A Matter Between a Hat and a Boa Constrictor

In Saint-Exupery’s time, most people, having experienced the exciting industrial revolution, held an optimistic attitude to life. Workers expected better living standards, employers expected more profit, and intellectuals expected a more advanced world; but their dreams were crushed by World War I and the following Great Depression. It was just in that kind of circumstances when people needed a figure like the little prince, who still has a pure kind heart and the curiosity to everything, to remind them of the beautiful world and the precious human nature.

Reading The Little Prince is just like a journey of finding back our childhood. The book revealed how unimportant the things that the grown-ups usually take seriously actually are. During his trip among the asteroids, the little prince encountered a king, a conceited man, a tippler, a businessman, a lamplighter, and a geographer. These characters symbolize different characteristic of typical adults: being eager for fame and power, avoiding their problems, being too materialistic, being limited by the reality, and being lack of imagination. Having any of these characteristic may lead to an unhappy life, because neither power nor money can bring authentic happiness.

The Little Prince reminded me of the truth and made me think of a quote from the movie Yes Man: “The world's a playground. You know that when you are a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it.” Humans are born to be happy, because life itself is enjoyable. We knew that in childhood, but as we grow up, distractions blind us and disable us to see the true value of happiness. That’s the difference between a child and a “grown-up”.

So, what makes us keep a childish heart? The little prince takes care of a rose on his planet, and this flower makes his planet glimmer when he’s on earth; he also tamed a fox on earth, and this fox makes earth more beautiful when he’s home. In the same way, to the author, this little prince makes asteroid B-612 sparkle in the night sky. When they lift their heads toward the sky, they see more than stars. They feel the happiness being with the other person. That is the power of love and relationship, which wealth and power don’t have. The fox said, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

At the very beginning of the book, the author showed two of his drawings: the outside and the inside of a boa constrictor swallowing an elephant. He then talked about how the adults urged him to spend his time on something “more meaningful” after mistaking the first picture for a hat and understanding the drawing upon seeing the second one. He used to feel frustrated dealing with the adults, but many years later, in the desert, he made the little prince frustrated dealing with him. This happens very often. Though we don’t want to be like grown-ups, it’s still inevitable. But it doesn’t matter, whenever this happens, we just need to find back the little prince in our heart.