Character Study: The Little Prince
- Pure-minded
- Innocent, like a child
- Very inquisitive – ask plenty of questions
- Persistent – not giving up until his questions are answered
- Brave – facing the snake's bite in order to return to his home planet
- Devoted & Dedicated – to his rose and his own planet
- Wise – because he can see things in a bigger scale than the other adult characters who were blinded by their own narrow-mindedness
- Curious – as he seeks to explore other planets
Write up
In my opinion, the general lesson a reader can learn from The Little Prince is to always try to look at things with an open mind. Although the book is a children book, it feels as though it is meant to teach a certain moral lesson to adults instead.
Right from the beginning, we have the narrator telling his story of how all the adults around him cannot appreciate his drawing of a snake with an elephant in the stomach. The adults are too constrained with the boundaries of reality and logic that their imagination can no longer run free. These adults' vision have been narrowed down that they cannot accept the possibility of an elephant being swallowed by a mere snake. However, the Little Prince could easily visualize it, as he still retains the open-mindedness of an innocent child with infinite possibilities.
The Little Prince is a character that is molded from the characteristics of a child. Innocent, with child-like values, but a bright mindset and always curious to learn new things. He is like a fresh sponge that is ready to soak up information. The Little Prince then tells the narrator about his visits to various planets and their inhabitants. The characters/residents the Little Prince came across were modeled to match certain common traits adults in the working world would have. Such as the King's pride, the Vain man's narcissistic values, the drunkard's helplessness, and the businessman's delusions – all being too overly consumed by their own occupations and lifestyle. This aspect reinforces the point that one should not become too obsessed with a certain thing, until they loses sight of everything else around them. And being an adult does not mean he/she knows or have experienced everything, as the adult can still learn new things – even from a child.
The story then tells of how the Little Prince eventually ended up on planet Earth and met the narrator. His journey also brought a fateful meeting with a fox which taught him about the importance of bonds and love, which cannot be seen or measured with just the naked eye, but from the heart. Through the Little Prince's experiences, the readers also learn that we should treasure our loved ones when it is still possible, and not wait until it is too late and then regret it.
As the Little Prince prepares to return to his home planet to reconcile with his beloved rose that he had left behind, the readers also find out that our little protagonist is just as vulnerable as the rest of the cast. He is filled with his own uncertainties at first, but decided to take the risk of being bitten by the snake in order to be sent to the heavens – the only way to get back to his home. His body collapses into a limp state after the snake delivered its venomous bite, and it is a clear indication that the Little Prince has passed on, hopefully to where he intended to go. This last action tells us readers that we should strive to be brave and not give up, even at the face of death.
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Character Study: Mr Twit
- Cruel – to anyone, especially his circus monkeys
- Unforgiving & Vengeful – even to his own wife
- Sneaky & Scheming
- Dirty – lack personal hygiene
- Hideous – both in appearance and personality
Write up
There are two major characters in The Twits that are introduced to the readers from the very beginning. One is Mr Twit, and the other being his wife; Mrs Twit. Both are depicted to be equally vile, scheming, and with no hint of love in their heart. Despite their similarities in personality, the two elderly characters have rather different outwardly appearances, which is one of the elements in the story that help keep the two distinguishable for the readers.
For this write-up, I will focus my attention on Mr Twit. From the start-go, the author Roald Dahl is seen portraying Mr Twit as an antagonistic individual. At the same time, it can be said that he is the protagonist of the story too, but is the type that readers will not sympathize with. The story shows how cruel and nasty he can be towards others, and that would lead to his own unfortunate downfall, when everyone else decides to plot together a way to give Mr Twit a taste of his own medicine. This outcome is his much awaited punishment/retribution, and through this story, it teaches the readers that “what goes around comes around” - a saying that if an individual does something bad, a similar bad occurrence will also happen to him at a later time.
As a character, Mr Twit led a solitary lifestyle, even though he lived with his wife Mrs Twit. He is shown to care little about anyone else except himself, and was always consistently pulling nasty pranks on his own wife, and also serve as the receiving end of Mrs Twit's tricks. There was no peace within the Twits household, and the readers can only feel a sense of disgust and misery over the couple's unpleasant actions.
Mr Twit thought himself as cunning, and constantly tried to outwit anyone that crossed his path. It was until the end of the story where he met his match against his own captive monkey the “Muggle-Wump”, because he did not think that a mere monkey could ever outsmart him. The end of this tale attempts to educate the readers that one should not underestimate others, or overestimate the capabilities of oneself. A bit of humbleness is always good to have.
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