The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen | Summary & Analysis – Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

“The Little Match Girl” Summary

This summary of “The Little Match Girl” is based on the translation by Jean Hersholt.

On New Year’s Eve, a young girl of indeterminate age walks the streets barefoot. She is cold and in pain after having lost her meager slippers, but she refuses to go home. In her apron, she has bundles of matches she is trying to sell, but no one will buy them. She knows if she goes home, her father will beat her for coming back without even a cent.

As snow continues to fall, she makes her way to a pair of houses. Exhausted and cold, she sits outside between the houses and tries to warm herself. Desperate for any warmth, the little girl strikes one of her matches. It warms her and gives off a strange light that briefly makes her think she is sitting in front of an iron stove. When the match burns out, the stove disappears, and she is once again cold.

Striking another match, the little girl is once again warmed, but this time, the light seems to make the surrounding walls transparent. She can look inside the home and see the roast goose and all the food. The goose jumps from the plate and walks over to the little girl, ready to be eaten. She lights another match and is sitting under a tremendous Christmas tree. When the second match goes out, the little girl sees a shooting star. She knows, because her grandmother told her, that the shooting star means someone is dead and their soul will meet God.

She lights a third match and finds herself in front of her grandmother, the only person who had ever truly loved her but who died years before. Desperate, the little girl asks her grandmother to take her away from the cold and the pain.

Lighting the rest of her matches, the little girl sees her grandmother again. Her grandmother takes her in her arms as the matches glow bright as the day. She takes the little girl and flies her into the sky where there is no cold or hunger.

On the street corner, however, the little girl sat smiling, frozen to death and holding the last of her burnt matches. When the sun comes up, people see her and pity her, yet no one bought her matches when she lived, and none would know the things she saw or how happy she was to have seen her grandmother again.

“The Little Match Girl” Analysis

“The Little Match Girl” is a condemnation of the plight of poor children. The little girl is forced to go out into the winter streets with barely anything to keep her warm in order to make money for her family. The cold winter symbolizes the harsh environment in which these children must live. The matches are symbolic of hope. Each one is fleeting and brings joy, but hope, like the matches, must remain lit and nurtured.

An analysis of “The Little Match Girl” might find the ending either uplifting or tragic, depending on whether the reader believes the girl’s ascension into Heaven is a release from pain or a final hallucination as the girl dies. The story’s narration heavily leans into the events actually occurring, though it’s possible to read the fantastical events as the final thoughts of a dying child.

Themes in “The Little Match Girl” Story

The story of “The Little Match Girl” covers various themes. A theme is an idea expressed by a work, typically an idea that is explored by how it is portrayed. It is often called the “big idea” since some works depend on their themes to function as stories.

• Imagination: The little girl’s imagination helps her in her final moments to see and feel a welcoming environment. The small matches could not possibly provide enough warmth to sustain her for more than a few seconds, but her imagination allowed her to leave the blistering cold of the street and enjoy happiness for a short while. This concept, mind over matter, works as a survival mechanism.
• Death and the Afterlife: If the visions the little girl sees when she lights the matches are not simply her imagination but the visions of a dying person, then what she is seeing truly is heaven for her. She is receiving visions like those who have undergone near-death experiences. The afterlife, then, is portrayed as having the things she wants and needs and comfort with loved ones.
• Poverty: The little girl is forced to sell matches to bring in some money for her family. She goes out into the cold street at night with only slippers to keep her warm but loses even those. The fact that even a few cents could help her family, who live in a home with cracked walls and a roof barely holding together, shows the pain and dire conditions of the poor during this time.
• Social Consciousness: The end of the story shows people looking at the body of the little girl and feeling sad that she died, yet none of them would buy even a match from her when she was alive. This shows the lack of social consciousness in the general population. They feel bad when they could have done something, but don’t realize they had the power to help the little girl.

Moral of “The Little Match Girl”

A moral is a lesson the author of a story wishes to teach readers. In “The Little Match Girl,” the moral is, “One should not ignore those in need.”

This moral comes together through the use of various symbols and themes explored in the story. The little girl could have been helped at any time. Her lighting the matches to keep warm was a last-ditch desperate attempt to stay alive. The matches represent hope, and the little girl holds on as long as possible before the cold finally takes her.

Whether her visions are the result of her imagination or the visions of Heaven, even a single individual showing her kindness or buying a single match could have prevented her ultimate fate. Simply looking at the little girl, it would have been obvious she was suffering, and almost any help would have prevented her death.

Lesson Summary

“The Little Match Girl” is a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. It tells the story of a little girl trying to sell matches in the night during a cold winter. The little girl fails to sell her matches, then lights them to warm herself instead. She sees visions of food and warmth, eventually seeing her departed grandmother, who welcomes her into Heaven. The little girl dies in the street, cold and alone.

The story deals with various themes. A theme is the big idea in a story, something that is explored in the narrative. One of these themes is the idea of an afterlife; that the good and humble are rewarded after this life. The story also explores the theme of imagination, or mind over matter, as the little girl uses her imagination to hold on to hope. These themes inform the moral of the story, the lesson it wishes to teach: “Don’t ignore those in need. “