Minor Theme
Throughout the book, Saint-Exupéry is very critical of many of the characteristics of mankind. He claims that humans are too preoccupied with wealth, power, and technology, missing the important things in life -- beauty, love, and friendship. Because they do not invest the time in loving others and noticing the small wonders of the world, people rush from place to place in search of something; but since they look for the wrong things, they are never happy with where they are and rush onward again, much like the trains that the switchman controls. People are also duped into believing that facts and figures are important, just like the geographer; however, the facts often hide the truth and cause a person to miss out on the true meaning of life.
In a similar manner, when a human succeeds and accumulates some wealth, they spend all of their time counting their assets instead of investing it in the important things of life. When they finally realize their lives have no meaning, people then turn to crutches, such as alcohol, believing that these things can supply the answer; in truth, the answer always lies inside if a person will only seek the truth beneath the surface.