Parallelism

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once said, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” The best teachers are those who tell you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see. Similar to how the Little Prince helped the Aviator by showing him through his stories that he shouldn’t forget about his inner child, because it is what keeps one happy, which is what the Aviator did for the Little Girl in Osborne’s adaptation of The Little Prince. In both plots the mentors shared stories and experiences with the heros that conveyed a hidden message about the importance of staying childlike, but not once did the mentors give an explanation about their stories and their meaning. They only shared their stories with the heros and left it up to them to read between the lines. Osborne’s film adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince, contains parallelism between the original story of The Little Prince and his film. Osborne substituts the Aviator with the Little Girl -an original character from the film adaptation-  as the hero and the Little Prince with the Aviator as the mentor.

The Little Girl in the movie is only a child who behaves like a mature grow-up unlike the Aviator who is innocent and naive of his actions; Once the little girl and her mother moved into a new neighborhood, into the house next to the Aviator. Later that same day the Aviator caused an accident to the Little Girl’s house that caused the police to question the Aviator. “[Aviator] A very good afternoon to you, Officer. Friends! Uh, I was just, ums… I was immersed in a game of bridge. Do you play? [Officer] Ah… Sir, did you try to start your plane… again? [Aviator] Ah. Mmm… Yes. Yes, I did. I’m terribly, terribly sorry. I do believe I have caused extensive damage to the house next door.” On the other hand, the Little Girl handed the situation like an adult. Once the Little Girl’s mother arrived and saw the terrible damage the Aviator had done to the house, she was prepared to get ready to fix the problem but due to her young, but mature daughter everything was taken care of. “[Mother] What kind of a nut keeps an airplane and actually starts it in his backyard?…  – I’ ll have to call the insurance agent. [Little Girl] – Done it. – [Mother] And file a police report. [Little Girl] – Done. In duplicate. (Mother) – Photo documentation? [Little Girl] – Inside and outside. The lighting could have been better.” (Osborne’s film adaptation). Moreover, the opening of the film portrays the little girl as a mature adult, because when she is put in a situation, she knows how to handle it; For example, when the Aviator broke the wall of her house with a piece of his turbine, that came off of his old plane that he was trying to start in his backyard. Since the Little Girl’s mother wasn’t home she took charge of the situation, by photo documenting the problem, calling the insurance and filing a police report. Once her mother arrived home, the problem was already fixed, without her having to doing something. Not only did the miss hab showed that the Little Girl is mature but also that the Aviator can be a little ignorant and innocent at some times, but this is what influences the Aviator’s and the Little Girl’s relationship as mentor and hero, because he shows her through his stories and actions that being child minded is possible at any age.

The Little Prince asked the Aviator to draw him a sheep, but when he asked him for the sheep, he didn’t want just a sheep. He wanted the Aviator to get creative and be imaginative with the sheep, in a way a child would, not an adult; For example, “ [Little Prince] If you please–draw me a sheep! [Aviator] What! [Little Prince] Draw me a sheep!…” When the aviator heard this claim from the Little Prince, he wasn’t sure what to do because when the Aviator was six years old the grown ups discouraged from continuing his painting career. Instead they encouraged him to study geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar. Which led to the Aviator never learning to draw anything else except for boa constrictors. So he told the Little Prince that he didn’t know how to draw, due to his past. “[Aviator] I told the little chap (a little crossly, too) that I did not know how to draw. He answered me: [Little Prince] That doesn’t matter. Draw me a sheep . . .” The Aviator not knowing what to draw decided to draw the one thing he did know, an elephant inside a boa constrictor. The Little Prince right away knew what the Aviator had drawn and wasn’t happy because he thought the boa constrictors were dangers creatures that would harm his small planet. So, the Little Prince continued his request of a sheep. After many tries of drawing the sheep for the Little Prince the Aviator became impatient and decided to draw a box for the Little Prince. “[Aviator] This is only his box. The sheep you asked for is inside. I was very surprised to see a light break over the face of my young judge: [Little Prince] That is exactly the way I wanted it!…” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince 6-9). In Antoine de Saint-Exupery the author shows how a simply request of a sheep, from the Little Prince affected the Aviator to not to think like an adult. Before the Aviator’s encounter with the Little Prince the Aviator lived a ‘normal’ life as a grown up -which is what society wanted- but after meeting the Little Prince with his odd request of a sheep, it made him question his life style. Wondering if it was the right thing to give up his inner child just because the grown ups told him to. In addition to how society in the film adaptation made the Little Girl grow up at a young age, if she wanted to succeed in life. In both plots society has a big effect on how the characters came to be but after their encounter with their mentor, it made them change that view and questioned if growing up fast was the right thing to do.

As the Little Prince was ready to depart from the Aviator, he asked the Aviator to never forget him because once the memory of the Little Prince fades, the Aviator would end up like a grown up who’s forgotten what it’s like to be a child again.; For example, “For I do not want anyone to read my book carelessly. I have suffered too much grief in setting down these memories. Six years have already passed since my friend went away from me, with his sheep. If I try to describe him here, it is to make sure that I shall not forget him. To forget a friend is sad. Not everyone has had a friend. And if I forget him, I may become like the grown-ups who are no longer interested in anything but figures . . .” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s ‘The Little Prince’ 12). Therefore, when the Little Prince told the Aviator to never forget him before he got bitten by the snake -which is what ‘took him back home’- the Aviator took what he said to heart because he knew that if he forgets his small friend and his stories, he’ll become a grown up and after his connection with the Little Prince he didn’t want to return to becoming an adult. In the film adaptation the Little Girl lost her friend -the Aviator- because her mother found out that she had stopped with her studies in preparing for her new school because of the Aviator. After this situation Little Girl’s mother made sure that the Little Girl continued with her studies. Once the day arrived of her first day of school the Aviator became ill and was rushed to the hospital and instead of continuing with her studies she decided to visit him because she didn’t want to lose her friend, that same friend who showed her what it’s like to be a child.

By substitution the aviator -the hero- and the little prince -the mentor- from the book with the little girl -the hero- and the aviator -the mentor- in the movie, Osborne’s film of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s ‘The Little Prince’ variation of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s ‘The Little Prince’, portrays parallelism.