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Genre
The Little Prince is fable. The novella is also allegory.
Narrator
A pilot who crashes in the Sahara desert, where he meets the little prince is the narrator.
Point of View
The narrator gives a first-person account, although he spends large portions of the story recounting the little prince’s own story of his travels.
Tone
When describing his surreal, poignant encounter with the little prince, the narrator’s tone is bittersweet. When describing the adult world, the narrator’s tone is matter-of-fact and often regretful.
Tense
The Little Prince is told in the past tense. The narrator is telling of his encounter with the little prince six years after it happened.
Setting (Time & Place)
While “six years ago,” is given as the time of the story, the current date is never specified. The story takes place in the Sahara Desert of Northern Africa and in outer space.
Protagonist
The little prince and the pilot are both protagonists in the novella.
Major Conflict
The childlike perspectives of the prince and, to some extent, those of the narrator are in conflict with the stifling beliefs of the adult world.
Rising Action
After he believes he has been spurned by his rose, the prince travels to neighboring planets and eventually lands on Earth. He wanders through the desert in search of humans, and he is eventually found by the fox.
Climax
The fox teaches the little prince his secret, and the little prince realizes the value of his rose.
Falling Action
The prince meets the narrator, to whom he passes along the fox’s instructions. He is then sent back to the heavens by the snake’s bite.
Foreshadowing
When the snake greets the prince, he alludes to his ability to send the prince back to the heavens, which he does at the end of the novella.
