Meeting in Trikala - February 2013

1. The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

2. The Little Prince, written by
Antoine de Saint-
Exupéry, has been
translated into some 220
languages and
dialects so far.
The Little Prince
Le Petit Prince
Mały Książę
El Principito
Küçük Prens
Il piccolo principe
Micul Prinţ
Ο μικρός Πρίγκιπας

3. Key Facts
• full title · The Little Prince (in French, Le Petit Prince)
• author · Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• type of work · Children’s story, novella
• genre · Fable, allegory
• language · French
• time and place written · The summer and fall of
1942, while Saint-Exupéry was living in Long Island, New York
• date of first publication · First published in English
translation in 1943. The first French edition did not appear
until 1946.
• publisher · Reynal & Hitchcock, Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, Inc. (U.S. edition, both French and English);
Gallimard (French edition)

4. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is
both a pioneer of aviation and
a well-known French writer.
He was born in
Lyon, France, in 1900. At an
early age, he dreamed of a
life of adventure and wanted
to become a naval officer.
Unfortunately, he failed the
exam to qualify him for naval
officer training school. As a
result, he turned his attention
to the field of aviation.

5. Even though flying was dangerous and risky in Saint-Exupéry’s time, he
joined the military and trained to be a pilot. After his military service, he
presented himself to the director of an airline company and expressed his
desire to become a commercial pilot. The director told him he must first
become an airplane mechanic. Finally, in 1927, after serving as a
mechanic, Saint-Exupéry became a pilot, opening up new air routes over
the Mediterranean Sea, North Africa, and the Sahara Desert. Because of
the danger of flying, he had a number of accidents, but he escaped any
major injuries. Later Saint-Exupéry became the director of his own aviation
company in South America, where he often flew dangerous routes over
the Andes Mountains.
For Saint-Exupéry, flying was not just piloting an airplane; it was a time for
meditation and reflection. While in the air, Saint-Exupéry would think deeply
about solitude, friendship, the meaning of life, the human condition, and
liberty. He decided to publish his reflections into a book, which was
successful. When his aviation company failed, Saint-Exupéry decided to
pursue writing as a career. He first became a journalist, traveling to
Spain, Russia, and Germany. He also wrote two philosophical books based on
aviation: Night Flight (1932) and Wind, Sand, and Stars (1939). Still in love
with piloting an airplane, Saint-Exupéry continued to fly whenever he had
the opportunity.

6. In 1939, when France went to war with Germany, Saint-Exupéry
immediately enlisted in the army, hoping to become a military pilot
in the war effort. France, however, was soon defeated and occupied by
Hitler's troops. Saint-Exupéry decided to leave his homeland, settle
in the United States, and pursue his writing career. It was in New York
that he published The Little Prince, his most celebrated book, in 1943.
Since its first publication, more than 25 million copies have been sold
in 75 different countries.
In 1942, when American troops landed in North Africa, Saint-Exupéry
decided to join the U.S. Army as a pilot. Since he was 42 years of
age, he was initially considered too old to be a pilot and was not
allowed to fly; however, Saint-Exupéry persisted and was finally given
an airplane. He accomplished many missions over occupied France. On
July 31, 1944, Saint-Exupéry left for his last mission. His plane was
destroyed by the Germans over the Mediterranean.

7. The narrator begins the tale with an explanation of his dislike
of adults; he claims he does not enjoy them, for they are much too
practical. Instead, he prefers the company of children, who are
natural and curious.
The narrator next tells of how his plane crashed in the
desert, where he met the Little Prince, a mystical creature from
another planet, asteroid B-612.
The narrator tells why the Prince left his planet and where
he visited before coming to Earth. His adventures on six different
planets are recounted, including the encounters with the
king, the vain man, the drunkard, the businessman, the
lamplighter, the geographer, the snake, the desert
flower, the garden of roses, the railway switchman, the
merchant, the fox, and the narrator.
The narrator and the Prince share a rewarding relationship on
the desert, and when the Little Prince departs, the narrator misses
his company. He writes the novel in memory of the Little Prince.

8. Character list
T h e N a r ra t o r
The Little Prince
The Rose
The Baobabs
The King
T h e Va i n M a n
T h e D r u n ka r d
The Businessman
The Lamplighter
T h e G e o g ra p h e r
The Snake
T h e Fo x

10. The Narrator The Little Prince
A lonely pilot who, while One of the two protagonists
stranded in the desert, befriends of the story. After leaving his
the little prince. They spend home planet B – 612 and his
eight days together in the desert beloved rose, the prince
before the little prince returns to journeys around the
his home planet. Although he is
universe, ending up on
Earth. Frequently perplexed
discouraged from drawing early in by the behavior of
his life because adults cannot grown - ups, the prince
understand his symbolizes the
drawings, the narrator hope, love, innocence, and
illustrates his own story and insight of childhood that lie
makes several drawings for the dormant in all of us.
little prince. The narrator is a Though the prince is sociable
grown-up, but his view of
and meets a number of
characters as he travels, he
the world is more like a child's never stops loving and missing
than an adult's. After the little the rose on his home planet.
prince departs, the narrator feels
both refreshed and saddened.

12. The Rose The Baobabs
A coquettish flower who has
trouble expressing her love for Baobabs, harmless trees
the little prince and on Earth, pose a great
threat to smaller planets
consequently drives him away. like the prince's if left
Simultaneously vain and unchecked. They can
naïve, she informs the little squeeze whole planets to
prince of her love for him too pieces with their roots.
late to persuade him to stay Although baobabs have no
home and not to travel. malicious opinions or
Throughout the story, she intentions, they represent
the grave danger that can
occupies the prince's thoughts befall people who are too
and heart. lazy or indifferent to keep
a wary eye on the world
around them.

14. The King The Vain Man
On the first planet The sole resident of
the little prince the second planet
visits, he encounters a the little prince visits.
king who claims to rule The vain man is lonely
the entire universe. and craves admiration
While not from all who pass by.
unkindly, the king's However, only by being
power is empty. He is alone is he assured of
able to command being the richest and
people to do only what best-looking man on his
they already would do. planet.

16. The Drunkard The Businessman
A caricature of grown-ups
The third person who is the fourth person
the little prince the little prince visits.
encounters after leaving Too busy even to greet his
home is a visitor, the businessman
drunkard, who spends owns all the stars. Yet he
his days and nights lost cannot remember what
in a stupor. The they are called and
contributes nothing to
drunkard is a sad them. Although the little
figure, but he is also prince comments on
foolish because he the oddity of the grown-ups
drinks to forget that he he meets, the businessman
is ashamed of drinking. is the only character
the prince actively
chastises.

17. The Lamplighter The Geographer
The fifth and most complex The sixth and final character
figure the prince encounters the little prince encounters
before landing on Earth. before he lands on Earth.
At first, the lamplighter Although the geographer is
appears to be yet another apparently well-read, he refuses
ridiculous character with no to learn about his own planet,
real purpose, but his selfless saying it is a job for explorers.
devotion to his orders earns He recommends that the little
him the little prince's prince visit Earth and his
admiration. Of all the adults comments on the ephemeral
the little prince encounters nature of flowers reveal to
before reaching the prince that his own flower
Earth, the will not last forever.
lamplighter is the only one the
prince thinks he could
befriend.

19. The Snake The Fox
The first character Although the fox asks
the prince meets on Earth, the little prince to tame
him, the fox is in some ways
who ultimately sends the more knowledgeable of
the prince back to the heavens the two characters, and he
by biting him. A constant helps steer the prince toward
enigma, the snake speaks in what is important in life.
In the secret the fox tells
riddles and evokes the snake of the little prince before they
the Bible, which incites Adam say their good-byes, the fox
and Eve's eviction from Eden by sums up three important
luring them into eating lessons: only the heart can see
correctly; the prince's time
the forbidden fruit. away from his planet has
made him appreciate his rose
more; and love entails
responsibility.

21. ENDING
The climax of the plot occurs when the Little Prince
decides to return to his planet and care for his special
flower. He has learned from the fox that the important
things in life cannot be seen with the eye, only felt with
the heart. In essence, the fox’s lesson is about how to
love, a most important thing for everybody to learn. This
lesson eventually makes the Little Prince realize that the
flower from which he has fled is really very special. After
meeting the narrator and explaining all that he has learned
since he left his planet, the Prince accepts that he really
loves the flower because she is his
responsibility, and he has invested time and trouble in her
survival. As a result, he decides that he must go back to his
star to take care of his special and beloved rose.

23. • “Goodbye, said the fox. And now here is my secret, a very simple
secret. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is
essential is invisible to the eye.”
• “All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them
remember it.”
• “People have forgotten this truth,” the fox said. „But you
mustn’t forget it. You become responsible forever for what
you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose.”
• “ I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say
nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings.”
• “But eyes are blind. You have to look with the heart.”
• “You see, one loves the sunset when one is so sad.”
• “The most beautiful things in the world cannot
be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”

24. Sources:
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_d
e_Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry
• http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/littlepri
nce/themes.html
• http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-
little-prince/characters.html

25. The End
Thank you
Prepared:
Kamila Błaszczyk
Justyna Wcisło
Daria Szewczyk
Ewelina Szewczyk
Marlena Łęcka
Patrycja Kręgiel
Katarzyna Miśtal
Sylwia Wylot
Karolina Nowak
Katarzyna Prusek
Roksana Pabian
Poland,15.01.2013