THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL

- - Hans Christian Andersen

GRADE – X
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author.
He was born on April 2, 1805 in Odense, Denmark.
Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues,
novels and poems, Andersen is best remembered
for his fairy tales. He achieved worldwide fame for
writing innovative and influential fairy tales. Many
of his stories, including ‘The Ugly Duckling’ and
‘The Princess and the Pea’, remain classics of the
genre. Andersen died in Copenhagen on August 4,
1875.
SUMMARY
It was the New Year’s Eve and it was dreadfully cold. Snow was
falling. A little girl walked through the streets to sell matches and earn
money. If she did not sell the matches and earn money, she would be
beaten up by her father. So she tried hard to sell the matches and earn
some money but failed to do so. She crept along trembling with cold and
hunger.

The flakes of snow covered her long hair. The lights shone from
every window and she could smell the delicious smell of a roast goose
being cooked for New Year’s Eve. She sat in a corner between two houses
and her thin hands were numb with cold. She thought that a match might
warm her fingers if she lit it.

She lights a match to warm herself and she visualizes of sitting in

front of an iron stove. The girl stretched her feet out to warm them, but
the flame went out and the stove disappeared. The poor little girl struck
another match. She visualizes a room in which a table is covered with a
shining white cloth and on the table was a roast goose stuffed with apple
and prunes, which hopped from the dish amd came up to her.
 She lit another match and found herself sitting under a decorated
Christmas tree. A thousand candles lit up the tree that was decorated with
the colourful balls which she had seen last year through the glass doors of
the rich merchant’s house. She stretched her hands out to them but then out
went the match. The many candles on the Christmas tree rose higher and she
saw that they had now turned into bright stars.

She struck another match and she saw her loving grandmother. Her
grandmother was very beautiful. The girl pleaded her grandmother to take
her away with her. She knew her grandmother would disappear when the
match burnt out. Then she struck all the matches that she had in the packet
for she wanted to keep her grandmother with her. Her grandmother took the
little girl in her arms and flew away with her high up towards glory and joy.

The next morning, she was found frozen to death. It was the first dawn
of the new year. She was found holding the matches and half a packet had
been burnt.
WORD MEANINGS:
gloom : darkness
handy: convenient
cradle: a small bed for a baby
apron : a cloth worn in the front
crept: walked very slowly
glorious: splendid
huddled : held her arms and legs close together
stretched : spread
spluttered : make a series of short explosive sounds
vanished : disappeared
gauze : transparent cloth
hopped : jumped
waddled : walked with short steps
streaking: moving fast
blaze : burn brightly
stately : royal
flared up : a sudden burst of fire
CHARACTERS
1. The Little Match Girl:
The title character is the protagonist and the
dominant character of the story. She was on the streets of a
city on the New Year’s Eve and it was snowing. She walked
bareheaded and barefoot, trying to sell matches but she was
not successful in selling the matches. 

NB Click on these to hear the audio.

2.The Father:

In the Victorian era, children who belonged to the ‘under class’

of the society were used as cheap labour. These children were
made to sell matches and child abuse was common during that
period and the ‘little girl’ was a victim of child abuse. Her father
used to send out the girl to sell matches and physically beat her
up if she failed to sell the matches and bring home money.
3. The Grandmother:
The only person who had ever shown love, affection and
protection for the little girl throughout her short, hard life was
her grandmother who had passed away. In her fourth vision,
the little girl sees her dead grandmother and she takes her to
heaven where there is no cold, hunger or fear. 
4. The Boy who ran off with her
Slipper:
One of the slippers, was stolen by a boy for his own purposes
on that dreadfully cold last evening of the year. He said that it
would come in very handy as a cradle some day when he
would have children of his own.
SALIENT FEATURES
 THE MISERY OF THE GIRL DUE TO THE COLD:
On an intensely cold night, that too on New Year’s Eve, a poor small girl
was out on the streets to sell some matches. She was barefoot and
bareheaded.
When she left home, she had worn her mother’s slippers but they were
big for her. She lost one of them as she ran across the street to escape
from two carriages that were being driven terribly fast. A boy ran off with
another saying that it would be useful for him to make a cradle when he
had children.
Nobody bought any matches from her and so she did not have any penny
with her.
She did not want to return home as her father would beat her and it was
very cold at home
 THE CONDITION OF THE GIRL:

The little match girl walked barefoot and bareheaded. The flakes of
snow covered her long fair hair, which fell in beautiful curls around her
neck, but she could not think of her beauty or of the cold.
Lights shone from every window and she could feel the delicious smell
of roast goose being cooked for New Year’s Eve.
In a corner between two houses, she sat down huddled in a heap. She
tucked her little feet underneath herself, but still she felt cold.
 DREAMS OF AN IRON STOVE:

Her little hands were almost numb with cold. She thought that a
match might warm her fingers if she lit it. She drew out one and struck it.
It blazed and burnt and she imagined that she was sitting in front of a
great iron stove with a lovely fire inside it. She stretched her feet to warm
them but the flame went out and so also the stove.
 DREAMS OF A STUFFED ROAST GOOSE:

She struck another match and it burnt clearly. The light fell upon the
wall and the bricks became transparent. She could directly see into the
room where a shining white cloth was spread on the table. At the centre, in
a plate, stood a roast goose, stuffed with prunes and apples and it was
steaming deliciously. The goose hopped down from the dish, waddled
across the floor with carving knife and fork on its back to the little child.
 DREAMS OF A CHRISTMAS TREE:

She struck another match and found herself sitting under the
most magnificent Christmas tree. Thousands of candles lit up the
green branches. The little girl reached forward with both the hands
but the light of the match went out. The evergreen Christmas tree is a
sign of undying life, rebirth and stamina needed to endure the winter
months.
The many candles on the Christmas tree rose higher and higher
to the sky and she saw that they had turned into bright stars. One of
them fell, streaking the sky with light. She said that someone was
dying because she had heard from her grandmother that whenever a
star falls, a soul goes up to God.
 DREAMS OF HER GRANDMOTHER:

She struck another match and it lit up and in its brightness stood her
old grandmother. She was looking gentle, kind and loving. The poor child
cried out to her to take her. She was certain that her grandmother would
disappear when the match went out. Then quickly she struck all the
matches she had in her packet for she wanted to keep her grandmother
with her. The matches flared up and her grandmother looked beautiful and
royal. She took the girl in her arms and flew with her high towards glory
and joy. Now they knew neither cold, hunger nor fear for they were both
with God.
 THE GIRL’S DEATH:

The grandmother took the little girl far away from this callous
world; far away from cold, hunger and fear. They both were with God.

On the dawn of the New Year, the girl was found frozen to death.
She was still holding the matches and half a packet was only burnt.
There was a smile on her lips because only she knew the heavenly joy
with which she had welcomed the New Year.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE MATCHES IN THE STORY THE
LITTLE MATCH GIRL?

The matches constitute an important role in the story ‘The Little Match
Girl’. The little girl was out on the street on a bitterly cold New Year’s Eve to
sell the matches and earn some money. It is by lighting the matches that she
sees the visions of an iron stove, the roast goose, the Christmas tree and her
late grandmother. Thus the matches in the story symbolises warmth from
cold and the warmth of love, which the little girl was longing for. The
matches also symbolises the light of God and hope.
THATHANK YOU