Blog # 12: The Little Match-Seller.

Hans Christian Andersen (April 2, 1805 – August 4, 1875) was born in Odense, Denmark and died in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the son of a poor shoemaker and a washerwoman. Andersen dedicated The Little Match-Seller to her mother due to the poor childhood she had had; as well as the story She was Good for Nothing because of her alcoholism (Wikipedia). Hans Christian showed a great imagination since very young, which was fostered by the indulgence of both parents and superstition of the mother. Andersen was very interested in become an artist. He started looking for opportunities as a singer out of his country. However, he never stopped writing. The Little Match-Seller is a short fairy story by Danish poet and writer Hans Christian Andersen. The story was published as a part of the collection of New Fairy Tales on March 4, 1848. The story is about a dying child's hallucinations, and was first published in 1845. It has been adapted to various media including animated film, and a television musical (Wikipedia). This short story, full of symbols, lets me analyze it, and find archetypes; so I will use them as approach, in order to obtain a better understanding of the story.
The Little Match-Seller is a narrative story that describes a dying child's hallucinations. The story starts in the last night of the year. The streets of the city were covered with snow, and a little girl walked barefoot after having lost her sandals, the ones that she had taken from her mother (paragraph 1). The little girl carried matches to sell. However, no one had purchased anything the whole day. She was hungry, cold and frightened. The snowflakes fell on her long blond hair, but she could only think about the food she smelled, and the houses full of lights she saw. It was New Year's Eve, and that's what the girl thought (paragraph 2). There was a space between two houses, so the little poor girl sat down over there. She sat on his little legs, but she still felt cold. She did not dare to return home haven’t sold a single match because her father would hit her. Besides, it was also cold at home (paragraph 3). Her hands were extremely cold, so she thought maybe one match would be good to warm herself (paragraph 4). She took a match and lighted it. The flame was amazing. It warmed so well. The little girl imagined herself sitting in front of a huge stove. However, when she started warming the flame and her thoughts went out (paragraph 5). She lit another one and started imagining the cold wall as transparent as a veil. She thought a table with food specifically a roast goose. Then she imagined the goose jumping with the knife and fork on it. But the match blew out and there was only the wall (paragraph 6). She lighted another one. Now she thinks she is under a Christmas tree. The tree was great full of candles all over it. When she raised her arms the match went out (paragraph 7). The lights of the tree rose very high. She saw them as stars. A star fell and she thought: “someone has died” because her grandmother—the only one who loved her and who is dead—had told her when that happens, a soul goes to God (paragraph 8). She lit another match, with the light her grandmother appeared really clear with a sweet face (paragraph 9). The little girl said loud GRANDMOTHER take me because when the match gets gone you will disappears like the stove, the roast goose, and the Christmas tree (paragraph 10). And quickly she took all the matches and lit them. It was shining brightly. Her grandma took her and together flew away. There was not cold, hunger nor fear. They were next to God (paragraph 11). But between those two houses, the first day of the years was a little girl with a smile on her face and some burned matches. She was frozen. She had died (paragraph 12). Someone said that she tried to warm herself (paragraph 13). Nobody knew the beautiful things that the girl had seen, to what glory had gone with his elderly grandmother to the joy of New Year (paragraph 14).