Analysis Of The Little Match Girl

“The Little Match Girl,” gives readers an insight on what it is like to be a starving, freezing, homeless, and mistreated little girl.

“She carried a quantity of matches in an old apron, and she held a bundle of them in her hand. Nobody had brought anything of her the whole livelong day; no one had given her a single farthing” (**). The little maiden is trying to sell matches to bring home money for her father. The story says very little about about the little maiden’s father, but readers learn that when she comes home without the money he hits her (**). The little maiden would have rather gone home to the warmth, but her home was as cold as it was on the streets. “For above her she had only the roof, through which the wind whistled, even

The young girl sat along the cold frozen street, with no shoes or proper clothing (**). The readers are unaware of the time period, but we can infer from the text that it was not in modern times. In the beginning of the story the setting is clear and very descriptive, although we still can not tell what time period this story takes place. “And the poor little thing lost them as she scuffled away across the street, because of two carriages that rolled by dreadfully fast” (**). When the author writes about the carriages, we know that it is not in present times. The little girl was wanting to go home, but she knew that she would get blows if she came home without money for the matches (**). Readers of “The Little Match Girl” can get a sense of the setting, and the hard life of the little maiden. The little maiden only finds comfort when she strikes the match against the wall, just to get some comfort and warmth (**). The little maiden feels the warmth, and is greeted with the only person in her life that cannot be with her, her grandmother. The overall setting of “The Little Match Girl,” is grim, and very negative. The coldness shows the reader that the little girl is all alone, and has no one to comfort

‘She wanted to warm herself,’ the people in the town said. No one had the slightest suspicion of what beautiful things she had seen” (**). The little maiden saw the stars in Heaven, and one fell down and formed a long trail of fire (**). Before the maidens cold and freezing death, she dreamed of the roast goose steaming with stuffing, the apple pie, dried plums all sitting on a pure white table cloth (**). The matches brought comfort to the little girl for a little bit, but the short stick burnt fast. Lighting the match for the little girl was a small get away, away from her very miserable life. “The little maiden stretched out her hands towards them when-- the match went out” (**). Dreaming and visualizing the Christmas trees, roast goose, and the warm stove was a way for the maiden to cope with the harsh conditions she was living