The Little Match Girl
Hans Christian Anderson
The Little Match Girl is a fairy tale about a dying little girl’s wishes and her visions. The
harsh reality of poverty, hunger and lack of parental care is presented in this story.
The story begins on a freezing New Year’s Eve. A small, poor girl is shivering and
bareheaded. She had lost her mother’s big slippers, hence barefooted too. She tries to sell
match sticks in the street, but she is unable to get even a cent.
Despite the harsh weather, she is afraid to go home because her father usually beats her for
the unsold matches. As it is New Year’s Eve, all the houses are bright with lights she is
tempted by the smell of roast goose. She huddles between two houses and lights a match to
warm herself.
The freezing weather and hunger cause hallucinations. In the flame of the first match, she
sees a large warm stove and so she stretches her legs to get some warmth. The
stove disappears, as the match goes off. Then she strikes another match stick on the wall and
sees a big roast goose. That too disappears and with the striking of the third match, she sees a
large and beautiful Christmas tree with bright candles.
In the sky, she sees a shooting star and says that a soul is on its way to Heaven, just like her
beloved grandmother had taught her. Her grandmother was the only person who was kind and
loving to the little girl, but even she was no more. In the flame of the next match she sees her
grandmother and in order to prolong the vision, the little girl lights the entire bundle of
matches. She pleads her grandmother to take her along and so she carries the little girl’s soul
to Heaven. The Heaven is a place where there is no starvation and hunger.
The next morning, people find the little match girl with a smiling face sitting frozen and
express pity. They did not know anything about the amazing visions that the little match girl
had seen before she died.
