Review of the Child Literature ( Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery) - Book Report/Review Example

Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s “Little Prince” Affiliation Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s “Little Prince” “The Little Prince”is an animated short story written by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The story focuses on a pilot who met a “Little Prince” from a different planet after he experienced a plane collision in the Sahara Desert. The “Little Prince” and the pilot shared with one another their stories as regards to life in their respective planets. At the end of it all, the two were able to form a beautiful friendship. The narrator of the story commences by indicating his dislike for adults whom he considers to be practical and instead favors children as they seem to be curios and natural (Saint-Exupery, 1995). This paper shall give an analysis of how the book “Little Prince” can assist children in developing a positive sense of self, appropriate social skills, health relationships and moral behavior. The lesson of the fox in the “Little Prince” would be significant for children in developing healthy relationships. According to the fox, an individual would only be able to set eyes on the important things in life by using their hearts to see (Saint-Exupery, 1995). This was a crucial lesson for Saint-Exupery as he did not leave the desert in the same manner in which he had gone there. In essence, it can be argued that the main lesson of the fox was how to love (Goepfert, 1986). The fox contends that it is the time that an individual “wastes” on another person or something that ultimately makes it significant. The fox further indicates that through love, one is able to astound existentialism (Saint-Exupery, 1995). In this case, one has to learn that friendship can only be earned and it is not possible to buy it (Goepfert, 1986). Hence, the fox’s lesson of love in the “Little Prince” would enable the children to develop love which is an essential ingredient for healthy relationships and one that can enable them to earn true friendships. In the development of appropriate social skills, Saint-Exupery argues that all pleasures and joy in the world ought to be earned. They cannot simply be given to someone or merely received. For instance, the joy that the pilot and the Little Prince felt when they tasted the well’s water was a sweetness earned from the journey that they had had under the stars and the work that the pilot had done in ensuring that the pulley would sing (Saint-Exupery, 1995). At the end of the story, we are also shown that the prince was able to experience novel joy when he left his “shell” and went back to his little heaven (Saint-Exupery, 1995). This story would teach children that they have to earn everything in this life including joy and as such, they cannot afford to simply sit back and expect things to fall in place. It would also teach the children that they had to work hard for their success in life and the success would only be limited by their personal capacity. The responsibility theme that is manifested in the entire story would also aid the children in developing appropriate social skills. The relationship that the Little Prince had with the rose was a major motivating factor for almost all the undertakings of the prince in the novel. For instance, we are told that the departure of the prince from his planet was because of the rose (Saint-Exupery, 1995). In the search for an understanding of the rose, the prince was forced to move to a number of planets so that he would obtain the truth. It was not until he met the fox that the prince was able to realize how important the rose was to him as it was in the rose that the prince had endowed himself. The prince was able to find the true nature of love which had informed the sense of responsibility that he had for his rose. The fox equally taught the prince an important lesson that friendship had a unique price tagged to it (Saint-Exupery, 1995). This meant that once a person became your friend, then it goes without saying that you become responsible for him or her for the rest of your life. From this particular part, the children’s social skills would be developed by learning that relationships demand responsibility and at times, that responsibility would extend to the world at large whether by default or not (Broderick & Blewitt, 2010). The responsibility would be for everyone. The theme of honesty in the book would be used to cultivate a moral behavior among the children. According to the author, one can only be able to realize beauty in life once they are in a position to be truthful. He further indicates that adult barely have a look underneath the surface and this is why they will never discover who they really are or even the identity of others (Saint-Exupery, 1995). As such, the children would be implored to be honesty so as not only to discover who they are but also to be better members of the society. Unlike adults, who according to Saint-Exupery are afraid to hold discussions on real issues affecting them in their day to day lives, the children would employ honesty to discuss such matters and subsequently avoid the vice of pretense (Saint-Exupery, 1995). As a moral value, honesty would enable the children to grow in an upright manner. Saint-Exupery’s condemnation of man’s mania with affluence, influence and technology would teach the children a moral lesson that there are other significant things in life as opposed to the pursuance of riches, technology and authority. The author makes use of the king, the lamplighter and the businessman to put across this particular theme. The king, for instance, lays a lot of emphasis on the significance of his orders being followed to the letter even though his orders are merely things that would happen even in the absence of the said orders (Saint-Exupery, 1995). The businessman is so proud of being the owner of all the stars. Unfortunately, he spends his entire time counting the stars that he lacks the opportunity to enjoy the beauty that comes with the stars that he “owns” (Saint-Exupery, 1995). The Little Prince in this story tries to make the businessman see that there is no point in having all that property in the stars if he is not even able to obtain any pleasure from it. The Lamplighter in the story is greatly fascinated by science and technology. He puts all his attention in lamp lighting that he forgets the important things in life (Saint-Exupery, 1995). As such, the Little Prince scorns him. From these three stories, the children can learn that there is much more to life than authority, riches and technology. Their pursuit should not be done at the expense of other things in the society. The children can also learn that too much focus on riches, technology and authority would be responsible for vices that are disregarded in the society and therefore, they should be pursued carefully and extremism avoided at all costs (Stevenson, 2014). Instead, one would focus on developing a positive attitude in life. The “Little Prince” also demonstrates the need to have faith and this would help the children to develop a positive sense of self. We are told that the Little Prince landed on earth at a time of spiritual troubles and he resided on other up to the moment that he finally able to resolve his confusions (Saint-Exupery, 1995). During his stay on earth, the Little Prince taught the narrator of the story that faith and belief are crucial elements that make up life and it is imperative that each and every person possesses them. The Little Prince also believed that there was life after death (Saint-Exupery, 1995). All these can teach the children that with faith, they cannot be limited on what they can achieve in this world. They can be able to do great things that would enhance their self-worth and hence, develop a positive sense of self. Faith also enables them to figure out any challenges that they might be facing in life and eventually overcome them. The children would also develop an understanding that the massive inadequacies of life on planet earth would be resolved by believe and faith and enable them to experience a personal growth in all spheres of life. The Little Prince also reminds us of the significance of being honesty to one self and for the children; this would definitely develop an optimistic sense of self for them (Goepfert, 1986). The story clears shows that a lot of focus of a sole concept in life would lead to a loss of one’s original self. For instance, all the characters that the prince came across as he was moving from one planet to another happened to be adults who had lost their originality and hence making it extremely challenging to discern their real talents in life (Meyer, 1974). This is because all the adults met by the prince had only being concentrating on a sole purpose or concept in life. This potentially made them to be less humane and generally a bore. Children would learn from this case that it is quite crucial to pride themselves in their own uniqueness and use the same to experience personal growth as well as a sense of worth. I could use this book for my counseling practice by employing the various themes depicted therein for instance honesty, responsibility, faith, loss and loneliness. The themes would offer a solid explanation for some of the challenges that people go through in life and how they can be solved amicably. I can also use the various character illustrations in the story to counsel people on the virtues that ought to be upheld in the society and the vices that need to be eliminated. While other are not vices per se, for example wealth, technology and power, I can use them to show that much emphasis on them would eventually lead to vices. There is a connection between the book “The Little Prince” and developmental theories among the children such as the psychosocial stage theory advanced by Erikson and the theory of moral understanding stage as demonstrated by Kohlberg. The book would enable the children to develop pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional morality as depicted by the theory of Kohlberg. According to Erikson, the society and the culture have an influence of one’s ego and this can be demonstrated by the businessman, the king and the lamplighter in the book who believed that riches, authority and technology were more important. From the foregoing analysis, it is evident that the book “The Little Prince” would enable the children to develop a positive sense of self, appropriate social skills, health relationships and moral behavior through the various stories depicted therein. This is especially through the various themes running across the story and as manifested in the above discussion. The teachings of the little prince would also be used in helping the children to attain the above qualities. References Broderick, P., & Blewitt, P. (2010). The life span. Boston: Pearson. Goepfert, H. (1986). “It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others”. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince, 1943). Head Neck, 9(2), 75-76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hed.2890090202 Meyer, B. (1974). The Little Prince: Speculations on the Disappearance of Antoine De Saint-Exupery. Journal Of The American Psychoanalytic Association, 22(1), 142-159. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/000306517402200109 Saint-Exupery, A. (1995). The little prince. Ware, Herts.: Wordsworth Classics. Stevenson, D. (2014). The Pilot and the Little Prince: The Life of Antoine de Saint-Exupery by Peter Sis. Bulletin Of The Center For Childrens Books, 67(11), 596-596. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/bcc.2014.0518 Read More