Student Question

How does The Little Prince relate to our current situation through its characters?

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The concerns of the Little Prince are very relevant in today's world.  Here is an excerpt from the quicknotes pages on Social Concerns/Themes that encapsulates the modern connections and the story itself very nicely (there is additional information at the link below):

The lack of childlike simplicity in a sophisticated and materialistic civilization is portrayed from the very first page, when the author shows a drawing of a boa snake that had eaten an elephant to uncomprehending adults, who believe it to be a hat. Adults, especially the materialistic generation, continue to judge by appearances; the Turkish astronomer who discovered B612, the Prince's planet, is rejected by the scientific community until he appears in Western clothes. Adults are enamored of statistics and numbers, and prefer to know how much money a person makes rather than know the sound of his voice. Such adults are reflected in the businessman who counts stars which he claims to own, to prove his wealth. Even the problem of drug addiction and alcoholism appears in the drunkard, who drinks to forget that he is ashamed to drink. The compartmentalization of knowledge, too prevalent in today's world, is evident in the geographer, who is not an explorer, and therefore cannot know what is really on the earth's surface. The world of authority and power comes to life in the king who considers everyone his subject, a universal image, but only too true in occupied France in 1943.

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