A Lesson from Little Prince

I joined the #WriteAPageADay challenge of Blogchatter, as I mentioned earlier in another post. I haven’t succeeded in writing a page every day, though. But as long as you manage to write a minimum of 10,000 words in the month of Feb, Blogchatter is contented. I woke up this morning feeling rather vacant in the head, which happens sometimes. Whenever that happens to me but I do want to get on with what I should, I fall back on a book that has inspired me. One such book is Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince.

I have wished time and again to meet Little Prince in person as the narrator of his story did. We might have interesting conversations like the ones that exist in the novel.

If a sheep eats shrubs, will he also eat flowers? That is one of the questions raised by Little Prince [LP]. “A sheep eats whatever he meets,” the narrator answers. “Even flowers that have thorns?” LP is interested in the rose he has on his tiny planet. When he is told that the sheep will eat flowers that have thorns too, his question is: “Then the thorns, what are they for?” The narrator who is busy repairing his damaged airplane answers in annoyance: “Thorns are useless, it’s pure wickedness on the part of flowers!”

LP is not amused. He reflects for a moment and says, “I do not believe you! Flowers are weak. They are naïve. They reassure themselves as best as they can. They think they are terrible with their thorns…”

The book is full of such conversations with profound meanings. That’s why I can always fall back on it when I need inspiration.

The rose is one of the many symbols in the book. It symbolises love, uniqueness, and responsibility. It teaches LP that love requires effort and understanding. His rose, which he initially thinks of as vain and difficult, turns out to be tender at heart. Her words and actions stem from vulnerability as well as affection. Love isn’t always perfect; it requires patience and deep understanding. And it can hurt too.

When LP discovers a garden full of roses, he feels disappointed at first, believing his rose is not unique after all. However, the fox (another character in the novel) teaches him that “It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”

I have highlighted that quote just because it is one of my favourites. I have quoted it year after year in my classrooms. Your rose is special for you because of the time and care you give to it. Things or people we cherish gain importance through our attention, effort, and sacrifices. LP’s rose is unique for him merely because of the bond they share. Your emotional connection with someone acquires depth through shared experiences and personal involvement.

Meaning isn’t inherent in objects or people. The rose doesn’t have any meaning in itself. The rose acquires a deep meaning for LP because he has invested time, emotion, and effort in the flower. The rose becomes irreplaceable for LP because of the love and care he has given it.

One of the characters in the novel, as mentioned above, is a fox. The fox wants LP to tame it.

“What does that mean – ‘tame’?” LP asks.

“It means to establish ties,” Fox explains. “To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world…”

Fox goes on quite poetically: “If you tame me, my life will be filled with sunshine. I shall know the sound of footsteps that will be different from all the rest. Other footsteps send me hurrying underground. Yours will call me out of my burrow, like music.”

Words are redundant in the taming process, Fox says. “Words are the source of misunderstandings.” You just have to sit down at a little distance from me in the grass. I shall watch you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Over time, we will get closer to each other. That is taming.

My pet cat, Plato, is watching me out of the corner of his eye pretending to be asleep, lying on my printer that is next to the laptop on which I’m typing out this. There’s no distance between him and me because we have already ‘tamed’ each other. He’s just waiting for me to finish this job so that he can demand more attention from me. The time that I have ‘wasted’ for Plato is what makes him important for me.