Student Question
Is Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince a political satire?
Quick answer:
The Little Prince is not primarily a political satire. Saint-Exupery is more concerned with social issues and human nature than politics. While Chapter 10, featuring a king reigning over no one, can be seen as a critique of authority figures, including the French government during World War II, the book overall focuses on exposing human nature and societal flaws rather than political commentary.
I would actually hesitate to call The Little Prince political
satire. Rather than being interested in ideas or instances related to
government or power, Saint-Exupery is actually considered a
humanist. He is more concerned with social
issues, issues having to do with society and the heart, rather than
politics. The only chapter we can really see as having political connotations
is Chapter 10 in which the prince visits the
king who is really reigning over no one in particular.
Literary critics have recognized this description of the king
as fitting a lot of authority figures, but especially of the French
government before and during German occupation early on in
World War II (eNotes, "Social Concerns/Themes"). France's
initial response to Nazi Germany was to join forces with Great Britain in
trying to appease the Nazis . France signed the Munich Pact along with Great Britain and Italy, allowing...
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Germany to invade Czechoslovakia. When appeasing the Nazis failed, France went to war with Germany butsurrendered as soon as 1940. The Nazis set up a new French
government in Vichy, headed by acclaimed World War I French general Henri
Philippe Petain. Under Philippe's direction, the French "acquiesced in the
plunder of French resources" and sent French to labor camps in Nazi Germany,
all because they "hoped to preserve at least some small amount of French
sovereignty" ("France History--France during World War II"). Since
Saint-Exupery was a French pilot who had been sent to the US to try and
convince our government to take action in the war, the actions of his country
would have been very important to him.
We see the actions of his country reflected in the king's insistence on
pacifying his subjects. When the prince yawns before the king, the
king forbids him to yawn further, saying that it is "contrary to etiquette to
yawn in the presence of a king" (Ch. 10). When the prince argues that he can't
help yawning because he is tired from his travels, the king changes his decree
and orders him to yawn. When the prince states that he is now too frightened to
yawn, the king sputters the ridiculous decree, "Then I--order you sometimes to
yawn and sometimes to--" (Ch. 10). Both the king's inability to pass sound laws
plus consistently uphold any ridiculous laws he makes with the intention of
pacifying his subjects, portrays the king as a weak governor,
as weak as the French government at the time of World War II. Like the king in
The Little Prince, the French government also acted with the sole
intent of pacifying Germany, creating a very ironic French
government. However, since the rest of the book is about social issues and
exposing human nature, it does not seem that Saint-Exupery had political
motives for writing this chapter. Instead, it can be said that Saint-Exupery
had the intent of exposing human nature as ridiculous and unable to see what's
truly important, just as we see throughout the book.