Friday, November 28, 2008
the little prince
i found this book by chance in the library and i finished it in an hour. i think most people would have seen this book before, long heard and not read by themselves. it's like the "who moved my cheese?" kind of book, but i like it much more. i wish to share the most impt philosophy drawn frm reading the book.
the little prince comes from an asteroid living outside earth. his world is so small that it has only 3 volcanoes that reaches his knee, and one flower that talks to him and whom he loves. and of course he's the only one in his world. he can watch the sunsets 44 times in a day as long as he moves from his spot. so one day he decided to travel out to other worlds and escape from the flower, because proud and vain as she is, she always expects him to treat her with special care, for she believes she's the only one in the universe. the truth is she comes just from a seed but her prettiness masks her naivety. the little prince grew unhappy because he realized that he has taken her words seriously all the time but they are of no great importance. the day he left, the flower told him not to worry about her and not to bother covering her with a glass globe, for she has 4 thorns that can protect herself. she pretends to cough so that she can hide her true emotions from him. she is too proud to show her love for him. only when the little prince reached earth and met the author did he confide that he should never have listened to the flower. and that she shld be treated with tenderness and pity for all that she is, instead of being intoxicated with her. "one should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance." he went on to say that he should judge her by deeds and not by words, and he ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little stratagems. he admitted to being too young to know how to love her...
the part about the relationship btw him and the flower i believe is an analogy for love btw a man and a woman. and it touches me alot... such a simply illustration can actually conjure a powerful deep truth behind it. maybe one story can mean different things to different people(and gender). to me, it just means that however obnoxious and demanding a girl is, the guy should look beyond the words and notices the feelings a girl feel. which, is really hard, from experience. that is why under stereotype, older men would have learn much better to know how to love a woman right?
moving on to the next impt philosophy from the book, the little prince met many people on other asteroids before reaching earth. and each man teaches him a lesson. they are all adults to him that acts exactly like how adults act- caring about the unimpt things in life instead of the fundamentals. the king wants power and control, the businessman wants assets that signifies money(but he doesnt know what he wans to do with the money), the geographer disregards things that are ephemeral(including his beloved flower that will die one day), the conceited man hears only praises, the drunkard who drinks to forget that he is ashamed of drinking, and lastly, the lamplighter who stuck by his job even when situation has changed and his job has become difficult and probably unnecessary.
when the little prince reached earth, he saw a garden full of roses-flowers that look exactly like his flower at home. then he was disappointed that his flower is not unique and only one in the universe. after which he met a fox that wants to 'be tamed'. he couldnt ustand why. the the fox said the most impt lines in the book,
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed"
for taming the fox forged a friendship/establish ties between them, and the fox will become not only just a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. the process of taming the fox will make him enthusiastic everyday, looking forward to seeing the little prince. the fox will appreciate the time that comes when they meet, and how seeing the golden wheat in the field will remind him of the little prince's golden hair. his everyday mundane life of running frm hunters and preying on chickens will finally be different and he will have a more meaningful life. thus, he wants to be tamed. when the little prince has to go away one day, the fox will cry. but that doesnt mean that taming him has been a bad thing to do. for now he has a friend, one that reminds him whenever he feels the wind in the wheat field. the fox then said another 2 impt lines,
"It is the time you have spent with your rose that makes your rose so important."
"One cannot see well except with the heart, the essential is invisible to the eyes,"
so now the little prince understood that his rose is still unique to him. he said to all the other roses,"you are beautiful, but you are empty. one could not die for you...she is more impt than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that i have watered; because it is she that i have put under the glass globe; because it is she that i have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that i have killed the caterpillars; because it is she that i have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. because she is my rose."
that's just plain sweeet.
finally, the little prince has to go back home, because his asteroid has moved just above earth. he volunteerily got bitten by a poisonous snake n was dying. the author was upset. but the little prince reminded him that it is his shell that he's leaving behind, for his soul is going home. and one should not cry over a shell, but remember all the good things left behind and things that will remind him of the little prince. such as the stars in the sky. every stars represent different things to different people. for travelers they are guides, for scholars they are problems. but for the author, stars will not be silent. they will be laughing, laughing the way the little prince laughs. for the author does not know which is the asteroid the little prince stays in, therefore every stars would remind him of the prince. and the little prince will also remember how tasty water tastes for the author gave him water from the well to drink.
before the little prince left(to die), he said,"you know...my flower...i am responsible for her. and she is so weak! she is so naive! she has four thorns of no use at all, to protect herself against all the world..."
this entry is preeeeeety long. i tried to summarise as much as i could already. if you think the book sounds good, go find it. the author is Antoine de Saint Exupéry. code: SAIA.
(:
updated at 5:42 PM.
