The Little Prince the prince’s time away from his planet has made him

appreciate his rose more; and love entails responsibility.

A. Characters
5. The Baobabs are harmless trees on Earth but pose a
1. The Little Prince is one of the two protagonists of the great threat to smaller planets like the prince’s if left
story. After leaving his home planet and his beloved rose, unchecked. They can squeeze whole planets to pieces
the prince journeys around the universe, ending up on with their roots. Although baobabs have no malicious
Earth. Though the prince is sociable and meets a number opinions or intentions, they represent the grave danger
of characters as he travels, he never stops loving and that can befall people who are too lazy or indifferent to
missing the rose on his home planet. keep a wary eye on the world around them. The trees
may represent any sort of bad habit that, if isn't taken
2. The Narrator is a lonely pilot who, while stranded in the care of early, can destroy a person. They can also
desert, befriends the little prince. They spend eight days symbols of the everyday hurdles and obstacles in life
together in the desert before the little prince returns to his that, if left unchecked, can choke and crush a person.
home planet. Although he is discouraged from drawing
early in his life because adults cannot understand his 6. The King On the first planet the little prince visits, he
drawings, the narrator illustrates his own story and encounters a king who claims to rule the entire universe.
makes several drawings for the little prince. The narrator While not unkindly, the king’s power is empty. He is able
is a grown-up, but his view of the world is more like a to command people to do only what they already would
child’s than an adult’s. After the little prince departs, the do.
narrator feels both refreshed and saddened.
7. The Conceited Man The sole resident of the second
3. The Rose is flower who has trouble expressing her love planet the little prince visits. He is like a blind person who
for the little prince and consequently drives him away. cannot see the beauty of the world because he is so
Simultaneously vain and naïve, she informs the little focused on himself. He also does not recognize faults
prince of her love for him too late to persuade him to stay within himself because he's so self-absorbed. For a
home and not to travel. Throughout the story, she person to be respected and admired, one needs to
occupies the prince’s thoughts and heart. contribute to the world or to make a difference in
someone's life. The conceited man does neither. He is
4. The Fox Although the fox asks the little prince to tame living a life that is meaningless and full of lies because he
him, the fox is in some ways the more knowledgeable of fully believes that he's the most wonderful person in the
the two characters, and he helps steer the prince toward world, even though he did nothing to build his reputation.
what is important in life. In the secret the fox tells the little 8. The Drunkard The third person the little prince
prince before they say their good-byes, the fox sums up encounters after leaving home is a drunkard, who spends
three important lessons: only the heart can see correctly; his days and nights in drinking. The drunkard is a sad
 figure, but he is also foolish because he drinks to forget little food or water. As he is worrying over his predicament, he is
that he is ashamed of drinking. approached by the little prince, a very serious little blond boy who
asks the narrator to draw him a sheep. The narrator obliges, and
the two become friends. The pilot learns that the little prince comes
9. The Businessman A caricature of grown-ups who is the from a small which people call Asteroid B-612. The little prince took
fourth person the little prince visits. Too busy even to great care of this planet, preventing any bad seeds from growing
greet his visitor, the businessman owns all the stars. Yet and making sure it was never overrun by baobab trees. One day, a
he cannot remember what they are called and mysterious rose sprouted on the planet and the little prince fell in
contributes nothing to them. Although the little prince love with it. But when he caught the rose in a lie one day, he decided
comments on the oddity of the grown-ups he meets, the that he could not trust her anymore. He grew lonely and decided to
businessman is the only character the prince actively leave. Despite a last-minute reconciliation with the rose, the prince
chastises. set out to explore other planets and cure his loneliness.
While journeying, the narrator tells us, the little prince passes by
10. The Lamplighter - The fifth and most complex figure neighboring asteroids and encounters for the first time the strange,
the prince encounters before landing on Earth. He keeps narrow-minded world of grown-ups. On the first six planets the little
on turning the lamp on and off and greets the little prince prince visits, he meets a king, a vain man, a drunkard, a
“good evening” or “good morning” in between. At first, the businessman, a lamplighter, and a geographer, all of whom live
lamplighter appears to be yet another ridiculous alone and are overly consumed by their chosen occupations. Such
character with no real purpose, but his selfless devotion strange behavior both amuses and perturbs the little prince. He
to his work earns him the little prince’s admiration. Of all does not understand their need to order people around, to be
the adults the little prince encounters before reaching admired, and to own everything. With the exception of the
Earth, the lamplighter is the only one the prince thinks he lamplighter, whose dogged faithfulness he admires, the little prince
could befriend. does not think much of the adults he visits, and he does not learn
anything useful. However, he learns from the geographer that
11. The Geographer. The sixth and final character the little flowers do not last forever, and he begins to miss the rose he has
prince encounters before he lands on Earth. Although the left behind.
geographer is apparently well-read, he refuses to learn At the geographer’s suggestion, the little prince visits Earth, but he
about his own planet, saying it is a job for explorers. He lands in the middle of the desert and cannot find any humans.
recommends that the little prince visit Earth, and his Instead, he meets a snake who speaks in riddles and hints darkly
comments on the ephemeral nature of flowers reveal to that its lethal poison can send the little prince back to the heavens
the prince that his own flower will not last forever. if he so wishes. The little prince ignores the offer and continues his
B. Summary explorations, stopping to talk to a three-petaled flower and to climb
the tallest mountain he can find, where he confuses the echo of his
The narrator, an airplane pilot, crashes in the Sahara desert. The voice for conversation. Eventually, the little prince finds a rose
crash badly damages his airplane and leaves the narrator with very
garden, which surprises and depresses him—his rose had told him
that she was the only one of her kind. 2. The narrator/pilot stands for everyone of us who
The prince befriends a fox, who teaches him that the important consistently looks for the meaning of life. He abandons his
things in life are visible only to the heart, that his time away from dream of becoming an artist because grown-ups do not
the rose makes the rose more special to him, and that love makes appreciate his drawings. He becomes a pilot not because he
a person responsible for the beings that one loves. The little prince wants it but because grown-ups convince him to.
realizes that, even though there are many roses, his love for his
rose makes her unique and that he is therefore responsible for her. 3. The Fox is depicted as a very wise creature. He knows the secret
Despite this revelation, he still feels very lonely because he is so of life, which he gives to the little prince which in the end the little
far away from his rose. The prince ends his story by describing his prince has extended to the narrator and to the readers as well.
encounters with two men, a railway switchman and a salesclerk.
It is now the narrator’s eighth day in the desert, and at the prince’s 4. The dessert is barren, and is ready to be transformed.
suggestion, they set off to find a well. The water feeds their hearts Therefore, the desert represents the narrators mind,
as much as their bodies, and the two share a moment of bliss as because it was made barren by grown-up ideas. Like the
they agree that too many people do not see what is truly important Sahara Desert, the narrator's mind is transformed, by the
in life. The little prince’s mind, however, is fixed on returning to his little Prince. This landscape was sad for the protagonist.
rose, and he begins making plans with the snake to head back to
his planet. The narrator is able to fix his plane on the day before the 5. The king represents people in our society who think of
one-year anniversary of the prince’s arrival on Earth, and he walks themselves as superior beings. They don't listen to other's
sadly with his friend out to the place the prince landed. The snake opinions and disregard the consequences of their actions. In
bites the prince, who falls noiselessly to the sand. the end, all they get is disrespect instead of the respect that
The narrator takes comfort when he cannot find the prince’s body they believe they should have.
the next day and is confident that the prince has returned to his
asteroid. The narrator is also comforted by the stars, in which he 6. The conceited man represents anyone who always seeks
now hears the tinkling of his friend’s laughter. Often, however, he for recognition and admiration. They could also stand for
grows sad and wonders if the sheep he drew has eaten the prince’s those persons who are too confident of themselves and are
rose. The narrator concludes by showing his readers a drawing of not open to others’ suggestions. They always believe that
the desert landscape and by asking us to stop for a while under the their ideas and deeds are the best and therefore should not
stars if we are ever in the area and to let the narrator know be questioned.
immediately if the little prince has returned.
7. The drunkard is a person who cannot accept the life kid of
C. Symbols life that he has ended up with he chooses to forget or escape
from his bitter life by drinking.
1. The Little Prince symbolizes the hope, love, innocence,
and insight of childhood that lie dormant in all of us. 8. The Businessman represents the perfect adult because his
mind is only occupied by numbers. He is the typical person
 who focuses only on the material things hence he becomes
too preoccupied of his works and he often forgets (or
chooses not) to spend quality time with the people around
him.

9. The lamplighter can stand for a person who has been too
dedicated to his job which leads him to a monotonous or
routinized life. He does not dare to change his course or his
action and thus becomes stagnant person who no longer
dreams of moving forward.

10. The geographer is a person who lacks the initiative to do

something or to take action – in short, he does not take any
responsibility. If a problem arises, he will look for someone
to blame, if something is left undone, he will pass the blame
to somebody else.