So, while the king claims to have power and absolute authority, he’s really all alone with nothing to rule over.įrom an allegorical standpoint, the king symbolizes rulers who make a big deal about the power they have, but who in actuality are pretty ineffective at enforcing their power. Without the prince there, his only other potential subject is a rat. The king also doesn’t actually have any subjects. For instance, when the prince asks him to order a sunset, the king says he will order the sun to set when “conditions are favorable” (10.34)-that is, he will order the sun to set at the time when it will set in any case. He only gives orders that will be followed anyway. But, because he was a very good man, he made his orders reasonable.” (10.15)īy trying to be “reasonable,” the king ends up having no real power. “For what the king fundamentally insisted upon was that his authority should be respected.
Indeed, this king sees subjects everywhere. It’s really easy for any king to meet someone new and instantly place that person in a category: “Hooray! Here’s another subject!” (10.4-6)Īs the narrator explains, this king-like all other “kings”-thinks “all men are subjects.” The end. He did not know how the world is simplified for kings. “How could he recognize me when he had never seen me before?” As soon as he lays eyes on the prince, the king is thrilled to spot a subject. His “royal purple and ermine” robe (10.2) “crammed and obstructed” (10.8) his entire planet, leaving barely any place for the prince to sit down. But only the king makes a big deal of it. The king can be compared to the prince himself. After he leaves his own planet, the little prince first lands up on the planet of the king.
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