The moral and philosophical meaning of the fairy tale "The Little Prince" by Saint-Exupery. Analysis of the work "The Little Prince" by Exupery The main idea of ​​the little prince exupery

The work of Antoine de Saint-Exupery "The Little Prince" is rightfully considered to be a real pearl of world literature of the twentieth century. An incredibly touching story teaches not only children, but also adults love, friendship, responsibility, empathy. We offer you to get acquainted with the literary analysis of the work according to the plan, which will be useful in preparing for the exam and literature lessons in grade 6.

Brief analysis

Year of writing- 1942.

History of creation- The impetus for writing the work was the writer's memories of the plane crash over the Arabian desert, as well as the tragic events of World War II. The book is dedicated to Leon Werth.

Theme- The meaning of life, love, loyalty, friendship, responsibility.

Composition- The work consists of 27 chapters, during which the main characters travel around the planets and talk with each other, reflecting on life.

genre- Philosophical tale-parable.

Direction- Realism.

History of creation

An unusual tale, which has been resonating in millions of hearts around the world for many years, was written by a French writer at the height of World War II, in 1942.

In 1935, while flying from Paris to Saigon, Saint-Exupery was in a plane crash. The accident took place in the Libyan desert, and left a deep mark on the soul of Saint-Exupery. Late memories of this incident, as well as deep feelings about the fate of the world, which was at the mercy of fascism, resulted in a fairy tale, the protagonist of which was a little boy.

During this period, the writer, on the pages of his diary, shared his innermost thoughts about the future of mankind. He worried about the generation that received material benefits, but lost its spiritual content. Saint-Exupery set himself a difficult task - to return the lost mercy to the world and remind people of their responsibility for the Earth.

The work was first published in 1943 in the United States and was dedicated to a friend of the writer - Leon Werth, a famous Jewish journalist and literary critic who endured endless persecution during the war. Thus, Antoine de Saint-Exupery wanted to support his comrade and express his active civic position against anti-Semitism and Nazism.

It is noteworthy that all the drawings in the story were made by the writer himself, which further emphasizes his ideas presented in the book.

Theme

In his work, the writer raised many global topics, which for centuries have worried and continue to worry all of humanity. First of all, it is the topic of finding the meaning of life... This is what the Little Prince does, traveling from one planet to another.

The author is saddened that the inhabitants of these planets do not even try to go beyond their usual worlds, and find an answer to the eternal question of the meaning of life - they are quite satisfied with the usual life framework. But after all, only in the search is the truth born, which the protagonist proves, returning in the finale of the narrative to his beloved Rose.

Worries the writer and friendship and love... He not only reveals these burning topics, but also conveys to the readers the whole necessity of responsibility for a loved one, and the whole world as a whole. The little prince works tirelessly to care for and protect his tiny planet. He loves and cares for Rose with all his heart, which remains alive only thanks to his efforts.

The all-consuming evil is represented in the work with the help of baobabs, which can quickly devour all life on the planet if they are not regularly uprooted. This is a vivid image that has absorbed all human vices, which must be fought tirelessly throughout life.

The main idea of ​​the work is in the phrase: "To love is not to look at each other, it is to look in the same direction." You need to learn to trust people, to be responsible for your loved ones, not to close your eyes to what is happening around - this is what the famous fairy tale teaches.

Composition

In The Little Prince, the analysis is based not only on the disclosure of the main themes, but also on the description of the compositional structure. It is based on the reception of dialogue and travel of the central characters - the narrator and the Little Prince. In the tale are revealed two storylines- this is the story of a pilot-storyteller, and the theme of the reality of "grown-ups" people directly related to him, and the story of the life of the Little Prince.

Throughout the 27 chapters that make up the book, friends travel around the planets, get acquainted with different characters, both positive and frankly negative.

Time spent together opens up previously unknown horizons for them. Their close communication allows us to connect two completely different universes: the world of children and the world of adults.

Parting does not become a tragedy for them, because during this time they became much wiser and were able to better understand each other, sharing a piece of their soul, and draw important conclusions.

main characters

genre

"The Little Prince" is written in the genre philosophical fairy tale-parable, in which reality and fiction are surprisingly intertwined. Real human relationships, emotions, experiences are hidden behind the fantastic nature of the fairy tale story.

The tale in the form of a parable is the most popular amalgamation of literary genres. Traditionally, the tale is instructive in nature, but affects readers in a soft and unobtrusive manner. In fact, a fairy tale is a reflection of real life, but only reality is transmitted through fiction.

The genre of the parable was also chosen by the writer for a reason. Thanks to him, he was able to boldly and simply express the views that worried him about the moral problems of our time. The parable becomes a kind of conductor of the author's thoughts into the world of the reader. In his work, he discusses the meaning of life, friendship, love, responsibility. Thus, the fairy tale-parable acquires a deep philosophical implication.

A truthful depiction of real life, despite the fantastic nature of the plot, indicates that realism prevails in the work, which is not alien to philosophical allegories. However, romantic traditions are also strong enough in the fairy tale.

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Reading the works of A. de Saint-Exupery, you more sharply feel the beauty of the world and the power of human attraction to brotherhood. The writer and pilot died three weeks before the liberation of his native France (1944) - he did not return to base from a combat mission, but his books continue to help us better understand ourselves and the world around us.

The philosophical tale "The Little Prince" was written by Exupery shortly before his death. The wisdom of her hints cannot always be conveyed in formulas and words. Halftones and shades of allegorical images are as delicate as the graceful drawings with which the author illustrated his work.

The little prince - the main character of the fairy tale - is shown to us on a journey, in motion, in search, although he understands that from time to time we need to stop and look back and around: if you go straight ahead, where your eyes are looking, you will not go far. On different planets, he meets with their adult inhabitants, who, in terms of income, ambition, greed, have forgotten their human vocation.

On Earth, the Little Prince finds himself in a garden with many roses. At this difficult moment for the baby, when he is thrilled with the thought that the rose was deceiving him, speaking of its uniqueness, November appears. He speaks of the bottomlessness of the human heart, teaches the true understanding of love, which perishes in the vanity of life. Never talk sincerely, look inside yourself, think about the meaning of life. To have friends, you have to give them your whole soul, give them the most precious thing - your time: "Your Rose is so dear to you because you gave her so much time." And the Prince understands: his Rose is the only one in the world, because he "tamed" her. Every feeling, including love, must be earned by tireless mental labor. “Only the heart sees well. The most important thing is not visible to the eyes. " One must be able to be faithful in friendship and love, one cannot passively treat evil, because everyone is responsible not only for their own destiny.

Absorbing the moral lessons of a small but so capacious work, one can agree with the opinion of A. Prasolov, a Russian poet: “Saint-Exupery wrote about the Little Prince shortly before his end ... swan-clean, farewell cry ... ". This tale is a kind of testament of a wise man to us, who remained on this imperfect planet. And is it a fairy tale? Let us recall the desert in which a pilot who has suffered an accident meets the Little Prince. In any extreme situation in front of a person, it happens that her whole life passes. I remember good things, but more often - where and when you showed cowardice, dishonesty, dishonesty. A person "suddenly" perceives and realizes something, underestimated or did not pay attention to throughout his life, and therefore from his lips at these moments of truth and insight a prayer bursts out: "Lord! Take away the trouble, and I will become better, more noble and magnanimous "

Apparently, in the image of the Little Prince, his sinless childhood came to the narrator (“But you are innocent and you came from the star,” the author says, referring to the Little Prince), his clear, unblemished conscience. So the little hero helped the pilot take a sharper and more attentive look at life, at his place in it and evaluate all this in a new way. The narrator returns to his comrades as a completely different person: he understood how to be friends, what to value and what to fear, that is, he became wiser and less frivolous. The little prince taught him to LIVE. It is in the desert, far from the hustle and bustle, that it completely absorbs us and our souls, where alone the prophets and hermits learned great truths, the pilot, also alone, approached the understanding of the meaning of life. But the desert is also a symbol of a person's loneliness: "It's also lonely with people ...".

A magical, sad parable, "made up like a fairy tale" (A. Panfilov)! Moral and philosophical problems are revealed in it with the help of graceful aphorisms, which then accompany us in our life, asking for moral guidelines: “It is much more difficult to judge oneself than others. If you can judge yourself correctly, you are actually wise "," Vain people are deaf to everything except praise "," But the eyes do not see. We must seek with our heart. "

This work makes us look differently at the world around us and people. Each of the newborns seems to be the same mysterious and mysterious baby, like the one that came to planet Earth on its tiny planet. These Little Princes came to know our world, to become smarter, more experienced, to learn to seek and see with the heart. Each of them will have their own concerns, each will be responsible for someone, for something, and deeply aware of his duty - just as the Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupery felt his duty to the one and only rose. And may they always be accompanied by the victory over the terrible baobabs!

The "Little Prince" was born in 1943, in America, where Antoine de Saint-Exupery fled from Nazi-occupied France. An unusual fairy tale, equally well perceived by both children and adults, turned out to be relevant not only during the Second World War. Today, people still read to her, trying to find answers to eternal questions about the meaning of life, the essence of love, the cost of friendship, the necessity of death in The Little Prince.

In form - a story consisting of twenty-seven parts, according to the plot - a fairy tale telling about the magical adventures of the Prince Charming, who left his native kingdom because of unhappy love, according to the artistic organization - the parable is simple in speech (according to The Little Prince it is very easy to teach French) and is complex in terms of philosophical content.

The main idea of ​​the fairy tale-parable is the assertion of the true values ​​of human existence. The main antithesis is sensory and rational perception of the world. The first is typical for children and those rare adults who have not lost their childish purity and naivety. The second is the prerogative of adults who are firmly rooted in the world of rules created by themselves, often absurd even from the point of view of reason.

The appearance of the Little Prince on Earth symbolizes the birth of a person who comes to our world with a pure soul and a loving heart open to friendship. The return of the fairytale hero home takes place through real death, coming from the poison of a desert snake. The physical death of the Little Prince embodies the Christian idea of ​​the eternal life of the soul, which can go to Heaven only leaving its bodily shell on earth. The annual stay of the fairytale hero on Earth corresponds to the idea of ​​the spiritual growth of a person who learns to make friends and love, take care of others and understand them.

The image of the Little Prince is based on fairy-tale motives and the image of the author of the work - a representative of an impoverished noble family, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, who in childhood was nicknamed "The Sun King". A little boy with golden hair is the soul of an author who never grew up. The meeting of an adult pilot with his child self takes place at one of the most tragic moments of his life - a plane crash in the Sahara Desert. Balancing on the brink of life and death, the author learns the story of the Little Prince during the repair of the plane and not only talks to him, but also walks to the well, and even carries his subconscious in his arms, giving him the features of a real character, different from him.

The relationship between the Little Prince and the Rose is an allegorical depiction of love and the difference in its perception by a man and a woman. Capricious, proud, beautiful Rose manipulates her lover until she loses power over him. Gentle, timid, believing in what they say to him, the Little Prince suffers severely from the frivolity of the beauty, not immediately realizing that it was necessary to love her not for words, but for deeds - for the wonderful aroma that she gave him, for all that the joy that she brought into his life.

Seeing five thousand Roses on Earth, the space traveler is desperate. He was almost disappointed in his flower, but the Fox who met him on the way in time explains to the hero the truths long forgotten by people: that you need to look with your heart, not with your eyes, and be responsible for those who have been tamed.

The artistic image of the Fox is an allegorical image of friendship, born of habit, love and the desire to be needed by someone. In the understanding of an animal, a friend is one who fills his life with meaning: destroys boredom, allows him to see the beauty of the world around him (comparing the golden hair of the Little Prince with ears of wheat) and cry when parting. The little prince learns the lesson given to him well. Saying goodbye to life, he thinks not about death, but about a friend. The image of the Fox in the story also correlates with the biblical Serpent-tempter: for the first time the hero meets him under an apple tree, the animal shares with the boy knowledge about the most important life foundations - love and friendship. As soon as the Little Prince comprehends this knowledge, he immediately acquires mortality: he appeared on Earth, traveling from planet to planet, but he can leave it only by rejecting the physical shell.

In the story of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the role of fabulous monsters is played by adults, whom the author snatches from the general mass and places each on his own planet, which encloses a person in itself and, as if under a magnifying glass, showing his essence. The desire for power, ambition, drunkenness, love of wealth, stupidity are the most characteristic features of adults. As a common vice, Exupery exposes activity / life devoid of meaning: the king from the first asteroid rules over nothing and gives only those orders that his fictitious subjects can carry out; an ambitious person does not value anyone but himself; the drunkard is unable to get out of the vicious circle of shame and booze; a business man endlessly adds stars and finds joy not in their light, but in their value, which can be written on paper and put in a bank; the old geographer is mired in theoretical conclusions that have nothing to do with the practical science of geography. The only reasonable person, from the point of view of the Little Prince, in this row of adults is a lamplighter, whose craft is useful for others and is beautiful in its essence. Perhaps that is why it loses its meaning on a planet where a day lasts one minute, and electric lighting is already in full swing on Earth.

The story of a boy who came from the stars is sustained in a touching and light style. She is all imbued with sunlight, which can be found not only in the hair and yellow scarf of the Little Prince, but also in the endless sands of the Sahara, ears of wheat, orange Fox and yellow Snake. The latter is immediately recognized by the reader as Death, because it is inherent in her power, greater "than in the finger of a king", the ability to "carry further than any ship" and the ability to solve "all riddles." The snake shares with the Little Prince his secret of knowing people: when the hero complains about loneliness in the desert, she says that “among people, too,” it can be “lonely”.

The sad end does not cancel the life-affirming beginning of the tale: the author begins to hear the stars and see the world in a new way from the fact that “somewhere in an unknown corner of the universe, a lamb, which we have never seen, perhaps ate an unfamiliar Rose”.

In the story - a fairy tale, a prince travels from asteroid to asteroid, never ceasing to be amazed at the strange world of adults. First of all, he visits the nearest asteroids, on which people live alone. Each asteroid has its own number from 325 to 330, like an apartment in a multi-storey building. These numbers hint at the fear of the modern world - the separation of people who lived in neighboring apartments, as if on different planets. Meeting with the inhabitants of asteroids becomes for the Little Prince a sad lesson in loneliness.

On the first planet lived a king who looked at the world like all kings, in a very simplified way: for them all people are subjects. But this king was constantly tormented by the question: if his orders are impracticable, then who will be to blame? Is he or I? Therefore, he gave, in his opinion, only reasonable orders. The king managed to teach the prince, "that it is more difficult to judge yourself than others, but if you can judge yourself correctly, then you are truly wise." The lover of power does not love his subjects, but the power, and therefore is deprived of his subjects.

An ambitious person lived on the second planet, and vain people are deaf to everything except praise. An ambitious person does not love the public, but fame - that is why he remains without an audience.

On the third planet, there was a drunkard who was concentrating on himself, which was completely confused: he was ashamed that he was drinking, but he was drinking in order to forget that he was ashamed.

The fourth one belonged to a business man. The meaning of his life was that "if you find something, be it a diamond, an island, an idea or even a star, and they have no owner, then it is yours." The business man counts the riches that he does not own: after all, those who save only for themselves could just as well count the stars.

The little prince cannot understand the logic of adult life and comes to the conclusion that “it is useful for my volcanoes and my flower that I own them. And the stars are of no use to you. "

And only on the fifth planet does the little prince meet a person with whom he would like to make friends. This is a lamplighter whom everyone would despise, since he thinks not only of himself. “But his planet is already very tiny. There is no room for two. " But the lamplighter works in vain, because he does not know for whom he is working.

On the sixth planet lived a geographer who wrote thick books. He was a scientist and for him beauty is ephemeral. Nobody needs scientific works. It turns out that without love for a person, everything loses its meaning - power, honor, conscience, science, labor, and capital.

The seventh planet is a strange planet Earth. When the Little Prince arrives on Earth, he becomes even sadder. He sees: the Earth is "completely dry, all in needles and salty", not at all a home planet. On such an uncomfortable planet, earthlings would live as a close-knit family.

Despite the fact that there were many kings, geographers, drunkards, ambitious people on it, this planet is deserted and lonely for the Little Prince. He tries to find a friend for himself, but he says to the snake that "it is also lonely among people," because, according to the flower, "they are carried by the wind, they have no roots."

"People climb on fast trains, but they themselves do not understand what they are looking for, so they do not know rest and rush to one side, then to the other. And it's all in vain."

There are so many people that they cannot come together, feel like one whole. Millions of people remain strangers to each other, living in a world alien to them - why do they live? Millions of people are racing in fast trains - why should they rush? Thousands of people are selling the latest pills to save time - why save time? Neither fast trains nor pills connect people, they do not connect them to each other. And without this, the planet will not become a home. The prince is bored on earth, the Fox has a boring life, and both of them are looking for a friend. The fox knows how to find a friend: you need to tame someone to yourself. To tame means: to create a bond. "If you tame me, we will become, need each other." And the little prince realizes that there is a friend on his planet who feels bad without him, since there are no shops where you can buy a friend. You will have a friend: you will know the value of happiness.

Before meeting the Little Prince, the Fox only did what he was fighting for existence: he hunted chickens, the hunters hunted him. Having tamed himself, the Fox was able to break out of the circle of the same thing - attack and defense, hunger and fear. The Fox's most important secret was “only the heart is sharp-sighted”.

"A keen heart" means the ability to see metaphorically. When the Fox was on his own, he looked indifferently at everything except chickens and hunters. Once tamed, he acquires the ability to see with his heart - not only the golden hair of a friend, but also golden wheat.

Love for one person can be transferred to many things in the world: having made friends with the Little Prince, the Fox will fall in love “and the rustle of ears in the wind”. In his mind, the close is connected with the distant: he will open the world around him and feel at home - not in his hole, but on his planet.

In habitable places, it is easy to imagine the planet as home. But to know this, you need to get into the desert. It was there that the little prince met the pilot and made friends with him. The pilot found himself in the desert not only because of a malfunction of his plane. All his previous life he had been enchanted by the desert of loneliness. The plane crashed, and the pilot found himself in the desert all alone.

The pilot will understand the most important secret: “Life makes sense if there is someone to die for. If you are ready to give your life for a friend, a planet, your home. "

The desert is not a place where a person is lonely. This is the place where he feels a thirst for communication with humanity, thinks about the meaning of life and death. The desert reminds us that the Earth is the home of man.

People have forgotten the simple truth that they are responsible for the planet and for those they have tamed. If people understood this, then, probably, there would be no economic problems, there would be no wars.

The fabulous heroes of Antoine de Saint - Exupery turned out to be smarter than people who have no imagination, who forgot when they looked at the stars, admired the flowers, they, according to the prince, turned into mushrooms. Whoever is not able to look at the world in a new way will never be able to truly understand it. To love, one must be able to see.

Very often we are blind, we do not listen to our hearts, we leave our home, we are looking for happiness far from our loved ones and relatives.

Antoine de Saint Exupery said that his tale was not written for fun, he turns to us: take a close look at those around you. These are your friends. Do not lose them, take care.

"The Little Prince" is childhood, but at the same time a profound work. Antoine de Saint-Exupery put in a light and small fairy tale a reflection of the real adult world with its merits and demerits. In some places it is satire, myth, fantasy and tragic story. Therefore, both small and large readers like this multifaceted book.

The Little Prince was born during the Great Patriotic War. It all started with drawings by Exupery, in which he portrayed the very "little prince".

Exupery, as a military pilot, once had a plane crash in 1935 in the Libyan desert. Old wounds, memories of the catastrophe and news of the outbreak of world war, inspired the writer to create a work. He thought about the fact that each of us is responsible for the place where he lives, be it a small apartment or a whole planet. And the struggle casts doubt on this responsibility, because it was during that fierce battle of many countries that lethal nuclear weapons were first used. Alas, many people did not care about their home, since they allowed wars to bring humanity to such extreme measures.

The work was created in 1942 in the United States, a year later it became available to the reader. The little prince became the final creation of the author and brought him worldwide fame. The author dedicated his book to a friend (Leon Werth), moreover, to the boy his friend once was. It is worth noting that Leon, who was a writer and critic, being a Jew, suffered from persecution during the development of Nazism. He also had to leave his planet, but not on his own.

Genre, direction

Exupery talked about the meaning of life, and in this he was helped by the parable genre, which is characterized by a pronounced morality in the finale, an edifying tone of the narrative. Fairy tale as a parable is the most common cross between genres. A distinctive feature of the tale can be called the fact that it has a fantastic and simple plot, but at the same time it is instructive in nature, helps young readers to form moral qualities, and adults to reflect on their views and behavior. A fairy tale is a reflection of real life, but reality is presented to the reader through fiction, no matter how paradoxical it may sound. The genre originality of the work suggests that The Little Prince is a philosophical fairy tale-parable.

The work can also be attributed to a fantasy story.

The meaning of the name

The Little Prince is a story about a traveler who wanders the whole universe. He does not just travel, but is in search of the meaning of life, the essence of love and the secret of friendship. He learns not only the world around him, but also himself, and self-knowledge is his main goal. It is still growing, developing and symbolizing an immaculate and tender childhood. Therefore, the author called it "small".

Why a prince? He is alone on his planet, it all belongs to him. He very responsibly approaches his master's role and, despite his modest age, has already learned to look after her. Such behavior suggests that we are faced with a noble boy who manages his property, but what is the best name for him? A prince, because he is endowed with power and wisdom.

The essence

The plot originates in the Sahara Desert. The pilot of the plane, having made an emergency landing, meets the same Little Prince who arrived on Earth from another planet. The boy told his new acquaintance about his journey, about the planets he had visited, about his previous life, about the rose, which was his faithful friend. The little prince loved his rose so much that he was ready to give his life for it. The boy was dear to his house, he liked to watch the sunsets, it was good that on his planet they could be seen several times a day, and for this the Little Prince only had to move a chair.

One day, the boy felt unhappy and decided to go in search of adventure. Rose was proud and rarely bestowed her warmth on the patron, so she did not hold him back. During his journey, the Little Prince met: the Ruler, who is confident in his absolute power over the stars, the Ambitious, for whom the main thing is to be admired, the Drunkard, who drinks out of guilt for alcohol abuse, no matter how paradoxical it may sound. The boy even met a Business Man, whose main occupation is counting the stars. The little prince faced the Lamplighter, who lit and extinguished the lantern on his planet every minute. He also met the Geographer, who in his entire life had seen nothing but his planet. The last place of the traveler's position was the planet Earth, where he found a true friend. All the main events are described by us in the summary of the book for the reader's diary.

The main characters and their characteristics

Loving does not mean looking at each other, it means looking in the same direction.

A person should take care of his home, and not tear it apart by wars into bloody, lifeless parts. This idea was especially relevant then, during the Second World War. The little prince cleaned his planet every day, preventing the baobabs from becoming rampant. If the world could unite in time and sweep off the face of the earth the National Socialist movement led by Hitler, then bloodshed could have been prevented. For those who love the world should have taken care of it, and not locked themselves in their little planets, thinking that the storm will pass by. Because of this disunity and irresponsibility of governments and peoples, millions of people have suffered, and the writer urges, finally, to learn to loyally and responsibly love the harmony that only friendship provides.

What does it teach?

The story of the Little Prince is surprisingly heartfelt and instructive. Exupery's creation tells how important it is to have a faithful friend by your side and how important it is to be responsible for those whom you have "tamed". The fairy tale teaches to love, make friends, warns against loneliness. In addition, you should not lock yourself in your small territory, fencing off from the whole world around. You need to get out of your comfort zone, learn new things, look for yourself.

Exupery also encourages the reader to listen not only to his mind in making decisions, but also to his heart, because you cannot see the main thing with your eyes.

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