Before analyzing the didactic or philosophical elements in Saint Exupery’s The Little Prince, it is important to note the importance associated with the figure of the child.

‘The Child’ becomes the center of the novella right from the dedication where the author evidently addresses the figure of a child even in the adults. The line puts forth a similar idea: “All grown-ups were once children—although few of them remember it.” Even the final dedication says, “To Leon Werth when he was a little boy.” Hence, from the very beginning what is emphasized is the importance of being a child or evoking that sense of the child inside you to see and interpret what the text and by its means, the author, aims to present. The importance also becomes noteworthy if we look at the text in the backdrop of the war when the adults were busy, mindlessly killing people while it was the child who could actually use his/her mind. 

Next, as an example from the genre of children’s literature, the text aptly borrows one of its most critical defining parameters i.e. of being didactic or simply, aiming to teach a moral lesson. While an initial approach to children’s literature was built upon the inexperience of its readers, primarily assumed to be children, later approaches incorporated both the adults and children. However, it was this evolvement that helped discuss difficultly or sometimes even basic strains, both didactic and philosophical in nature, in much simpler yet vast terms thereby evoking the idea of deceptive simplicity i.e. using a simple medium to state and substantiate a complex idea. 

The advantage that children’s literature also brings with it is that of defamiliarizing from the otherwise mechanical world of adults by means of the lessons of the child. The child’s perspective takes away the banality of that world and helps re-examine it from a different point of view. There is also, in the words of Barbara Wall, a ‘double address’ in the text where the vocabulary may be simple by the author seems to be addressing the child reader and also the assumed adult reader, reading to the child.
 

The next question is why the author chooses the figure of child or childhood to address/portray the didactic elements in the text. One may argue that it is because the author may intend to present childhood as a bedrock of one’s values, learnings or morals and hence aims to transport us back to that time in order for us to re-learn and come to terms with all those values that were somehow forgotten as we grew up. In that sense, the novella seems to be a guide to the inner world of each human. 

As a didactic novella, one of its key purposes is that of education, focussing on the moral formation of the child and with it every human adult. While the didactic element is devoid of any emotion and aims to make a point using distinct elements, there are various instances in the text where this didacticism is punctured using references that are emotionally evocative.  

The Prince’s journey from planet to planet is not merely an example of a picaresque narrative, but the various planets he visits and the characters he meets represent a particular characteristic of the adults in general and hence the lesson he wishes to teach by their means. The king he meets in chapter ten of the book seems to a representative of the idea of power. However, through the character of the little prince and his encounter with the king, this idea of power is not just criticized but also refined, hence the didactic element. It is very aptly represented that the idea of power becomes useless without a subject. When the prince wanted to leave the king’s planet, his emphasis: “Do not go. I will make you a Minister!” clearly depicts his desperation to have a subject to rule over which actually portrays the vanity in the desire for power and domination. The prince objects on principle to the idea of being commanded. The prince’s reaction to the king also emphasizes the importance of free will and taking responsibility for one’s actions. The prince refuses to judge others, and he refuses to do anything he has not willed himself.

Next, in chapter thirteen, the prince meets the businessman that seems to be a comment on the idea of avarice and its vanity. It is also noteworthy that instead of shaking his head and moving on as he does at the first three planets, the prince takes the time to express his disapproval of the businessman’s way of life. The prince tries to present how the businessman is so riveted by the idea of ownership that he cannot when pressed, even remember that his properties are known as stars: “Millions of what? Millions of those little objects, which one sometimes sees in the sky.” The prince further demonstrates the shallowness of the businessman’s enterprise by pointing out how he is of no use to his possessions: “But you are of no use to the stars…” Similarly, the prince’s encounter with the tippler or the conceited man represents their vanities by trivializing them: “Conceited people never hear anything but praise.” Even the little prince’s response: “I admire you, but what is there in that to interest you so much?” represents how the conceited man’s superiority depends on being alone. As long as he is the only man on the planet, he is assured of being the most attractive person there. At the same time, his sense of superiority depends on the praise of visitors.

These contradictions underscore the author’s disdain for grown-up life too. Thus, in the words of Maria Potocarova, “the Little Prince can become a useful tool in the hands of a teacher in education and upbringing, in psychotherapy, on the path to maturation and to personal growth, in individuation and self-education, as well as in other unrecognized tasks, which are nearly unlimited.”

Along with the didactic elements, the text is replete with philosophical elements too. Beginning with the instance of the lamplighter as mentioned within the question itself, the prince admires the lamplighter and his work and clearly uses his example to portray how he was different from the businessman, king, or the conceited man, in that, he wasn’t that self-indulgent and could think about something beyond his personal interests. Nevertheless, he displays some grown-up values too. He blindly follows orders that are obsolete and don’t really have an agency of his own. He is unwilling to try the prince’s suggestion that he take a break by walking in the direction of the sun. His actions could also be suggestive of religious worship in that how he follows orders from an invisible power. What is depicted to be his main affliction is his inability to gain satisfaction from his work. He carries out his lighting rites because he has been told to, but he never gives them the reflection that is necessary for true enlightenment. 

Further, in the beginning of the novella, drawing number one is an example of a symbol. It is a picture of a hat that actually signifies a boa constrictor that has swallowed an elephant, but the reader must have the imagination to spot that non-literal meaning. The adult perspective as depicted here, is overly pragmatic, and dull, while the childish perspective is creative, full of wonder, and open to the mysterious beauty of the universe. The novel suggests that both adulthood and childhood are states of mind rather than facts of life. Moreover, the idea and power of drawings and hence imagination is thus made extremely essential, to be able to understand what the author is trying to convey also crediting the readers with the same powers of imagination as those of the little prince and the narrator.

The text also presents the importance of relationships and love. Initially, in the desert, the narrator is stranded from all human contact, but his isolation allows him to indulge in the most fulfilling relationship of his life through the prince. Then, the geographer’s lesson about the ephemerality of the rose makes him a key character. He sees the flower’s ephemerality as a sign that the rose is unimportant, but for the little prince, it makes the rose even more special. When he realizes how much the rose needs him, the little prince experiences his first moment of regret. His love for the rose hinges on her dependence on him, so the pressures of time and death make the prince value her all the more. Because the rose will one day die, it is all the more important for the prince that he love her while he can. Later, when the fox teaches him the meaning of tame, he realizes that he has already been tamed by his rose, even though he didn’t know that the process had a name. He now knew that the time he had devoted to his rose is what makes her unique—on his own. This element thus depicts that it is devoting time to one another that creates a special bond between different beings. Even the narrator and the prince’s friendship was an evidence to it. Also, to emphasize this positive aspect of lost relationships, the narrator describes his desolate final drawing of the barren landscape where the prince fell as both the saddest and the loveliest place in the world. The symbol of Baobab trees also aptly represented the everyday hurdles and obstacles that if left unchecked can choke and crush a person. 

Whether it’s through symbols of sheep or flower or through instances of the king, tippler, businessman, etc, there also seems to be an evoking of sense experience. As Sharilyn C. Steadman also says, “so, Saint Exupery's words allowed them—forced them—to reflect, to feel, to hurt: activities and emotions they had been avoiding.” 

Thus, “The Little Prince” rightly brings out the didactic and philosophical elements by means of its text. However, it is also essential to note that the author doesn’t advocate any particular opinion and is inconsistent too. Neither the child is glorified, nor the adult demonized. The true purpose of the text is to question, think, rethink and examine and the narrator himself does that throughout the journey in the text. His inconsistent nature suggests that both the pragmatic viewpoint of adults and the imaginative viewpoint of children have limits. At the same time, his deceit shows his fluency with different ways of looking at the world, a sign that his mind has been opened. 

> “The Educational and Moral message in Antoine de Saint Exupery’s The Little Prince” by Maria Potocarova.

> “Breaking Down Literature Boxes While Traveling with the Little Prince” by Sharilyn C. Steadman.

> The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery