Literary Analysis Of 'The Little Match Girl'

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“The Little Match Girl” is a sad story that, although short has great detail beyond that of other short stories. In this story a little girl tries to sell matches on the streets in order for her family to have money during the harsh winter. She fails to sell even a single match and fears going home because her father would beat her. She decides to strike a match on the side of a building she is leaning aginst to try and bring some warmth into her body. As quickly as she lights it the match burns out, so she decides to strike all the matches at once. In doing so she hallucinates and sees her late grandmother who invites her to heaven. The next morning, the girl is found dead holding a bundle of struck matches and everyone believing she had tried to warm herself. This short story has depth and sadness just as any other story would have. The plot of “The Little Match Girl” is simple, yet very complicated at the same time. …show more content…

The girl lives in a poor home and is forced to sell matches so her family can eat and live. “and to go home she did not venture, for she had not sold any matches and could not bring a farthing of money: from her father she would certainly receive blows (Anderson).” Her father’s future beatings scare away from home and keep her outside. Without her home life being as bad as it is she would never have had to venture out into the cold and sell matches in the first place. The time at which this story takes place is also a major factor in this story 's setting. “From all the windows the candles were gleaming, and it smelt so deliciously of roast goose, for you know it was New Year’s Eve (Anderson).” The story taking place on New Year 's gave the town a reason to be as cold as it was. Also, without this specific time frame there would be no clear reason as to why the girl could not find any buyers. This lead to her staying away from her home and then her death inside the cold

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