What we can learn from The Little Prince

By Joshua Corcuera

 

During lockdown, people are forced to pursue their passions and hobbies while staying at home. Some learned how to bake cookies and pastries or cook various dishes, while others tried painting stuff, writing poetry, and playing musical instruments. Before the school year and online classes started in my university, I was able to re-read a short novella I first encountered when I was in sixth grade.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince is a fable admired for ages and valued by generations since it was first published in 1943. In the novella, a pilot was forced to land on the Sahara as his plane broke up and met a little prince. With its vivid illustrations and simple yet essential message, such literary work remains more relevant than ever. It seems important to discuss the novella given that it’s trending recently on Twitter thanks to a film adaptation in 2015.

One of the most obvious themes in the novella is the frustration of the pilot on grown-ups. The pilot, as he narrated at the start, actually wanted to be an artist but was disheartened of the grown-ups’ comments to his painting — a snake digesting an elephant. At first, because the pilot (when he was a young boy) drew the outside of the snake, the adults thought it was a hat. When the pilot drew the inside of the snake, the adults told him to spend more time on pressing and relevant matters — such as politics, geography, and arithmetic.

Disheartened, the aspiring artist was forced to pursue a different profession, one where he can fly from one corner of the world and travel to many places. Though he acknowledged it was helpful to his life, the fact that one’s dream and passion was thrown away might be painful and such pain can be brought until adulthood.

As we grow up, we tend to forget where we came from — our dreams, our wishes, our goals, and more. With this in mind, it is essential for us to reflect and imagine what we would tell our younger selves if given the opportunity. After all, we are aware that he who does not know how to look back to the past, cannot reach his destination. In Filipino, hindi makararating sa paroroonan, ang siyang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan.

Another thing about The Little Prince that I would gladly share to the dear reader is one of the most mesmerizing quotes in the novella. In one part, the fox — an animal commonly symbolized as treacherous — befriended the Little Prince and shared a secret: it is only with the heart that can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.

As human population increased, so did material wealth. We live in a world where a lot of people are extremely focused on acquiring vast amounts of wealth, some through illicit trickeries. Huge amounts of money, sleek gadgets, shining jewelry — these are just some of the earthly riches we tend to aspire.

Nothing is wrong with aspiring to be wealthy since, after all, we need some wealth to live proper lives. However, being too greedy and allowing material wealth to dictate our lives is not the sole basis of our success, meaning, and purpose in life.

Altogether, a short, meaningful literary work during the Second World War manages to reassert its relevance during another major global event — the pandemic we are facing right now. The timeless lessons offered by the Little Prince with his encounters with the pilot are noteworthy to our generation given how much we underestimate and overlook the things that really matter, the things which we wake up for: love, beauty, friendship.