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On my balcony there is a beautiful rose. It was a present two years ago. It is called Aphrodite. It bloomed happily all last Summer and then faded away. Now in the middle of Winter a solitary rose has bloomed, quite magnificently. It makes me think of the Little prince and also Beauty and the Beast come to that, and all sorts of things like 'A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.' You know what it's like.
Anyway I spent my childhood in a literary world of Winnie-the-Pooh, Beatrix Potter, Enid Blyton and Wind in the Willows. They were the friends that shaped my philosophy on life.
I didn't come across ' The Little Prince' by Antoine Saint Exupèry until I was a teenager.
We had to read another book by Saint-Exupery for A level. It was called 'Vol de Nuit', and was about the pilot of a mail plane and to this day the images and emotions described so vividly in that book accompany me whenever I am on an aeroplane. Powerful writing indeed.
So that's when I got to read about 'the Little Prince' and his rose, the fox, the drawing of the hat which is an elephant, the snake and the whole of life's lesson therein
I went to see the film version of 'the Little prince' last week. It was quite beautiful, and could not have been easy to transfer to the big screen, but it works. The parts of the book are in paper and the other parts of a little girl, her mum and an old man who lives next door are in modern day cartoon style.
Afterwards over hot chocolate and spritz we discussed the life lessons from the story.
There is a lot about solitude and growing up and becoming an adult, but for me the main lessons come from his relationship with the Rose and the Fox.
The Little Prince looks after the Rose so then the Rose needs him and he tames the fox, so then he is responsible for the fox. The Little Prince thinks the rose is unique but then he sees lots of roses and it takes the fox to make him realize that his rose is still unique , because it's his. If we give our heart to someone, our love and affection then we start to need them. There are people in our lives that need us and we are responsible for them.
What do you think?
I haven't seen the film, but I did read the book when I was very young, Angela. I don't remember any lesson about being responsible for people who need us. I think it's quite a complicated concept really. There are so many variables, but in principal, and as long as the responsibility does not place an uncalled for burden on a person, then I agree. Much depends of the circumstances and the relationships, I suppose. A lovely post! The illustrations are too beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you Val, you are very kind. In the introduction to my copy it says the book is telling us to never forget what it is like to be a child, to carry that wonder with you through life. Thank you for your comment x
DeleteCheers Angie! U've made even more curious about the film, im looking forward to watching it! ...I also Like the part in which they say that "the essential things are invisible to the eye.." Or something like that 😃
DeleteThanks Charlie!! I think you would like the film x
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