The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde - Book Report/Review Example

It is evidently clear from the discussion that the Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde teaches a lesson concerning the importance of love and sacrifice in an individual’s life. Wilde makes the Prince’s heart look really amazing as he sacrifices his property, eyes and even beauty just to help the poor. Interestingly, he achieves internal beauty even after being sent to the furnace simply because he is no longer outwardly beauty and therefore appears ugly to the onlookers who look at his physical body instead of his inner heart.

Wilde portrays love and sacrifice as saving forces in this carnal world that is full of corruption, poverty, and hypocrisy. Also, there is a huge cavity created between the haves and the have-nots but the kings and rulers are never aware of poor people’s sufferings. The most precious issue mentioned in the fairy tale by Oscar is the misery people (the poor and the children) since they create an opportunity of offering help to them by sharing riches and happiness with others. The poor and the children seem to touch people’s hearts and bring people together.

For instance, the Swallow is so much touched by the Prince’s sacrifice and passion towards the poor people. The Swallow decides to remain and stand strongly behind the Prince despite the sufferings he undergoes such as loss of eyes and the fact that the prince remains ugly. Poverty and children have been depicted in a very beautiful manner. For instance, the son of a tailor who suffers from fever and is thirsty and asks for oranges, however, the tailor is too poor to buy oranges. This makes her poverty very touching and serious because it reaches an extent that her son cannot get even the cheap fruits that most people can afford.

There is also another incident of a poor writer who is both cold and hungry. There are also children sitting in dark lanes wearing starving faces. This story helps in showing the need for showing compassion and sympathy to the poor and the children. Any action towards eradicating poverty and children happens to earn people respect and admiration to God. By assisting the poor, someone gets appreciation and love from God. The poor and the children act as real God’s children and therefore He would always appreciate and bless the empathizers of both the children and the poor.

From the Christian’s point of view, poor people and children stand a better chance of enjoying life in heaven compared with the rich. The Prince receives beauty and happiness as well as sufficiency in life just by helping the poor. The poor and the children are also good because they help us express our inner feelings and character. Helping the poor and young children is a show of charity and is a chance that everyone seeks. Wilde seems to depict the rich people as bad people who do not care about others.

After the Swallow was sent by the Prince to report on the happenings in the city, he reported very surprising events. The condition of the rich people was quite terrible compared with the poor. The rich make merry in their magnificent houses yet the poor are begging long the street (Wilde 5-9). Starving children especially the two boys who were both homeless and hungry was another sad scene that the Swallow reported to the Prince. Wilde claims that the rich enjoy their lives without caring for the ugliness and the misery of the city’s poor population and the children.