Research
Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince: A Literary Deconstruction
Introduction
In the Miss World beauty pageant in 199 the Philippine’s contestant Sharmaine “Ruffa” Guttierez answered the question: “How would you tell a girl who’s suffering from low self-esteem to feel better about herself?” she said: “ I’ll tell her to believe in herself because it’s not only physical beauty that’s important but also inner beauty. Like what the Little Prince said, "What is essential is invisible to the naked eye." And I believe that character and personality are more important than physical beauty.” Everyone applauded and thought she would win the crown. But sadly Miss Guttierez only bagged the 2nd Runner-Up behind Miss South Africa and Jamaica.
The very thing she said as lifted from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s masterpiece; The Little Prince is a vivid pragmatic actuality. In fact the little prince did not said the quote it was the fox! “What is essential is invisible to the eye” , says the fox. The little prince repeats the phrase to himself so as to be sure to remember, a way for the author to underline its importance to an understanding of the story. He had already given a hint in the beginning of the story with his drawings of the boa « from the inside » and « from the outside », as an indication that everything, every being, conceals within itself a treasure, a mystery we must discover. Beyond appearances, there is the spirit that can only be discovered with the heart. While seeming to speak to children, the author of The Little Prince addresses us all and the text can be read at many different and surprising levels of meaning, from fairy tale to philosophical treatise.
It is on this premise that this study was set to determine the different techniques utilized by the author in writing The Little Prince.
Statement of the Problem
General Problem
To ascertain the literary technique that was used by the author in writing the The Little Prince .
Introduction
In the Miss World beauty pageant in 199 the Philippine’s contestant Sharmaine “Ruffa” Guttierez answered the question: “How would you tell a girl who’s suffering from low self-esteem to feel better about herself?” she said: “ I’ll tell her to believe in herself because it’s not only physical beauty that’s important but also inner beauty. Like what the Little Prince said, "What is essential is invisible to the naked eye." And I believe that character and personality are more important than physical beauty.” Everyone applauded and thought she would win the crown. But sadly Miss Guttierez only bagged the 2nd Runner-Up behind Miss South Africa and Jamaica.
The very thing she said as lifted from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s masterpiece; The Little Prince is a vivid pragmatic actuality. In fact the little prince did not said the quote it was the fox! “What is essential is invisible to the eye” , says the fox. The little prince repeats the phrase to himself so as to be sure to remember, a way for the author to underline its importance to an understanding of the story. He had already given a hint in the beginning of the story with his drawings of the boa « from the inside » and « from the outside », as an indication that everything, every being, conceals within itself a treasure, a mystery we must discover. Beyond appearances, there is the spirit that can only be discovered with the heart. While seeming to speak to children, the author of The Little Prince addresses us all and the text can be read at many different and surprising levels of meaning, from fairy tale to philosophical treatise.
It is on this premise that this study was set to determine the different techniques utilized by the author in writing The Little Prince.
Statement of the Problem
General Problem
To ascertain the literary technique that was used by the author in writing the The Little Prince .
Bibliography: Adamson, Thomas. Little Prince Discovery Offers New Insight Into Classic Book, Associated Press via TimesTribune.com, May 3, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2013. Capestany, Edward J. The Dialectic of the Little Prince. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1982. Cotsalas, Valerie (2000) 'The Little Prince ': Born in Asharoken, The New York Times, 10 September 2000. Listening to The Little Prince, Paris: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Foundation. Retrieved from TheLittlePrince.com website January 6, 2013. Goding, Stowell C. (1972) Le Petit Prince de Saint-Exupéry by George Borglum (review), The French Review, American Association of Teachers of French, October 1972, Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 244-245. Higgins, James E. The Little Prince: A Reverie of Substance. New York: Twayne Publishers / Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1996. Marie Robinson, Joy D. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1984. Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de. Wartime Writings 1939-1944, trans. Norah Purcell. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986. ———. Wind, Sand and Stars, trans. Lewis Galantière. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1967.