Busy with no chance to rest, the businessman on the fourth planet continues to count the stars that he owns all day long. Throughout all of this chapter, we can see that it’s based on repetition. After visiting numerous planets, the Little Prince finds himself on the 4th planet and finds a man on his desk trying to calculate the stars that he owns in front of him. After he finishes counting them, he counts them again and again. According to the fictional story The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry, it demonstrates how stars are counted over and over again by the businessman. The universal theme that is explored in chapter 13 is that patterns have segments that are repeated; this is revealed through the characterization of the businessman, the different points of view, and an allusion to a greedy economy.
To begin with, the Little Prince visits the 4th planet which is owned by a businessman who continues to count stars on his desk. According to The Little Prince, the businessman repeats himself by saying, “Three and two make five. Five and seven, twelve. Twelve and three, fifteen. Hello. Fifteen and seven, twenty-two. Twenty-two and six, twenty-eight. No time to light it again. Twenty-six and five, thirty-one. Whew! That amounts to five-hundred-and-one-million, six-hundred-twenty-two-thousand, seven hundred thirty-one.” This shows that even though the Little Prince is trying to have a conversation with the businessman, the businessman blocks what the Little Prince is saying and focuses on counting his stars. After finish counting his stars, the businessman starts over and continues counting. Also, a picture that is illustrated in The Little Prince displays, a businessman repeatedly counting stars. After analyzing the image, we can come to a conclusion that there is a pattern going on with the businessman on this planet. Although, the businessman finishes counting the stars on his desk, he starts over and over. No matter how many times he has found the result of how many stars are on his desk, he will never take a pause when doing something else. Furthermore, after encountering the businessman, the Little Prince begins to start a conversation while the businessman remains still counting the stars that he owns. As said in The Little Prince, “To whom do they belong?” retorted the businessman grumpily. “I don’t know. To nobody.” “Then they don’t belong to me, because I thought of it first… Now I own the stars, since no one before me ever thought of owning them.” This explains to us that the businessman’s mindset is that since he had the idea of owning the stars, he believes that the stars are his property. The Little Prince’s mindset is that the stars aren’t owned by anyone. From looking at both of their perspectives we notice that they both have different opinions about who owns the stars. Also said in The Little Prince, “And what do you do with them?” the little prince said. “I manage them. I count them and then count them again,” the businessman said. “It’s difficult work. But you can’t pick the stars!” When the businessman explained what he executes with the stars, it shows us that even after finished counting his stars, he will forever continue counting them. The businessman understands that it challenging but he never stops counting his stars. Furthermore, after encountering the businessman, the little prince had noticed that there was an allusion to a greedy economy. According to The Little Prince the businessman shows greed by saying "And what good does it do you to own the stars? It does me the good of making me rich. And what good does it do you to be rich? It makes it possible for me to buy more stars, if any are discovered." This shows that the only reason the businessman wants the stars is to buy more stars. This shows that he is being greedy and wanting all the stars to himself even though he has no use for the stars, other than to buy more stars. Also another piece of information on greed is in The Little Prince, "I myself own a flower, he continued his conversation with the businessman, which I water every day. I own three volcanoes, which I clean out every week (for I also clean out the one that is extinct; one never knows). It is of some use to my volcanoes, and it is of some use to my flower, that I own them. But you are of no use to the stars . . . The businessman opened his mouth, but he found nothing to say in answer. And the little prince went away.” This shows that the businessman is greedy because although the stars have no use from the businessman he continued to call them his. This is how there was an allusion to a greedy economy in The Little Prince. In conclusion, the businessman finishes counting the stars which in he sees as something valuable and the little prince doesn’t see anything special in them. The universal theme is patterns which states how the businessman counted stars repeatedly, how the businessman and the little prince have different points of view like we have all had, and finally the concentration the businessman had towards the stars was always there.
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