Familiar not only to children, but also to adults.

Saint-Exupery "The Little Prince" main characters

The main characters of the story "The Little Prince" are:

  • Pilot - the story is told on his behalf
  • The little Prince - the main character who perceived completely differently the world... He was able to appreciate all its diversity, noticed the unusual in the most inconspicuous.
  • Fox - a symbol of wisdom and knowledge of life
  • Drunkard
  • Lamplighter
  • Baobab
  • Dealer
  • Rose - a symbol of beauty
  • The snake is a symbol of wisdom and immortality
  • Switchman
  • Geographer
  • An ambitious person is a person who strives for an honorable position, longs for fame.
  • King
  • Turkish astronomer
  • Business man
  • Flower with three petals

The little Prince- the main character of the work, a child living on the asteroid B-12, symbolizes purity, disinterestedness, a natural vision of the world for the writer.

Fox- this is a very important character, he helps to reveal the very essence of the philosophy of the whole fairy tale, helps to look into the very depths of the story. And directs the plot.

The tamed fox and the cunning snake are the important plot-forming characters of this work. Their importance in the development of storytelling cannot be overemphasized.

Characteristics of the Little Prince

The little prince is a symbol of a man - a wanderer in the universe, looking for the hidden meaning of things and his own life. The soul of the Little Prince is not bound by the ice of indifference and numbness. Therefore, a true vision of the world is revealed to him: he learns the value of true friendship, love and beauty. This is the theme of the "vigilance" of the heart, the ability to "see" with the heart, to understand without words. The little prince does not immediately comprehend this wisdom. He leaves his own planet, not knowing that what he will be looking for on different planets will be so close - on his home planet. The little prince is laconic - he says very little about himself and his planet. Only little by little, from casual, casually dropped words, the pilot learns that the baby flew in from a distant planet, "which is all the size of a house" and is called asteroid B-612. The little prince tells the pilot about how he is fighting the baobabs, which take root so deep and strong that they can tear his little planet apart. The first shoots must be weeded out, otherwise it will be too late, "this is a very boring job." But he has a "firm rule": "... got up in the morning, washed, put yourself in order - and immediately put your planet in order." People should take care of the purity and beauty of their planet, jointly protect and decorate it, and prevent all living things from perishing. The little prince from the fairy tale of Saint-Exupery cannot imagine his life without love for gentle sunsets, without the sun. “Once I saw the sun set forty-three times in one day!” - he says to the pilot. And a little later he adds: "You know ... when it becomes very sad, it is good to see how the sun goes down ..." The kid is active and hardworking. He watered Rosa every morning, talked to her, cleaned the three volcanoes on his planet so that they would give more warmth, weed out weeds ... And yet he felt very lonely. In search of friends, in the hope of finding true love, he sets off on his journey through foreign worlds. He is looking for people in the endless desert surrounding him, for in communication with them he hopes to understand himself and the world around him, to gain the experience that he was so lacking in. Visiting six planets successively, the Little Prince on each of them encounters a certain life phenomenon embodied in the inhabitants of these planets: power, vanity, drunkenness, pseudo-scholarship ... The images of the heroes of A. Saint-Exupery's fairy tale "The Little Prince" have their own prototypes. The image of the Little Prince is both deeply autobiographical and, as it were, alienated from the adult author-pilot. He was born out of longing for a dying in himself little Tonio - a descendant of an impoverished noble family, who was called the "Sun King" for his blond (first) hair in the family, and was nicknamed the Lunatic in college for his habit of looking at the starry sky for a long time. The very phrase "The Little Prince" is found, as you probably noticed, even in the "Planet of People" (like many other images and thoughts). And in 1940, in between battles with the Nazis, Exupery often drew a boy on a piece of paper - when he was winged, when he was riding on a cloud. Gradually, the wings will be replaced by a long scarf (which, by the way, was worn by the author himself), and the cloud will become asteroid B-612.

Characteristics of the Rose "Little Prince"

Rosa was capricious and touchy, and the baby was completely exhausted with her. But “on the other hand, she was so beautiful that it was breathtaking!” And he forgave the flower for his whims. However, the little prince took the empty words of the beauty to heart and began to feel very unhappy. Rose is a symbol of love, beauty, femininity. The little prince did not immediately discern the true inner essence of beauty. But after a conversation with the Fox, the truth was revealed to him - beauty only becomes beautiful when it is filled with meaning, content. “You are beautiful, but empty,” the Little Nrintz continued. “You don’t want to die for you. Of course, a casual passer-by, looking at my Rose, will say that she is exactly the same as you. But for me she is dearer than all of you ... ”Telling this story about Rose, little hero admits that he did not understand anything then. “On / before was judged not by words, but by deeds. She gave me her scent, illuminated my life. I shouldn't have run. Behind these pitiful tricks and tricks one had to guess tenderness. Flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young and did not know how to love yet! "

The prototype of the capricious and touching Rose is also well known, it is, of course, the wife of Exupery Consuelo - an impulsive Latin American, whom her friends nicknamed "the little Salvadoran volcano." By the way, in the original the author always writes not "Rose", but "La Aeur" - a flower. But in French it is a feminine word. Therefore, in the Russian translation, Nora Gal replaced the flower with Rose (especially since in the drawing it is really Rose). But in the Ukrainian version, nothing had to be replaced - "la fleur" easily became "krgkoy".

Characteristics Fox "Little Prince"

It has long been in fairy tales that a fox (not a fox!) Is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge of life. The little prince's conversations with this wise animal become a kind of culmination in the story, for in them the hero finally finds what he was looking for. The lost clarity and purity of consciousness return to him. The fox opens the life of the human heart to the baby, teaches the rituals of love and friendship, which people have long forgotten and therefore lost friends and lost the ability to love. No wonder the flower says ABOUT PEOPLE: "They are carried by the wind." And the switchman in a conversation with the main character, answering the question: where are people in a hurry? notes: "Even the driver himself does not know this." This allegory can be interpreted as follows. People have forgotten how to look at the stars at night, admire the beauty of sunsets, and enjoy the scent of the Rose. They submitted to the vanity of earthly life, forgetting about the "simple truths": about the joy of communication, friendship, love and human happiness: you feel happy. " And the author is very bitter to say that people do not see this and turn their lives into a meaningless existence. The fox says that the prince is only one of a thousand other little boys for him, just as he is just an ordinary fox for the prince, of which there are hundreds of thousands. “But if you tame me, we will need each other. You will be the only one for me in the whole world. And I will be one for you in the whole world ... if you tame me, my life will shine like the sun. I will begin to distinguish your steps among thousands of others ... ”The fox reveals to the Little Prince the secret of domestication: to tame means to create bonds of love, unity of souls.

There was a lot of controversy about the prototypes and versions of the translation about Fox. Here is what translator Nora Gal writes in her article “Under the Star of Saint-Ex”: “When“ The Little Prince ”was published here for the first time, there was a heated debate in the editorial office: a fox in a fairy tale or a fox - again feminine or masculine? Someone believed that the fox in the fairy tale was Rosa's rival. Here the dispute is no longer about one word, not about a phrase, but about the understanding of the whole image. Even more, to a certain extent - about understanding the whole tale: its intonation, color, deep inner meaning - everything changed from this "trifle". And I am convinced: a biographical note on the role of women in the life of Saint-Exupery does not help to understand the tale and is irrelevant. I'm not even talking about the fact that in French 1e hepags! male. The main thing is that in the fairy tale the Fox is first of all a friend. Rose is love, Fox is friendship, and true friend The Fox teaches the Little Prince loyalty, teaches him to always feel responsible for his beloved and for all those close and loved. " One more observation can be added. The unusually large ears of the Fox in Exupery's drawing are most likely inspired by the small desert fennec fox, one of the many creatures tamed by the writer during his service in Morocco.

Speaking about such a deep and truly difficult work as "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, it is necessary to know about the very personality of its author. This would be the same difficult person with a completely unique outlook on life.

Surprisingly, without having children himself, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry managed to keep a child in himself, and not at all as deeply as many adults. Therefore, he saw the world through the eyes of a growing person, he understood and accepted the child's worldview. This is the success of his work "The Little Prince".

So we came close to this amazing, lively and such a magical creation of a French writer, who by his main occupation was a military pilot.

Reading "The Little Prince", it is difficult to believe that it was written by a man of such a harsh profession: it is so deep, gentle and extraordinary work. But his heroes are especially interesting and unusual. We will talk about them.

Human heroes: one layer of storytelling

"The Little Prince" is a fairy tale, and it becomes so partly because the main characters it's not just people. Here the reader will meet a wise tamed fox, a cunning snake, and even a capricious rose. Still, there are more human characters.

The first and, of course, the main one is, of course, the Little Prince himself. And here the first riddle awaits us: since this is the son of rulers, it means that there must be both a king and a queen in the fairy tale. After all, there can be no prince without them. However, nowhere in history is there any mention of the Little Prince's parents.

We see his portrait: indeed, there is a crown and a cloak, but what does he rule then? Or what do his mom and dad rule over? There is no question, and no answer is expected. We perceive the world through the prism of the worldview of a small child, and at this age, the status of parents is not important to anyone. All children take each other for granted. And even the Little Prince is just a child for them, and nobody cares about his origin. This is a statement of fact.

However, this kid is already responsible and wise even more than any adult. He takes care of his planet, every day, not forgetting for a moment, he takes care of the capricious rose, saving her from all possible adversity. He loves his friends and is sincerely attached to them. But, like any child, the Little Prince is curious and imprudent. Having quarreled with the rose and getting bored, he, without thinking twice, leaves his home planet and goes on a long journey - to see how others live? It's so childish! Well, who didn’t want to run away from home at least once?

Adult child
True, this child is an adult at the same time. He has no parents, and he builds his own life. Help is nowhere to be found, and it is not expected. Therefore, the Little Prince is sane beyond his years, although he allows himself simple childish pranks.

So, breaking away from his tiny native planet, this child goes on a journey to other worlds. Until he finds himself on our mortal Earth, on the way he will meet other planets, and there will be no less amazing characters on them. Each of them is the personification of some kind of passion. Everyone is busy with one thing, and cannot tear themselves away from their work, although, in fact, no one needs it. This already represents the structure of our adult world: many people are engaged in what no one needs, wasting their lives on nothing.

So is the king who alone rules on a planet where there are no other people. All his passion is power, completely empty and unnecessary. So is the lamplighter, who every day turns on and off the only lantern on the planet, where there are no other people. On the one hand, it's kind of a responsibility, but on the other, it's a waste of your own life. So is a drunkard who drinks all day, and an accountant who does not see his numbers further.

Disappointed in the neighbors, the little Prince flies on and finally arrives on our planet, where he meets the author-narrator. And surprisingly, for some reason, these two people, large and small, find mutual language and understand each other. Maybe this is happening because the image of the Little Prince is the author's longing for a departed childhood, this is the same Small child living not very deeply in the soul of Anutan de Saint-Exupery.

However, the image is not autobiographical. It contains echoes of little Tonio, but the very fact that the author tells on his own behalf does not allow the little prince to be identified with him. it different people... And the child is only a projection, a kind of collective image, echoes of childhood memories, but not Antoine de Saint-Exupery himself.

There are other characters in the book, only they are not people. However, they play a very important role in revealing the whole meaning of the work and its details.

Animal Heroes: Highly Significant Characters for the Narrative

The Little Prince is a child, and first of all he remains so. Therefore, for him, as for any baby, animals are of great importance. Everyone knows how little children love their kittens and puppies, and the main character of this amazing fairy tale needs a four-legged friend. And he manages to tame the Fox.

The fox is a very important character, he helps to reveal the very essence of the philosophy of the whole fairy tale, helps to look into the very depths of the story. And directs the plot.

So, gradually the Fox is tamed, and, in the end, becomes dependent on the boy. And it is to him that the immortal words belong: "We are responsible for those whom we have tamed." This is the first lesson in love, devotion, trust. And the little prince gratefully accepts and assimilates with all his being. And it is then that the longing for the rose appears: after all, she is there alone, among the baobabs that tear apart the planet, frightened and so defenseless. And tamed. And he, the little Prince, is responsible for those he has tamed. So it's time to go home.

And this is where the Snake appears. This image is easy to read and recognizable even from the biblical canons. The tempting serpent that was there continues to perform the same function in almost all literary works... And then, as soon as the boy wants to return home, this very tempter appears, offering his help. In the Bible it was an apple, but in the work of a French writer it was a bite.

The snake says that it can send the child home, that it has a magical remedy and, of course, it is poison. In the biblical story, people after communicating with a snake came to Earth, but in Exupery's fairy tale, everything happens the other way around - the boy disappears. Where, there is not a word about this in the work, but the snake promises to return it to home planet... And since there is no body, then the reader can only hope that this is how it happens. Or does the Little Prince go to where Adam came from - to paradise?

The tamed fox and the cunning snake are the important plot-forming characters of this work. Their importance in the development of storytelling cannot be overemphasized.

A capricious rose: beauty that has thorns

If the Fox is the personification of devotion and trust, the Snake is deceit and temptation, then the Rose is love and contradiction. The prototype of this hero was the wife of the author Consuelo, a very wayward person, hot-tempered and, of course, capricious. However, loving. And after all, the Little Prince says about her that his Rose is capricious, sometimes unbearable, but all this is protection, just like thorns. In fact, she has a very soft and kind heart.

Longing for a flower, the boy agrees to the snake's proposal. For the sake of love, people are capable of much. And even die, then to be reborn again somewhere behind the stars, somewhere on a completely different planet, tiny, but in an embrace with a beautiful rose.

Snakes have always had a special gift to carry people overnight to a completely different world. And who knows, maybe everything was just like that snake promised the Little Prince, and he really ended up on his planet with his flower.

The tale does not provide an answer. But since this is a fairy tale, then we can all hope for a happy ending!

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