An Analysis of Relationship in The Little Prince An Analysis of Relationship in The Little Prince 彰化女中。陳慧倢。二年十三班 彰化女中。王瑋婷。二年十三班 - 1 - PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com An Analysis of Relationship in The Little Prince Ⅰ.Preface Upon the most valuable assets one can possess, the relationship with others is one of them. However, due to the invisibility of interior interaction, it is too often neglected. Fortunately, The Little Prince, published in 1943, took the length and breadth of the world by storm. The significant novel brings the consequence of relationship, which affects numerous people, to light. Relationship is the tie between people. In addition, it is the element that makes every moment variable. Furthermore, relationship is what we have to face in our daily social life. Without a doubt, there are many sorts of relationship. Despite the fact that we consider it arduous to tell which the most vital one is, it is not exaggerating to say that the influences of every sort are deep and profound. Relationship enables us to distinguish our beloved ones from all the millions and millions of others. It is then that the world becomes beautiful and is full of sunshine. Without relationship, it is possible for us to ignore love around us. Without relationship, of whom can we think in the livelong June? With whom can we share wheal and woe? Nevertheless, people usually don’t know how to cherish it, how to create it and where to find it. There’s no denying that The Little Prince is the most representative masterpiece in biding defiance to adults’ prejudice against relationship. Accordingly, from our points of view, the relationship in The Little Prince is worth analyzing. Ⅱ.Text The Little Prince consists of many different kinds of relationship, comprising the relationship between the rose and the little prince, the relationship between the fox and the little prince, the relationship between the author and the little prince, the relationship between the snake and the little prince, and the relationship between the people on different planets and the little prince. The following are our analysis. 1.The relationship between the rose and the little prince “He loves me--- loves me not.” wrote Goethe Johann Wolfgang von in Faust. (1) Obviously, the rose kept suspecting the little prince’ love for her. She did many silly experiments, to see if the little prince really loved her. Despite the fact that he watered her, he put her under glass, he sheltered her behind the screen, he - 2 - PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com An Analysis of Relationship in The Little Prince killed the caterpillars for her, he listened to her complaints etc., his love was still doubtful for her. In my opinion, it is a quite interesting symbol for the little prince to regard a rose as his sweetheart. Flowers, according to Faust, represent the answers to the uncertain future of love in ancient Europe. Whenever lovers feel puzzled and depressed, they regard flowers as fortune-tellers. As a result of this, I consider the rose is an emblem of impeachment. That causes a great challenge in their relationship. Furthermore, as we all know, roses depict love, especially on Valentine’s Day. The reason why people look upon roses as a token of love is that roses, on account of their repeated petals, look complicated and romantic, just like love. Consequently, I view the breed, rose, simply as the first thing that came to Saint-Exupery’s mind when it came to love problems in their relationship. “How lovely you are!” was what the little prince said while he saw the rose at the first sight. (2) Here, Saint-Exupery had the same resonance with Christopher Marlowe. As Marlowe wrote, “Who ever loved, that loved not at first sight?” (3) Without a doubt, the little prince was deeply in love with her at the first glance. Nevertheless, no matter how beautiful the beginning of their love was, there were many difficulties lay ahead. John Keats once wrote, “ Woman! When I behold thee flippant, vain, inconstant, childish, proud and full of fancies; without that modest softening that enhances that downcast eye, repentant of the pain that its mild light creates to heal again: E’en then, elate, my spirit leaps, and prances, E’en then my soul with exultation dances for that to love, so long, I’ve dormant lain….”(4) Such was the case in the love relationship between the little prince and his rose. Notwithstanding the rose tortured him with her temperamental vanity, the little prince loved her all the same. This shows the greatness of love relationship, which is truly touching and amazing. 2.The relationship between the fox and the little prince Though people declared that their relationship is an extra-marital romance, we firmly believe that the relationship between the fox and the little prince is merely a touching and sincere friendship. Certainly, friendship is a sort of precious relationship. And what brings friends together is the relationship of “tamed” and “be tamed”. Here is the fox’ answer to the little prince’ unsophisticated question: “What does tame mean?” “It’s something that’s been too often neglected. It means, ‘to create ties’….” (5) Aristotle has the same point of view as that. He said, “What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”(6) It is the soul that - 3 - PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com An Analysis of Relationship in The Little Prince creates ties between friends. What’s more, the soul is invisible. Interestingly, the most valuable secret the fox shared with him was, ”One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”(7) Take, for instance, the blind. They can’t see; nevertheless, avoiding numerous visible misunderstandings, they still can see what is really essential. Though we ordinary people can see things that are invisible to them, they can see something extraordinary we don’t see. That’s how God balances things on. Consequently, we may not be the disable physically; however, it is possible for us to become disable in mind. “What is unseen is eternal.” “For what is seen is temporary.” (8) This rationale seems effortless; however, it is philosophical. Naturally, we show the secret, which few people can comprehend, only to the person of exceptional relationship. The fox said, “My life is monotonous. I hunt chickens; people hunt me. All chickens are just alike, and all men are just alike. So I’m rather bored. But if you tamed me, my life will be filled with sunshine.” (9) Accordingly, once the little prince befriends the fox, the world will be new and shining in its eyes. “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by the meeting that a new world is born,” said Anaïs Nin. (10) Not until the fox got acquainted with the little prince did it see a brand-new and brighter world. Friends open another window for us to see the life in a different perspective. And when the time to leave was near: “Ah!” the fox said. “I shall weep.” “It’s your own fault,” the little prince said. “I never wanted to do you any harm, but you insisted me that I tame you….” “Yes, of course,” the fox said. “Then you get nothing out of it?” “I get something,” the fox said, “because of the color of the wheat.”(11) Though to meet, to know, to love, and then to part is the sad tale of many a human heart, tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all! (12.13) The little prince came to the earth for the purpose of friendship search, so that he could learn more. Inevitably, he learned what was authentically essential through this unique relationship. 3.The relationship between the pilot and the little prince To our relief, the author, the pilot in the novel, found his bosom friend, the little prince, in the Sahara Desert. They had a lot in common. For instance, both of them considered it hilarious to believe in numbers blindly. “Life is a romantic business. It is painting a picture, not doing a sum.”, said Oliver Wendell, Jr. (14) They both deemed adults were extremely strange. Therefore, a delicate relationship developed between them. “Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for children to have to provide explanation over and over again.”(15) Discouraged by the “ignorant” grown-ups, the pilot - 4 - PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com An Analysis of Relationship in The Little Prince was forced to give up his imagination when he was a kid. Notwithstanding that, the author’s striking notion deep in his mind never faded. It was the little prince that helped the pilot to regain his confidence in “natural piety”. “The child is father of the man; And I could wish my days to be—Bound each to each by natural piety.” once wrote William Wordsworth in the poem My Heart Leaps up. (16) Not only do the children see what’s indeed essential, but they are sensitive to the great nature like boa constrictors, jungles, and stars. Their hearts simply leap up when they behold a rainbow in the sky. And the little prince is just the one with whom the author can talk about these things. It was the immortal innocence that built up their immortal relationship. En route to the well, the pilot said to himself, “He (the little prince) didn’t realize the danger.