Question

One theme in the novel The Little Prince is how easy it is for people to misunderstand each other, while thinking that they do understand. As you read this passage, think about how the narrator’s point of view helps to reveal the story’s theme.

High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was gilded all
over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby
glowed on his sword-hilt.

He was very much admired indeed. "He is as beautiful as a weathercock," remarked one of the
Town Councilors who wished to gain a reputation for having artistic tastes; "only not quite so
useful," he added, fearing lest people should think him unpractical, which he really was not.

"Why can't you be like the Happy Prince?" asked a sensible mother of her little boy who was
crying for the moon. "The Happy Prince never dreams of crying for anything."

"I am glad there is someone in the world who is quite happy," muttered a disappointed man as
he gazed at the wonderful statue.

"He looks just like an angel," said the Charity Children as they came out of the cathedral in their
bright scarlet cloaks and their clean white pinafores.

"How do you know?" said the Mathematical Master, "you have never seen one."

"Ah! but we have, in our dreams," answered the children; and the Mathematical Master frowned
and looked very severe, for he did not approve of children dreaming.


What kind of narrator is telling this story? How does the narrator's point of view support the theme of people misunderstanding each other?

The narrator’s omniscient point of view allows him to explain how everyone feels about the Happy Prince and about themselves and other people.

The second-person omniscient point of view allows the narrator to prove that actually everyone is capable of understanding everyone else if they try.

The narrator’s first-person point of view allows him to state the theme from from the perspective of someone who knows all the townspeople well.

The third-person limited point of view prevents the narrator from revealing how various people think about the Happy Prince.

Answer 1

The first option is correct.

This is a third-person omniscient narrator — the narrator knows and reports the thoughts, motives, and feelings of many characters (the Town Councilor’s wish to seem artistic, the mother’s rebuke, the disappointed man’s mutter, the children’s dream, the Mathematical Master’s frown). That all-seeing viewpoint lets the narrator place these differing interpretations side by side, showing how each person projects their own ideas onto the statue and believes they “understand” it. By exposing the characters’ private motives and contradictions, the omniscient point of view highlights the theme that people easily misunderstand one another while thinking they do understand.