and the uniqueness of connections, as articulated by the fox who teaches The Little Prince about 'taming' and the value of what we invest in relationships.
• 🌹 The Little Prince's journey and experiences with the roses in the garden and the fox's secret highlight the idea that the most important aspect of a relationship is its uniqueness and the value we attribute to it through our investments.

Q & A

What is the central theme of 'The Little Prince'?

The central theme of 'The Little Prince' is the celebration of children's curiosity and open-mindedness, contrasting it with the dullness and lack of imagination often found in adults.

How many languages has 'The Little Prince' been translated into?

'The Little Prince' has been translated into 345 languages, making it one of the most widely translated books of all time.

What significant event in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's life influenced his writing about death?

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's younger brother François died from rheumatic fever. The description of his brother's death was later used to describe the death of The Little Prince.

Why did Antoine de Saint-Exupéry decide to become a pilot?

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry decided to become a pilot after taking his first airplane ride and being inspired by the dawn of the age of flight, following the Wright brothers' achievement in 1903.

What was Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's career before becoming a writer?

Before becoming a writer, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was a pioneer of postal flights in Africa and South America, which he began after leaving the Air Force.

Which book did Antoine de Saint-Exupéry publish in 1931 that became an international bestseller?

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry published 'Night Flight' in 1931, which received great acclaim and became an international bestseller.

What is the significance of the rose in 'The Little Prince'?

The rose in 'The Little Prince' represents capricious and demanding lovers, and it is a reflection of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's tempestuous marriage to Consuelo Suncin.

What event from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's life served as the background for 'The Little Prince'?

The background for 'The Little Prince' comes from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's experience of crashing in the Libyan Desert and being saved by a passing Bedouin.

Why was 'The Little Prince' banned in France during its initial publication?

'The Little Prince' was banned in France by the Vichy regime, a government collaborating with Nazi Germany, partly due to its metaphorical critique of fascism and Nazism.

What is the philosophical message conveyed by the fox in 'The Little Prince'?

The fox in 'The Little Prince' conveys the message that the most important part of a relationship is its uniqueness, and the value of a relationship is a reflection of what we invest in it.

What is the ultimate fate of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry?

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry disappeared without a trace during a reconnaissance mission on July 31, 1944, flying an unarmed Lockheed P38 from Corsica.

Outlines

00:00

📚 The Essence of 'The Little Prince' and Its Author

This paragraph introduces 'The Little Prince' as a complex narrative that critiques the lack of imagination in adults while celebrating the innate curiosity of children. It delves into the life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the aristocratic French author and pilot, whose experiences with loss, aviation, and a tumultuous marriage influenced his work. The summary touches on his early life challenges, his passion for flying, his career as a pioneer of postal flights, and his literary success with 'Night Flight'. It also hints at the autobiographical elements in 'The Little Prince', drawing parallels between Saint-Exupéry's life events, such as his desert crash, and the story's plot.

05:04

🛫 The Creation of 'The Little Prince' Amidst War and Exile

The second paragraph focuses on the creation of 'The Little Prince' during Saint-Exupéry's time in exile in New York. It outlines his desperate attempts to join the free French forces despite his age and injuries, leading to his participation in reconnaissance missions. The summary also discusses the book's publication and its ban in France by the Vichy regime due to its allegorical critique of the political situation. Additionally, it explores the narrative techniques used in the book, such as the omission of the pilot narrator's image to maintain the boundary between fantasy and reality, and the significance of the story being accessible to both adults and children.

10:25

🌹 The Philosophical Journey of The Little Prince and Life's Lessons

This paragraph explores the philosophical themes of 'The Little Prince', detailing the prince's journey through various planets and the encounters with different characters that represent human follies. It highlights the prince's care for his own planet and his attachment to a single rose, which symbolizes complex love relationships. The summary emphasizes the fox's wisdom on the importance of relationships and the uniqueness of connections we make. It concludes with the prince's realization about the value of life's mundane tasks and his ultimate sacrifice, which saves the stranded aviator and imparts a profound life lesson. The paragraph also reflects on the book's status as a timeless fable that addresses the complexities of life, grief, and the importance of maintaining childlike wonder.

Keywords

💡Curiosity

Curiosity is the desire to learn or know more about something or someone. In the context of the video, it is celebrated as a natural trait of children that leads to exploration and discovery. The script laments the loss of curiosity in adults, which is contrasted with the open-mindedness of children, as seen in the story of 'The Little Prince' where the protagonist's journey is driven by his inquisitive nature.

💡Open-mindedness

Open-mindedness refers to the willingness to consider new ideas or viewpoints without prejudice. The video script highlights this as a commendable quality in children, which is essential for personal growth and understanding the world. It is juxtaposed with the 'dullness' and 'fixed ideas' often found in adults, suggesting that maintaining an open mind is crucial for a vibrant and imaginative life.

💡Adult Life

Adult life, as portrayed in the video, represents a phase where simplicity and purity are often replaced by complexity and routine. The script criticizes the 'futility of modern adult life' and suggests that it lacks the imagination and wonder that characterize childhood. This concept is central to the narrative of 'The Little Prince,' where the protagonist's encounters with various adult characters illustrate the shortcomings of an adult-centric worldview.

💡Purity and Simplicity

Purity and simplicity are qualities that represent the untainted and uncomplicated nature of children's thoughts and emotions. The video script idealizes these traits, suggesting that they are fundamental to the human experience but are often lost as one matures into adulthood. In 'The Little Prince,' purity and simplicity are embodied in the character's interactions and his perspective on the world around him.

💡Parable

A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. The script recognizes 'The Little Prince' as a 'beautiful and urgent parable,' indicating that the book conveys profound life lessons through its narrative. The various characters and situations in the story serve as metaphors for deeper truths about human nature and existence.

💡Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is the author and illustrator of 'The Little Prince.' The script provides a brief biography, highlighting his aristocratic background, his passion for flying, and his experiences as a pilot, which influenced his writing. His life story and the themes of his work are intertwined, adding depth to the understanding of 'The Little Prince.'

💡Exile

Exile refers to the state of being away from one's home country, often forcibly or due to political reasons. The script mentions Saint-Exupéry's life in exile in North America after France was overrun by Nazis. This experience of displacement and longing for home is reflected in 'The Little Prince,' where the protagonist is adrift in space and yearns for connection.

💡Crisis

A crisis is a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger. The video script describes the crises faced by both the Aviator and the Little Prince, which serve as pivotal moments in the narrative. The Aviator's need to repair his engine and the Little Prince's misunderstanding with his rose are crises that drive the plot and lead to profound reflections on life and relationships.

💡Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech that expresses one thing in terms of another, suggesting a resemblance. The script uses the invasive Baobob trees as a metaphor for the threat of Nazism and Fascism, indicating the destructive potential of unchecked ideologies. Metaphors in 'The Little Prince' enrich the story by providing symbolic meanings that deepen the narrative.

💡Relationships

Relationships in the video script are portrayed as essential to human experience, with the fox character in 'The Little Prince' teaching the protagonist about the importance of building connections and the responsibilities that come with 'taming' someone. The script emphasizes the uniqueness and value of relationships, which are central to the Little Prince's journey and growth.

💡Self-sacrifice

Self-sacrifice is the act of giving up something valuable, especially one's own interests, for the sake of others. The script hints at the Little Prince's ultimate act of self-sacrifice, which is a key moment in the story. This concept is integral to the narrative, illustrating the depth of the Little Prince's love and the profound impact of his actions on the Aviator.

Highlights

The Little Prince is a book that celebrates children's curiosity and open-mindedness while lamenting the dullness and lack of imagination in adults.

The book has become a classic, recognized as a beautiful and urgent parable, and has been translated into 345 languages.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born into an aristocratic French family and experienced significant personal loss early in life.

Saint-Exupéry's fascination with flight began early and led to a lifelong passion for aviation.

His career as a pioneer of postal flights in Africa and South America inspired his writings.

The Little Prince's Rose represents Saint-Exupéry's tempestuous marriage to Consuelo Suncin.

Saint-Exupéry and his mechanic-navigator survived a crash in the Libyan Desert with minimal supplies.

The experience of being lost in the desert influenced the central event in his 1939 memoir and The Little Prince.

Saint-Exupéry went into exile in North America during the Nazi occupation of France.

The Little Prince was written and illustrated by Saint-Exupéry while living in New York.

The book was banned in France by the Vichy regime, which collaborated with Nazi Germany.

The Little Prince's journey to six other planets critiques various aspects of human nature and society.

The story emphasizes the importance of building relationships and the obligations towards those we 'tame'.

The Little Prince's encounter with a fox reveals the secret of the uniqueness and value in relationships.

The book critiques the idea of time-saving devices, suggesting they do not improve our quality of life.

The Little Prince negotiates his own death, symbolizing a journey to the stars.

The Little Prince is a philosophical fable that explores the meaning of beauty, life, grief, and loss.

Saint-Exupéry's life was marked by curiosity and exploration, which he believed were vital for understanding life's complexities.

The mysterious disappearance of Saint-Exupéry parallels the enigmatic journey of The Little Prince.

Transcripts

This is the best known line in a book that celebrates the curiosity  

and open-mindedness that comes naturally to  children, and laments the dullness, fixed ideas,  

and lack of imagination, that come naturally  if not inevitably to "Grand Personnes" - to adults. 

It idealises Purity and simplicity, and exposes  the futility of modern adult life, or indeed  

pretty much any adult life in any age. But the  essential meaning of The Little Prince is far  

from Clear. Early reviews of the book suggest  that readers were bewildered and puzzled.

With time it has become a classic, recognised as  a beautiful and Urgent Parable. Translated  

into 345 languages, it is one of the biggest  selling and most widely translated books of all time.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born in 1900 into an  aristocratic French family.

The third of five children. Before his fourth birthday his father died,

leaving the family finances in a precarious State. At the age of 17 he tended

to his blond-haired younger brother francois,  through his death from rheumatic fever.  

He wrote at the time that as his brother died: "He  did not cry out - he fell as gently as a young  

tree falls", a line he would later use to describe  the death of The Little Prince. Antoine went to  

a Naval Academy but twice failed the exams, before beginning his military service in a  

Cavalry Regiment. But this was the dawn of the  age of flight. The Wright brothers made powered  

flight a reality in 1903, and by 1912 Saint-Exupéry had taken his first airplane ride, and decided  

he wanted to become a pilot. So he took private  flying lessons and eventually transferred from  

the Army to the Air Force, beginning A Love Affair  (amounting to an obsession) with flying that would  

last for the rest of his life. It must be said  that he wasn't always the safest of pilots, and  

crashed a number of planes before he left the Air  Force and began a career as a pioneer of postal  

flights, in Africa and South America. That was was  when he began publishing his writings about his

experiences. In 1931 he published the book  "Night Flight" to Great acclaim, and it would  

become an international bestseller. That  same year he also married the writer and  

artist Consuelo Suncin. It was a tempestuous  marriage that would find expression in the  

little Prince's Rose. The only female character  in the book, and a representation of capricious  

and demanding lovers everywhere, but especially of Consuelo.  

Despite his Fame, he craved adventure, and  in December 1935, Saint-Exupéry and his mechanic  

Navigator, crashed badly in the Libyan Desert, while  trying to break the Paris to Saigon speed record.  

Miraculously they survived the crash, but had  little idea of where they were, and their only  

supplies were some fruit, a flask of coffee,   a bit of chocolate, and a bottle of white wine.  

They were discovered half dead on the fourth day, dehydrated and hallucinating, by a passing Bedouin,  

who gave them water and saved their lives. The  experience would become the central event in  

his 1939 Memoir, and he would use this adventure  as background to The Little Prince, in which an  

aviator is forced to land in the desert and  encounters a young boy wandering alone.  

After France signed an Armistice with Germany and  the country was overrun by Nazis,

Saint-Exupéry went into Exile in North America escaping through Portugal.

He wrote and illustrated The Little Prince while living in New York in mid to late 1942.

Like his Prince, the author and pilot was a soul in Exile. No surprise then  

that this is a story of love and loss, of  loyalty and separation, and of sacrifice.  

But flying was what he did, and despite a host  of injuries, he was desperate to fight with the  

free French, but was too old. So he petitioned  relentlessly for exemption, until it was finally  

granted by General Dwight Eisenhower, and he  flew reconnaissance missions. Saint-Exupéry was  

by now a famous International figure, and his  participation in free French military efforts  

had enormous publicity value. The Little Prince  was published in the states in April 1943 but  

the book was banned in France by the Vichy regime, a government that collaborated with Nazi Germany.

All the illustrations in the book are integral to the story and were drawn by Saint-Exupéry. 

One character whose image doesn't actually  appear, is that of the pilot narrator. Saint-Exupéry did  

this drawing of him, beside his plane, but he cut  it from the final publication. Probably because  

all the other characters are part of the little  Prince's Own Story, and to include the narrator  

would be to break the fourth wall, as it were,  between fantasy and reality. This book was written  

as much for adults as for children, and the author  probably rightly figured that mixing the fantasy  

characters with the grounded experience of the  protagonist, might be unacceptable to his grown-up readers.

The Little Prince begins with an  account of how the pilot drew a picture  

when he was a child. His picture (he called it  drawing number one), shows an elephant swallowed  

by a boa constrictor. Perfectly logical to him, but  to adults it was just a drawing of a hat, and they  

roundly mocked him. When his plane crash lands  in the desert and the Little Prince appears at  

his side asking him to draw a sheep - and then  declaring himself unsatisfied with the results,  

the pilot brings out his childhood drawing number one.  

And this, the pilot tells us, is how he  finally found someone who understood his drawing, and how he made the acquaintance of The Little Prince.

The Little Prince and the pilot/Aviator are  both in crisis. The Aviator will die if he doesn't  

repair his engine, and the boy had to leave his  Planet because of a misunderstanding with a rose.  

They swap stories and Ponder issues of how  to "be" in this world. The prince tells the pilot  

that he left his tiny native Planet "asteroid b612"  and traveled to six other miniature worlds before  

coming to the planet Earth. The characters he  encounters in his travels, build a comprehensive  

(if incomplete), catalogue of human failings. The king  without subjects to reign over. The conceited man,  

alone but revelling in flattery. The drunkard, drinking  to forget the shame of being drunk. The businessman,  

who claims ownership of all the stars he can  count. The Lamplighter yearning for rest, but  

hurrying to keep up with the sunrises and sunsets,  on a planet that rotates once every minute, And the  

geographer who should know everything, but has yet  to receive trustworthy data from the explorers who  

must provide him with the information. And then, the  stranded Aviator - the author - who is only able to  

escape his predicament thanks to the intervention  and Ultimate Death (perhaps even self-sacrifice)  

of The Little Prince. The Little Prince had taken  diligent care of his planet, and on the morning of  

his departure he carefully cleaned out his knee  high volcanoes - two active and one extinct - which  

he sweeps anyway because "you never know". He weeded  the invasive Baobob trees, whose Roots threaten the  

prince's Planet - seen as a metaphor for the threat  of Nazism and Fascism, and one of the reasons  

the Vichy government banned the book. The Little  Prince also cared deeply for a single rose, whose  

manipulative personality drives him to leave and  discover other worlds, so he hitches a ride with a  

flock of migrating birds, and visits six other  planets, each one even smaller than or barely  

larger than his own, before finally coming to Earth.  He arrives in the Sahara Desert and is met only by  

a very enigmatic snake, so he assumes that Earth is uninhabited.

The prince then climbs a mountain to find nothing but Rocky Peaks as far as the eye  

can see, echoing his own voice. He finds himself  in a garden planted with countless roses and  

realises that, though identical to the Rose he left  behind, they mean nothing to him. This leaves him  

devastated, reliving his conflictual relationship  with his rose on asteroid b612. It takes a fox, the  

most intelligent character in the story, apart  of course from The Little Prince himself, to  

articulate our need for building relationships and our obligation to towards those we "tame".  

The fox sends The Little Prince to visit the Roses again, and Promises

to make him a present of "a secret" when he returns. Contemplating the mass of roses, The Little Prince

realises that the most important part of a relationship is its uniqueness. Its value is a reflection of what we invest in it.

Finally, The Little Prince encounters a merchant selling  pills that quench thirst, and eliminate the need to drink water.

For The Little Prince, there is joy, and fulfillment,  and quality, in all of life's tasks, even the most  

mundane, and for him, time-saving devices do little  to improve our quality of life. Back in the desert  

the pilot/narrator is encouraged by The Little  Prince to leave his stricken aircraft, to go in  

search of water. They find a well, and The Aviator  is saved, at which point The Little Prince declares  

that it's time for him to leave. Knowing that he  cannot take his body on the journey to the Stars,  

The Little Prince negotiates his own death. He  allows himself to be bitten by a venomous snake.  

When the pilot returns to the spot the next day  the little Prince's body is nowhere to be seen.  

The Little Prince has become a classic  philosophical Fable, for both young and old,  

which shows us that having true wisdom means  understanding that there is no easy solution  

to Life's problems, and yet even the most hopeless  of circumstances can bring hope. As well as being  

a meditation on the meaning of beauty and life, it  is also a book about grief and loss. The book isn't  

afraid of suggesting that there is inherent  sadness in the world, or of pointing out the  

meaningless lives so many lead.

All grown-ups were  children once, but most of us have forgotten. For Saint-Exupéry curiosity and exploration are vital and  

it is imperative that we ask questions  of ourselves just as The Little Prince does.

In April 1943 after publication of The Little Prince, Saint-Exupéry joins an American Convoy,  

and sailed to Algiers to join the free French Air  Force, flying reconnaissance missions, reporting  

on German troop movements. On the 31st of  July 1944, he took off from Corsica in an  

unarmed Lockheed P38, and never returned. Like his  little prince he vanished Without a Trace. He was  

44 years old when he died, a biographical  detail, that lends eerie poignancy to the  

fact, that one one day sitting on his little planet, The Little Prince watched the sunet exactly 44 times

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