‘The Little Prince’: Seeing the world through a child’s eyes

Once, we all believed in Santa Claus, in fairies, in wishing wells, in magic. Once, we all led simple lives and had simple pleasures. Once, we were all children.

The Little Prince is more than just a story – it is an eye opener. It motivated me to see the world as a child, without prejudice. I realized that a grownup is not necessarily an old person. Rather, he is someone who sees only what the eye can see and concerns himself with what the author calls matters of consequence. I haven’t been a child for a long time and reading this book gave me reason why I should try to be one again.

The pilot, when he was a child, felt the need to grow up since nobody understood him or took him seriously. Stranded in the middle of the Sahara Desert, he busied himself with the task of fixing his plane’s engine. It was after all, a matter of life and death since he had scarcely enough drinking water to last for a week. But when he unexpectedly met the little prince, he lasted for days, nourished by meaningful tales of the little prince’s travels. I, like the pilot, learned of life and men.

When the little prince met the king, he was told that the most difficult thing of all is to judge oneself. While we all take pride in knowing, we always resort to that which requires less difficulty – judging others. Perhaps we are too afraid to look deep inside of us and face a stranger. As the three-petaled flower told the little prince, "The wind blows men away. They have no roots and that makes their life difficult." We have to find ourselves and establish our own identity. We owe it to ourselves to know the person we have become.

The conversation between the little prince and the fox taught me that when I tame someone, we will need each other, we shall be friends and he will be unique to me. Haven’t we all, at some point, been too proud to admit that we cannot do everything by ourselves. Oftentimes, we are too reluctant to tame someone because to do so, we must give a part of ourselves to that person and be tamed in return.

We allow ourselves to be vulnerable to pain. As the fox put it, "One runs the risk of weeping a little, if one lets himself be tamed."

We do not lose ourselves when we reach out to others, on the contrary, we nourish our being and grow.

The fox continued, "Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where we can buy friendship, and so men have no friends anymore."

Are we really willing to forego lasting relationships in exchange for fleeting material cravings? Can we afford to lose the human touch? In this day and age, we can get almost anything we want in an instant. However, while we are constantly on the move, we sometimes feel trapped. Although we have so many options, we cannot make a decision. While we enjoy many things, we are never content.

As told by the switchman, "No one is ever satisfied where he is." We take so many roads that lead to nowhere, we assume different roles but remain hollow inside. We waste our time asking for more when what we have is already enough. If we try to appreciate what we have, we would realize that we are truly blessed. We should be like children who, for the little prince, are the only ones who know what they are looking for. He believed that children waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them, and if anybody takes it away, they cry. Because of that, said the switchman, they are lucky.

The Sahara Desert is a symbol of adversity. How many times do we feel desperate and helpless? It is during these times that we should never lose hope or let go of our faith. Remember, the little prince and the pilot found a well in the desert.

Hope never fails those who believe without even seeing. As the little prince said, "What makes the dessert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well." To see it, we must use our heart instead of our eyes, for our eyes are blind to what is truly important.

The world is more wonderful when we see it with the heart of a child.