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Why does the drunkard drink in The Little Prince?
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The Little Prince
Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) pictured on a French stamp, circa 1998.
In the fable The Little Prince, the drunkard explains to the little prince that he drinks to forget his shameâspecifically, the shame he feels about the act of drinking itself. This circular logic serves as one of the book's many illustrations of how adults can become trapped in narrow, dysfunctional patterns of behavior.1