The short story “The Little Match Girl” is all about the poverty, hunger and helplessness of a little girl who is sent to sell matches when she is supposed to stay at home or at school. When all the world seems to be celebrating the New Year’s Eve, the girl is deprived of the joy.
What is the summary of the story The Little Match Girl?
It is a story of a little girl who, unable to sell her match sticks dies of cold and hunger on the street even as, people are celebrating the birth of the Christ child inside their warm. This story reflects about the unhappy childhood of a little girl, her sadness, dealing with loss and death.
What happened at the end of The Little Match Girl?
In that final moment, she is carried away by her grandmother as the two set out for a place where there is no more cold, or hunger, or fear. This is the tragic ending of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Match Girl,” but the story remains alive today.
What is the main idea of The Little Match Girl?
One of the morals, or lessons, of The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen is to behave charitably toward those who are less fortunate. Despite her dire circumstances, the little girl dreams of warmth and food as she tries to earn money for her family.Why is The Little Match Girl a tragic story elaborate?
“The Little March Girl” is the story of a girl who is very poor. During the harsh winters and the snowfalls, she even is deprived of a pair of shoes. … The little girl died in hunger, cold and in loneliness. In this way, the story ended in a tragic note.
What was the problem of the Match girl How was she saved from punishment?
Answer:The Prince asked the swallow to pluck out the sapphire from one of his eyes and deliver it to the little girl who was crying because she was afraid that her father would beat her if she didn’t bring back any money. Actually, her matchsticks fell into the gutter.
What is the symbolism of matches in the story?
The matches represent the girl’s hope and happiness. Whenever the girl lights a match, she visualizes a different ideal situation in which she would rather be. Furthermore, the girl’s desperate reaction when the matches go out show that the matches are her only solace in her terrible situation.
What is the irony of the story The Little Match Girl '?
The irony lies in the fact that the little matchstick girl lights up matches after matches to keep herself warm in the harsh winter, eventually escapes to a place where one doesn’t feel either hot or cold.Why did the little matchstick girl go home laughing?
Answer: The girl sell matches run home laughing because she got a rubi. The happy princess distributed all his gold and rubi.
How did the little match girl overcome her struggles?The author shows how a little girl is made an object of helplessness. … But the girl does not complain. She rather chooses to sit on a corner on the street and warm herself up with the help of her match sticks. She tries a great deal to ward off the stings of cold by flashing the matchstick one after another.
Article first time published onWhat does the small flame mean to her little match girl?
When the little girl burns her matches to keep herself warm, their “strange light” brings wondrous visions of warmth, kindness, and celebration until she freezes to death when the flames burn out. … After all, just as all the matches flame out, she is left with her unendurable reality and ultimately freezes to death.
What were the four visions of The Little Match Girl?
In the flame of the matches she sees a series of comforting visions: the warm iron stove, the lovely roast goose, the great glorious Christmas tree. Each vision disappears as its match burns out. In the sky she sees a shooting star, which her late grandmother had told her means someone is on their way to Heaven.
What does the shooting star mean to the little girl?
Shooting Star (Symbol) While staring at the sky after hallucinating a Christmas tree, the little girl sees a shooting star. She interprets the star as a sign someone must be dying, because her grandma used to say that a falling star represents a human soul ascending to heaven.
How did the little swallow help the seamstress and the Little Match Girl explain?
The Happy Prince helped a seamstress by sending his great ruby through the swallow. Then he requested the swallow to take out a sapphire from his eye and give it to a playwright who was about to faint because of hunger and cold. Another sapphire was sent to the match girl. Now the Happy Prince became blind.
How did the prince help the match girl and why?
Answer: The prince helped the match girl by giving her one of his sapphires. By getting the sapphires she became very happy and ran happily towards her house.
How is the little girl a picture of misery and poverty?
On the face of it, the little girl was a ‘picture of misery’ because she was ‘cold and hungry’ and was creeping along. This in itself is a sad scenario, with a small child facing such difficult times that she neither has anything to eat, nor does she have any warm clothing to keep her from ‘shivering’.
Why was the match girl crying How did the Happy Prince make her happy?
The match girl was sent to sell the matches and earn some money. But, unfortunately her matches fell into the gutter and were spoiled. If she doesn’t get some money for that day then her father would scold her. So she was crying.
How did the prince help the little girl?
Answers. The Prince asked the swallow to pluck out the sapphire from one of his eyes and deliver it to the little girl who was crying because she was afraid that her father would beat her if she didn’t bring back any money. Actually, her matchsticks fell into the gutter.
Is The Little Match Girl based on a true story?
Andersen claimed that this grim little tale of misery and death on New Year’s Eve was based on a true story of a little match seller whom he knew from his years as a destitute street person in early 19th century Copenhagen. … It is a story probably told most by grandmothers.
What does the Christmas tree symbolize in The Little Match Girl?
Sam and her mother go to buy a Christmas tree but her mother wants a rotten tree from the incinerator. Rotten tree symbolizes the reality of their family i.e. the burnt scarce remains of the value of their relationships with each other.
How did the author adorn The Little Match Girl with rich images and symbols?
In the story “The little March Girl” the author had used dream hallucination and the method of fairy tale to depict the inner desire of the girl. … The dreams of roasted geese, a beautiful Christmas tree and her loving grandmother shows her desires and wishes of her life.
How is the story The Little Match Girl relevant in today's society?
So the New Year’s Eve is a symbol for the beginning of a new life (after death) of the girl in heaven. … As, the story deals with the miserable life of the girl, her dreams and wishes and how she got rid of the cruelty of this world to reach the heaven, the title is thematically appropriate.
What does cold symbolize in the story The Little Match girl?
The girl’s “naked feet which were red and blue with the cold” is representative of the nakedness of the so-called civilized society where the poor girl is deprived of her basic rights. Her hair got entangled with snowflakes which are nothing but trials and tribulations in her life.
How do you know the little girl is poor?
How do you know the little girl is poor? She saw a delicious roast goose in a window through the candle light. At home it was cold too, above her the roof, through which the wind whistled, the largest cracks were stopped up with straw and rags.
Why did the girl think that someone is dying?
Why did the girl think that “Someone is dying” ? Answer: The girl thought that “Someone is dying” because her old grandmother, the only one who had ever loved her, and who was now dead, had told her that when a star falls, a soul was going up to God.
Who do the little girl's slippers belong to?
They were very big slippers, way too big for her, for they belonged to her mother. The little girl had lost them running across the road, where two carriages had rattled by terribly fast.
What does the grandmother's act of flying high with the little girl symbolize?
Explanation: Grandmother’s action is symbolic of love and hope.
Why does the author describe the girl as a very picture of sorrow?
What does the author describe the girl as a very picture of sorrow? The child is poor and motherless. She does not get any affection form her father but is sent out in the biting cold to sell matches. … The girl is thus rightly described as a very picture of sorrow.
What is a star baby?
In folklore and fiction, a kind of changeling or foundling, a child seemingly having fallen from the stars and not of ordinary human descent.
What is the meaning of a fallen star?
noun. 1A person who or thing which has lost or been brought down from a position of high status, wealth, influence, etc.
Why did the swallow not leave the Prince?
Why did the swallow not leave the prince and go to Egypt? Answer: Since the prince had given away the two sapphires of his eyes to the people in need, he had become blind. Touched by his kindness and to give him support, the swallow decided to stay with the prince always.
