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Chapter 10
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 goes to another asteroid, where he encounters a conceited man who believes that the little prince is his admirer. He instructs the little prince to clap his hands together in applause and, in response, raises his hat in salute. The little prince grows bored with this game after five minutes, and the conceited man asks him if he really admires him very much. He explains that to admire someone means that you regard him as the handsomest, the best-dressed, the richest, and the most intelligent man on the planet. The little prince points out that he is the only man on the planet. Still, the conceited man insists, so the little prince says that he admires him and then departs, thinking that grownups are very odd.
The conceited man reveals another common grownup fault—the desire to be admired. The conceited man desires to be admired so much that he ignores the truth that the little prince's admiration means nothing on a planet where the conceited man is the only inhabitant.
Themes
