The Little Prince

Life is a long and winding road filled with countless mysteries and unknowns.
Throughout our vast journey in life, we gradually gain curiosity and love for discovery while
opening our minds to unfamiliar ideas. These unknowns in life draw out humanity’s inherent
desire for wisdom and knowledge. However, with time, some may lose this passion and open
mindedness, and thus, also lose their sight of what is truly essential in life. In the movie
adaptation of Antoine De Saint-Exupery’s renowned novel, “The Little Prince,” the core theme
revolves around the search for the essentialities in life and the values that one must realize in
order to lead a full life.
The most well-known quote from the movie, “It is only with the heart that one can see
rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye,” depicts one of the most important values that
one can learn within the story and in life. This statement, uttered by the fox, articulates that what
our hearts feel towards others is far more important than what are eyes tell us about them. Our
mere perception of an individual becomes meaningless unless we enable ourselves to develop a
relationship and bond with them. In the movie, the Little Prince encountered some beautiful
flowers and a fox along his travels. Although the flowers were greatly elegant, they only saw
their physical beauty and could not truly be loved because of their numbers. On the other hand,
the Prince had a much deeper connection with the fox because he was able to build a relationship
with him, and thus, they were able to care for each other, beyond what their eyes could see.
In further analyzing the film, it can be seen that time and death are also recurring themes
within the storyline. The time and effort we spend with other people dictate our relationships
with them. The Little Prince, in the film, cared greatly for his rose and spent a lot of time
nurturing it. Although he was young, he did not fear death if it meant that he could return to his
rose and take care of it once again. After realizing the importance of relationships from the fox,
the Little Prince learned to value his time with his rose much more. Similarly, the girl can also be
seen being able to appreciate her mother more when the Aviator was hospitalized. She realized at
a young age that life is fragile and death is inevitable, and thus she began appreciating her time
with her mother. The Little Prince and the girl both represent the open mindedness of children,
and how they are able to see the world with all its beauty and magic; which is something we can
all learn from.
From my perspective, the fox has been a great teacher towards the Little Prince. He
taught the Little Prince about how relationships should be given time to be nurtured and cared for
in order to grow into love and strong bonds. In our lives, this can be applied with the way we
perceive our own relationships as well. Through time, we tend to lose sight of what is truly
important. Nevertheless, we should not let time erase our child-like features like the Little
Prince. Instead, we should always aim to spend time with our loved-ones and discover new
things. As humans, we are social beings, and thus, we must let our hearts speak and decide on
what we perceive as essential in life. Only then can we build true relationships like the Little
Prince; only then can we lead a full life.