In The Little Prince, characters who move out of their comfort zones and persevere are seen as positive. The more questions the narrator asks of the prince, the more he learns about his new friend. In order to tame the fox, the prince has to keep showing up and keep working hard to gain the fox’s trust. Without completing his journey, the prince wouldn’t have learned all that he needed to know. Without wandering far and long in the desert, the prince and the narrator would not have found the well. And without sticking to his repair job, even when it looked completely hopeless, the narrator wouldn’t have been able to fix his plane.
Questions About Perseverance
- Why does the prince travel to so many planets?
- Can you compare the narrator’s commitment to fixing his plane to his commitment to learning more about the prince?
- What other actions does the narrator make that show he’s committed to seeing things through?
- Do the fox or the flower persevere? If so, how?
Chew on This
The most important lesson the prince teaches the narrator is to never give up—not on friends, fixing airplanes, or on your dreams.
According to The Little Prince, to persevere is both a blessing and a curse: Some characters, like the geographer and businessman, don’t know how to stop their fruitless endeavors; others, like the prince and the narrator, are rewarded with love and friendship for their pains.