Topic > Analysis of The Little Prince from a philosophical point of view

First of all, "The Little Prince" is a philosophical story, so deep thoughts are hidden behind a simple plot at first glance. The author touches on eternal themes such as good and evil, love and hate, life and death: Antoine helps to express his thoughts with artistic means such as metaphor, allegory, symbols and so on. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayThe author, emphasizing that the prince is a child, nevertheless allows him to discover truths inaccessible to many adults. The relationship between the prince and Rosa is much more confusing than the relationship between the prince and princess in a folk tale, because the prince even sacrifices his life for Rosa, and not everyone is capable of this. Analyzing the works, we constantly come across various romantic features. Firstly, this is the genre of the work itself - folklore, because it is called "the childhood of humanity" and the theme of childhood in romantic works is one of the main topics. The author poses global problems in a generalized and abstract way and examines the topic of evil from two aspects: "micro-evil" - evil within a certain person. “Macro-evil” is evil in general. In Antoine's work, he was associated with baobabs. The writer tells us: “Beware of the baobabs!” Because the trees will grow and conquer the entire planet, because from the seed a great baobab will grow, as all adults were children in the beginning. The essence of the above boils down to the fact that adults must constantly improve themselves and not forget about spiritual needs, otherwise they will become what the inhabitants of the planets. From this argument follows the fundamental principle of romanticism - the principle of double peace. The world of the layman, which does not include the spiritual beginning, and the world of the artist (“The Little Prince”, author, Fox, Rosa), which is inherent in moral qualities, will never touch each other. Only the Artist is able to see the essence: the inner beauty and harmony of the world around him. Let us remember, even on the planet of the lantern, “The Little Prince” notes: “When he lights the lantern, it is as if a star or a flower were still being born. And when he turns off the lantern, as if a star or a flower fell asleep. Great work. It's really useful because it's beautiful.” In this case the prince does not talk about external beauty, but about internal beauty; any business is useful only when it is beautiful internally. Inner emptiness leads to loneliness, says the author. Most people judge people only by their outer shell, without thinking about their inner world at all, thus creating a wrong impression. People feel alone even when they are together, they just don't try to understand each other: “Where are the people? - “The Little Prince” finally spoke again. “He is still lonely in the desert …” “He is also lonely among people,” said the snake. “One of the main plots of the fairy tale is the accident in which the narrator finds himself, in fact, the fairy tale was born in the desert. Such an element is rather unusual for the reader: we are used to stories that take place in the forest, in the mountains, by the sea; in Antoine de Saint-Exupery's work there is only the desert and the stars, because this it is a non-standard situation, and only at that moment a person experiences his whole life, rethinks, reevaluates the values. The narrator is left alone with the dead desert, sands “The Little Prince” helps him to see what is true in life and what is false, then the value of this image is very important, it helps to see what is hidden from the superficial look. Plots and features of the composition of the storyThe story has two plots: the narrator and the related theme of the world of adults andthe verse of “The Little Prince”, the story of his life. The first chapter of the story is an introductory one, key to one of the important problems of the work: the problem of "fathers" and "sons", for the eternal problem of generations. Remembering his childhood and the failure he suffered with drawings no. 1 and no. 2, the pilot argues thus: “Adults never understand anything on their own, and it is very tiring for children to explain and interpret everything endlessly”. This phrase serves as an eyeliner for the subsequent development of the theme of “fathers” and “sons” in the author's childhood memories. The adults could not understand the narrator's child's drawing and only the “Little Prince” was able to quickly recognize the elephant in the boa. The child, in turn, asks him to draw a lamb, but every time the drawing fails: either the lamb is too fragile, or too old. “Here is a box for you,” the narrator tells the child, “and there is a lamb you want.” The boy liked this invention: he could fantasize as much as necessary, imagining a lamb in different ways. The child reminded the adult of his childhood, they acquired the ability to understand each other. The ability to enter the world of a child, to understand and accept it is what unites the world of adults and the world of children. The composition of the work is very particular. The parabola is the main component of the traditional parabola structure. “The Little Prince” is no exception. It looks like this: the action takes place in a specific time and in a specific situation. The beginning and end of the story "The Little Prince" are tied to the arrival of the hero on Earth or the departure from Earth by the pilot and the Fox. "The Little Prince" flies back to his planet, to care for and raise a beautiful rose. People should take care of the purity and beauty of their planet, protecting and decorating it together, not letting all living things die, says the prince. Then, unobtrusively, another important topic emerges in the story - the environment, which is very relevant for the rapidly developing modern world. Consider the subsequent chapters of "The Little Prince." What follows is a story about the Little Prince and his planet, and Rosa's story occupies a special place here. A rose is a symbol of love, beauty, the feminine principle, as we have already mentioned regarding the symbolism of the work. The first person to meet “The Little Prince” on Earth was the Serpent. According to mythology, the Serpent guards the sources of wisdom or immortality, personifies magical powers, appears in conversion rites as a symbol of restoration. In a fairy tale he combines miraculous power and the painful knowledge of human destiny: "I bring everyone I touch back to the land from which they came." He offers the hero to learn about the life of the Earth and shows him the way to people, while assuring that "among people he is also lonely." On Earth, the prince must prove himself and make the most important decision of his life. “The Little Prince” understands this wisdom and reveals itself with it to both the narrator and the reader. Together with the little hero, we rediscover for ourselves the most important thing in life that was hidden, buried in all kinds of shells, but which is the only value for a person. "The Little Prince" learns what a bond of friendship is. Saint-Antoine de Saint-Exupery also talks about friendship in the story - in the dedication. In the author's value system, the theme of friendship is one of the main places. Only friendship can melt the ice of loneliness and alienation, since it is based on mutual understanding, mutual trust and mutual assistance. In the midst of the eternal bustle of “adult” life, he does not remember human happiness. Constantly guided by!