I recently read The Little Prince. It is a wonderful book with a lot to unpack. I would highly recommend Antoine’s beloved novella. Spoilers

What is the meaning of the Fox chapters in The Little Prince?

The Fox explains in chapter twenty-one that he cannot play because he is “not tamed”. A wild fox of course must be tamed, or he will only act like a fox, but what does that mean? The Fox explains that taming means “to create ties.” It seems that people must tame each other to become friends. Unless he is tamed, the Fox will be like any other Fox, and the Little Prince will be like any other boy. Taming could be explained as making something impersonal personal. To become the friend of the Little Prince the Fox must become personal. They need to be personal to each other to play. Play is very personal. Becoming personal means revealing one’s self to the other, and vice versa. There are many articles about how long it takes to develop a friendship. What most of these articles omit is what is actually going on between potential friends: they’re revealing themselves.

Part of tameness is openness. But you have to trust this person before you may both become open. There are levels of trust for every situation. I trust the mailman to take a letter to my friend. I don’t trust him with my deepest dreams and fears. Perhaps giving away close knowledge makes me vulnerable. There is some reason why we keep our secrets close. There is something holy about what is closest to you. Though I can’t all together explain my idea, I think my point is made. Hopefully in another essay, I might find out why.

So the Little Prince and the Fox need to become open to each other. To do that they must trust each other. This is part of what the Fox was speaking of when he said “There must be rites”. You build up trust by slowly testing the water. Day by day, the Little Prince sits closer to the Fox. He is showing the Fox that he does not mean him harm. The Fox is also revealing that he is a kind Fox. They steadily take small risks. Each day they test the other and grow in trust. The great risk of openness is approached slowly. This is why it takes time to become a friend.

Having a friend also comes with the responsibility of caring for them. And if you should leave, you need to give your friend a good farewell. It is hard to have a friend. You can’t buy them ready-made in stores. You have to take on the risk. You need to test and be tested. Building trust is difficult. You must show that you are worthy of their trust. You can’t have friends if you aren’t. It takes time. It takes effort. Having a friend takes all that is best in you.

The Little Prince must leave. The Fox weeps. The Little Prince is sorry that he makes his friend weep. He asks the Fox if he gets nothing in the end. The Fox replies, “I get something, because the color of the wheat.” The Fox had said that if they became friends the wheat would remind him of the Little Prince’s hair. Why is it worthwhile to be friends with a Fox? Here is an answer. They can play together and will grow in wisdom. The Fox’s life with be more colorful. He says that his “life will be filled with sunshine.” He will love the sight of the wheat and the sound of the wind rustling its stalks. I can’t understand it, but I think this means that forever afterwards the Fox’s life will be more meaningful. His world will be richer, and his memory will be more colorful.

“Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:8

Thanks for joining me. I hope you’ve tamed me also, for as the Fox says, “The only things you learn are the things you tame.”

References:

The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery Translated by Richard Howard