Childhood and the Environment in 'The Little Prince'

Abstract

Antoine de Saint-exupéry's 'The Little Prince', first published in French and english in 1943, is widely regarded as a classic of children's literature or - as it might more properly be said - of literature for children of all ages. It is a novella, mainly a conversation between a lost aviator, whose plane has crashed in the African desert, and a boy, the ruler and sole inhabitant of a tiny planet called B612. The boy has come to earth in a quest for enlightenment and wisdom. As the aviator attempts to repair his plane, and anxiously watches over his limited supply of water, they talk about the nature of human experience and the relationship of humanity to our environment. 'The Little Prince' is a contemplative text that explores human engagement with nature through considerations of how we perceive the world, how we find ways of being-in-the-world and, perhaps most importantly, how we negotiate the relationship between the seen and the unseen (or, as the novella puts it, the visible and the invisible). These elements of layered meaning support the interpretation of 'The Little Prince' as a text that advocates an environmental consciousness; it enables readers (either child-readers, or the children-in-adults) to consider their own relationships with and perceptions of the world.