e often yearning to become adults and dont realize how complicated and confusing it can be. Pinocchio, the Little Prince and other children must first learn to overcome many temptations and obstacles through self-discipline and education before this final destination can be achieved. Through effective characterization, Collodi and St. Exupery have developed each of the characters the boys meet with one dominant corrupt characteristic that children face in life. They must face each character and then discipline themselves to turn away and continue on their journey. Pinocchios vulnerability to authority is portrayed through his first test of self discipline when he meets Fire-eater and his marionettes. Fire-eater was a big and ugly man who was an authoritative figure of which the marionettes where all afraid of. Pinocchio was afraid at first but when he realized that the man had a compassionate side he felt courageous and realized that he could face him. Only then could he go on home and continue on with his life adventures. In the story of the Little Prince he encounters a fox and a snake. Traditionally a fox is seen to be a sly creature however, in this case he was lonely and just wanted to be loved. The little Prince was also in need of this, just like children. The Prince learned lessons of patience and routine when he was taught to tame the fox. The snake is usually recognized as an evil creature, however he was beneficial to the Prince considering it was his means of returning home. Since the narrator of the story saw the snake as an evil and dangerous creature, he automatically jumped to conclusions and assumed that the Prince was in jeopardy. Through these three distinctive characters, the young readers learn the important lesson of not judging a book by its cover. From these stories children also learn that routine in everyday life can be good to an extent and bad when it overwhelms your life. When the little Prince ...
