payment page
Who does the little prince meet on Earth?
After landing on Earth, the little prince meets several creatures, including the snake, the fox, the rose garden, the railway switchman, the merchant, and the narrator of the story. Each serves a purpose in helping the little prince progress on both his philosophical and physical journey. The railway switchman teaches the little prince about the restlessness and dissatisfaction of humans, who are constantly on the move, searching for something that might fulfill them. The merchant helps the little prince realize that simply having more time to do things with is not necessarily an improvement – what matters is the happiness or fulfillment you get from spending your time wisely. The rose garden gives the little prince the uncomfortable realization that his flower is not unique in all the world, but the fox helps him understand that the deep bond he has with his flower is what makes them both unique and special. At the end of his journey, the little prince befriends the narrator, to whom he imparts all the wisdom he’s learned during his travels. Finally, the snake, whom the little prince meets both at the very beginning and the very end of his journey, ends the little prince time on earth and sends him home.
What made the rose important?
When the rose first appears on the little prince’s planet, she’s entirely new to the little prince, beautiful and unique from the baobab shrubs. But during his time on Earth, the little prince discovers that roses are a common species, and that his rose is one among thousands. At first, he is upset by this, but the fox helps him understand that, on the outside, none of us are truly unique. There are a thousand little boys, roses, and foxes in the world. It is through taming – or creating an emotional bond with – another living being that we come to understand the depths of their personhood and associate them with a special sort of belonging, love, and affection. What makes the little prince’s rose important is that she belongs to him, that he cares for her and protects her, and that he has devoted so much of his life to spending time getting to know her.
Why did the little prince leave the rose?
Although the little prince admires and cares for his rose, she isn’t always easy to live with. She has a difficult personality at times, often boasting to hide her fears and vulnerabilities, and requiring the little prince to provide her with all manner of services to make her life more comfortable. For all his efforts, he is often met with criticism from his rose. Eventually, the little prince becomes dejected by her unkindness. The narrator explains: “He had taken seriously words which were without importance, and it made him very unhappy.” When the Prince finally decides to leave, the rose is honest with him, assuring him that she does love him. Throughout his journey, he gains wisdom on why his rose behaves in such a contradictory way, and he learns to empathize with her. While the relationship between the little prince and the rose is not explicitly a romantic one, the lessons surrounding their story apply most heavily to romantic partnerships. The little prince learns that it takes forgiveness and understanding to live with a partner and love them despite their flaws.
Why is the fox eager to be tamed by the little prince?
The fox begs the little prince to tame him because to be tamed by someone makes the world more beautiful and meaningful. In The Little Prince, taming is the act of “establishing ties” with another person. Having a deep connection with another living being not only means that this being becomes special and unique to you, but also that you become special and unique in their eyes as well. Along with having this bond, being tamed by someone causes all the beauties, joys, and tragedies of the world to become more vibrant and meaningful to you. For example, the fox tells the little prince that once they’ve tamed each other, the earth’s wheat fields, which never interested the fox before, will now always remind him of the little prince’s lovely golden hair: “The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat." Of course, the fox also accepts that taming will bring grief when he loses the one he loves, but that it’s all worth it, because the world will forever be made brighter and more meaningful by their connection and love for each other.
What did the snake do to the little prince?
When the little prince first arrives on Earth, the snake explains that it has the power to return living beings to the Earth from which they came. For humans and animals, this means death, but for the little prince, who is not of Earth, it implies that the snake can send him back to his home planet. When the snake bites the little prince, injecting him with deadly poison, the little prince’s body “dies,” but his soul can traverse across the universe back to his planet. Of course, for both the narrator and the reader, this interpretation requires some faith, since there is no assurance in the book that the snake bite really brought the little prince home rather than killing him entirely. However, the narrator believes wholeheartedly that the little prince is back on his planet with his rose.
