The consequence issues as depicted in the little prince and a comparison between childhood and adulthood

In Antoine de Saint Exupery’s quick narrative “The Little Prince”, the division among adults and children is clearly defined via their use of imagination. The typical adult viewpoint is irrational and close minded. Adults fail to recognize the significance of relationships and imagination because they are obsessed with what they perceive to be “matters of consequence” (Exupery 135) and are incapable of alter. As children grow into adults they mature along the way. With maturity usually comes responsibility. “The Tiny Prince” explores different aspects of responsibility. Exupery does this by way of the perspectives of the adults and children. Adults believe responsibility to be about overseeing and caring for possessions, whereas kids think responsibility to be about nurturing relationships.

By way of the small prince and the narrator, readers understand that we have a duty to nurture, and value our relationships with other individuals, and to not lose sight of what is genuinely critical. The narrator of the story is an adult, but he is not categorized with the rest of the grown-ups since he still has an imagination and understands that money and “figures are a matter of indifference” (Exupery 142). To adults, numbers are essential. It is the only way in which they can realize things. As an instance of this, the narrator explains that if you have been to describe the beauty of a property to an adult, they would not recognize you, but if you mentioned to them “‘I saw a property that price $20,000’” (Exupery 142), they would realize that it is a lovely house. Numbers are a way of sharing data that is not open to interpretation. Numbers are factual and impersonal. Exupery for that reason is suggesting to readers that the reason adults are only interested in figures is since they have no imagination or original thought.

Along with the adults’ interest in figures, Exupery utilizes the picaresque narrative of the tiny prince’s journey from his planet to Earth, to reveal to us the other adverse traits which adults possess. The 1st adult that the small prince meets on his journey is the king. The damaging character trait which the king represents is a need to have for authority. They need to have to really feel as if they are in control, even if this is a false sense of manage. The king has no subjects to rule over, however he claims that he reigns more than almost everything. Adults want to really feel, like the king does, that their “rule [is] not only absolute: it [is] universal” (Exupery 154). Exupery explains to readers that the king is trapped by his personal require for manage and he does not understand that he has no meaningful relationships with other individuals.

Following his meeting with the king the tiny prince visits a second adult, the conceited man. Readers discover from this encounter that “to conceited males, all other guys are admirers” (Exupery 157). Exupery explains to us that the irony in being conceited is that it tends to make a individual lonely even so, they need to have other people to confirm that they are “the greatest dressed, the richest, and most intelligent” (Exupery 158). The only way for a vain particular person to be certain that they are the best, is for them to have nobody around for them to evaluate themselves to, yet to confirm that they are the ideal, they require praise from another particular person. Following this second encounter with an adult, readers begin to notice the contradictions adults live with along with their repulsive character traits.

Readers gain more awareness of the flawed character traits of adults when the tiny prince meets the tippler. The little prince and readers are confused by this character since of his flawed logic. The prince discovers that the man drinks in order to forget he is “ashamed of drinking” (Exupery 159). This character teaches us that adults are probably to ignore essential underlying issues, and instead search for rapid solutions. They want a rapid repair so that they do not require to think about troublesome factors. Due to his lack of imagination, the tippler is not able to understand that there is a deeper underlying dilemma to his drinking habit. The tippler utilizes drinking as a way to fill a void in his life, comparable to the way in which some adults use operate to fill a void.

The adult which the prince encounters on the fourth planet is the businessman. This man represents several adults and has a trait which they all possess preoccupation with perform and matters of consequence. He barely has time for interaction with one more human being. The businessman represents a phenomenon of contemporary society where it is common for an adult’s only concern to be income and work. The businessman explains to the prince that he has only been distracted from his function 3 instances “during the fifty-four years that [he has] inhabited this planet” (Exupery 160). Fifty-4 years is more than half a lifetime, and throughout this time the businessman has accomplished practically nothing beneficial. He has formed no critical human relationships or achieved something other than accurately counting all his possessions and writing down that number on to a piece of paper. Despite the fact that this man believes that his perform is crucial, it actually has no significance and by searching at this predicament by way of the eyes of the little prince, the reader can comprehend how empty life is without having human interaction. On the fifth planet the prince visits, he has a brief interaction with the lamplighter. This is the only adult he meets who thinks “of something else in addition to himself” (Exupery 164). The lamplighter has a devotion to maintaining the planet lit, even though his planet now turns so rapidly that he must light the lamp every minute. He blindly follows obsolete orders, which in a way is admirable simply because of his faithfulness, however this faithfulness also represents adults’ inability to modify.

One more man who exemplifies an inability to modify is the geographer, who is the final man the prince meets prior to traveling to Earth. The prince finally believes he has met a man with a “real profession”, nonetheless the geographer appears to follow rules which are equally as obsolete as the rules the other adults adhere to. According to this man, “‘the geographer is considerably too crucial to go loafing about’” (Exupery 166). The geographer’s rigid belief that he is too essential to discover his planet for himself has led to his lack of understanding about his planet. The geographer does teach the prince one particular critical lesson nevertheless, and that is that the flower which the prince left behind on his house planet is ephemeral. To the geographer this indicates that the flower is unimportant simply because it will not be around forever, but to the prince this implies that his flower is essential, and he demands to nurture and appreciate it even though he can. From this encounter readers can comprehend that the flower is symbolic of human relationships, and it is essential to commit time caring for other folks. The geographer frustrates readers simply because he follows insignificant rules and is not willing to change.

The reader’s take-away from the prince’s encounters with these adults is that their beliefs are all absurd, irrational, and contradictory. Their lack of imaginations causes them to grow to be obsessed with arbitrary tasks and they have no time to type meaningful relationships. They believe they only have time for issues which are essential, yet they do not comprehend that there is more to life than how numerous things they personal, manage, or oversee. Some of the adults such as the lamplighter, or the drunk are somewhat capable of seeing the absurdity in their actions nonetheless, they are incapable of alter. The adults’ principal problem is that they are only capable of attaching value to objects which they deem to be commodifiable. Human relationships, knowledge, and imagination are not essential to them simply because they have no obvious extrinsic worth.

Operates Cited

Exupery, Antoine de Saint. “The Tiny Prince”. Rpt. in Eng 191. Comp. Maria Mikolchak. St. Cloud, MN: St. Cloud State University, 2015. P. 132-192.