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Date Posted: 16:25:05 04/27/08 Sun
Author: athistleton
Subject: childhood / adulthood

In Chapter 1 of the Little Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupery contrasts childhood with adulthood in an interesting way. Through the mouth of his narator, he writes, "Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them." He speaks of this in light of the picture of the boa constrictor swallowing the elephant, which to any adult looks like a hat. And anyone who replied to the picture saying that it was a hat, he says he would "bring himself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man."
He is highlighting the beauty of innocence and imagination in childhood and the stupid realism found in the minds of any adult. This kind of thing bothers me. I guess I'm just not a romantic. I mean... come on... it really looks like a hat. What exactly is he highlighting about the difference between childhood and adulthood? I think a sense of imagination and creativity is good but realism and seeing things as they are is very important. What is wrong with saying, "that is a hat" ?

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