Abstract

The Little Prince is a well-known short novel of children literature, written by Antoine de Saint Exupery in 1942, a French renowned author. The pilot as a teller, this novel mainly narrates the life of the little prince on his own planet B612, what he sees and hears in other planets, the conversations between the pilot and the little prince and the little prince returns to his planet by the means of death eventually. This book became an instant success around the world since it was published. The movies and dramas adapted from The Little Prince are widely complimented all around the world. 

     This thesis consists of three chapters. In the first chapter, it analyzes the symbolic meaning of the main human beings characters, including the characters of showing negative human nature – the residents in the six planets and the characters of showing positive human nature – the little prince and the pilot. In the second chapter, it analyzes the main animal and plant symbols and their deep symbolic meanings by reading the book carefully, combining with the relevant research papers. The third chapter analyzes the symbolic meaning of interaction between the little prince and other characters, including the conversation between the little prince and the pilot and the gap between the little prince and “Adults”. Using traditional fairy structure and symbolism, this book reveals some profound philosophy of life covered up the hustle and bustle of life with innocent and succinct language. The abundant symbols and deep philosophy in The Little Prince is exactly the reason why it’s so popular among readers in different ages.

Key Words: The Little Prince; Symbolic meaning; Philosophy of life

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1  Introduction-1

2  The Symbolic Meaning of Human Being Characters-3

2.1 The Chracters of Showing Positive Human Nature: the Residents in the Six Planets -3

2.2 The Chracters of Showing Negative Human Nature-5

   2.2.1 The Pilot-5

   2.2.2 The Little Prince-6

3  The Symbolic Meaning of the Plants and Animals-8

3.1 The Rose and Fox: Illustrating the Relationship of Love and Responsibility-8

3.2 The Snake: Indicating the Return of Purity and Love-10

3.3 The Sheep: Embodying the Constraining Force-11

4  The Symbolic Meaning of the Interactions between the Little Prince and Other Characters-13

4.1 The Communication between the Little Prince and the Pilot: the Child's Redemption for Adults-13

4.2 The Gap between the Little Prince and "Adults": the Polarity of Value Measure Standard-14

5  Conclusion-16

Bibliography-17

Acknowledgments-19