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Chapter 18
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Little Prince, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Relationships
The True and the Essential
Exploration vs. Narrowmindedness
Childhood vs. Adulthood
Innocence
Summary
Analysis
The little prince then climbs a high mountain, believing that he will be able to see the whole planet from that height. Instead, he can only see peaks of rock, which answer him in echoes when he attempts to speak. The little prince is puzzled by the planet, which he finds harsh and unfriendly, with inhabitants who only repeat what is said to them. He recalls his rose, who was always the first to speak.
The little prince increasingly recognizes the importance of his relationship with the rose as he spends more time exploring. Here he prefers the rose to the mountains because the echoes are not authentic connections—they are just reactions. The rose, by speaking first, would actually attempt to connect with the prince.
Themes
