2 —Hans Christian Andersen's

The Little Match Girl is a fairy tale with a tragic end. It is a very heart-wrenching
story about a poor little girl, who is sent out by her father on a cold New Year Eve,
to sell matches. Unable to sell any matches and afraid of going home because of
the fear of being beaten by her father, she huddles herself against a wall to protect
herself from the bitter cold. To keep herself warm, she lits up the matches and has
four hallucinations where she sees visions about things that she has been deprived
of.
 Characters in Brief
The Little Match Girl
The little nameless girl is about seven to ten years old. She is thin with
long, curly, golden hair and belongs to a poor household. She is a brave

...
and an obedient child. She is sent out in the cold by her father to sell some
matchsticks. Despite all hardships and sufferings, she does not give up hope
and faith in God. At the end, she died of the cold, but with a smile on her face.

Chapter in Detail
The Cold Winter Evening
The story opens on a terribly cold and dark New Year's Eve. A little girl,
bareheaded and barefooted, was walking through the street, selling matches.
She belonged to a very poor family and had been sent by her father in cold
weather to sell matches and earn money.

The Little Girl and Her Slippers

When the little girl left home, she had slippers on her feet. They were too big
for her as they belonged to her mother. As she ran across the street to escape
from the two carriages that were being driven very fast, she lost them on the
way. When she went looking for them, one was not to be found and the other
was taken away by an urchin. So, the little girl walked on the snow barefoot.
Her legs had turned red and blue because of the cold.

The Little Girl Selling Matches

The little girl carried a good quantity of matches in an old apron which she
wore and also held a bundle of them in her hand. No one had bought any
match from her, nor had anyone given her a single penny all day. But she
crept along, trembling with cold and hunger, feeling miserable.

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 ...

Dictionary
Word Meaning
bitterly : extremely

...
gloom : darkness
penny : a British coin and unit of money

The Little Match Girl 3

 OBJECTIVE Type Questions
Multiple Choice Questions
 [ 1 mark ]
Answer the following questions by choosing the correct options from those
given below:
1. Which of the following does not appear in the vision that the little
match girl sees?
(a)a beautifully decorated Christmas tree
(b)her kind and loving grandmother
(c)an iron stove with brass handles
(d)colourful fireworks display
[ICSE Sem-1, 2021]
Ans. (d)colourful fireworks display
Explanation: The little girl has four hallucinations. In her first vision, she
sees a large iron stove; in her second vision, she sees a feast laid on a table;
In her third vision, she sees a large Christmas tree, and in her fourth vision
she sees her grandmother.
2. What is paradoxical regarding the little girl's observation about the
falling star?
(a)the superstition of the little girl’s grandmother
(b)the little girl being the one who ended up dead
(c)the apathy of the crowd that gathered around her
(d)the fear the little girl had towards her own father
Ans. (b) the little girl being the one who ended up dead
Explanation: The little girl refers to the falling star as a symbol of soul
ascending to God. She was looking at the falling star and thinking about
death. It is paradoxical that she was the one who froze to death later.
3. What did the Little Match girl see when she struck the second match?
(a)A beautiful candle lit Christmas Tree
(b)Her grandmother who loved her dearly
(c)Bright stars shooting across the sky
(d)A stuffed goose waddling towards her
[ICSE Specimen Paper 2023]

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Ans. (d)A stuffed goose waddling towards her
Explanation: When the little girl struck the second match, in her vision,
she saw a sumptuous feast laid on a table. A roasted goose stuffed with
apples and prunes lay in the centre of the table. And what seemed more
wonderful to the girl was that the goose hopped down from the dish,
waddled across the floor carying knife and came straight up to the girl.

SUBJECTIVE Type Questions

Extract Based Questions
[ 3+3+3+3+4=16 marks ]

4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
In an old apron, she carried a number of matches, and had a bundle of
them in her hands. No one had bought anything from her the whole
day, nor had anyone given her even a penny. Shivering with cold and
hunger, she crept along; poor little child, she looked like a picture of
misery. The snowflakes fell on her long, fair hair, which hung in curls on
her shoulders, but she regarded them not. Lights were shining from
every window, and there was a savory smell of roasted goose, for it was
New-year’s eve—yes, she remembered that.
(A)What was the girl carrying in her apron? Why?
(B)What was the reason behind the little girl being out of her house in
such terrible weather?
(C)Why had nobody bought anything from her? What was this act of
selling used as a front for?
(D)Why is the little girl portrayed as ‘a picture of misery’ in the story?
(E)Which sentiments does the author evoke through the imagery
used in the given extract? Give an example of the said imagery.
Ans. (A)The little girl was carrying matches in her apron.
She was a poor, miserable child who was sent out by her abusive
father to sell matches and earn money on a cold New year's eve. She
was barely clothed and could be seen shivering on the streets.
(B)She had been sent out by her physically and mentally abusive father

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 to earn some money on this dark and cold evening. Her responsibility
that day was to sell matches and earn money for the family. She had
been forcefully sent out alone on a cold evening.
(C)It was a cold evening and people were rushing home for the New Year.
They were busy in their jubilation. Thus, none of them noticed her, nor
bought any matches from her.
This act of selling matches was used as a front for begging during
the Victorian Era. She couldn't earn even one penny through selling or
begging that evening.
(D)The girl mentioned in the extract was poor and did not receive much
affection from her family due to their poverty and misery. She was
sent out in the cold to sell matches by her father. She walked the
street bareheaded and barefoot. Her feet had turned red and blue with
cold. She was shivering. She had not been given proper food for days
because her family was unable to afford it. Her delicate and pitiable
condition made the author describe her as a picture of misery.
(E)The author uses various images in the given extract to paint a very sad,
delicate and miserable picture of the little girl. He uses the image of a
snowflake falling on her hairlocks to show how precious and delicate
the little girl was. The image of light shining from various houses
against the dark, cold evening emphasizes on her poor background
and loneliness. She had been left alone to fend for the family on one of
the happiest nights of the year.

5. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“So the little girl walked about the streets on her naked feet, which
were red and blue with cold. In her old apron, she carried a great many
matches, and she had a packet of them in her hand well”
(A)Who was ‘she’? What can you conclude about her candition from
the above description?
(B)What time of the year was it? Why did she not want to go home?
(C)How did the little girl bring the matches into play? What was the
outcome of lighting the first match?

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 (D)With whom was the little girl deeply attached? What was her
reaction on finding this person before her?
(E)What happened to the little girl at the end of the story? Would
you consider this a happy ending or a sad one? Give one reason for
your answer.
[Mod. ICSE Specimen paper 2023, ICSE 2020]
Ans. (A)‘She’ was a little match girl.
The little match girl seemed to be from a poor family. The weather
was very cold and the snow was falling heavily but even then she was
out on the streets barefoot and bareheaded to sell the match boxes
which she carried in her old apron. She was in a pitiful condition.
(B)It was New Year’s Eve. The weather was extremely cold. As it was the
last evening of the year, the snow was falling heavily and everything
seemed to be freezing.
The little match girl had been trying to sell the match boxes since
morning, but didn’t succeed till evening. Inspite of the harsh weather,
she could not go home because of the fear of her father’s beating. She
knew that because she had not sold a single match box, as a result
of which, she had not earned a single cent, her father would surely
scold and beat her. She also did not want to go home because it was
too cold and in the name of a house, they had a cracked roof through
which the wind passed and the cracks had been stuffed with straw
and rags.
(C)She drew one matchstick from the box and lit it, by rubbing it against
the wall she was sitting near, to warm up her hands. When she lit the
first match, it gave off a strange and wonderful light. It was as though
a drowning man caught hold of a straw. It seemed to her that she was
sitting in front of an iron stove with shining brass knobs and a brass
cover. The fire burnt beautifully and gave out lovely warmth. It was
so comfortable that she stretched out her feet and as soon as she
stretched out her feet, the stove vanished and she was left with only
the remains of a burnt match stick in her hand. Though it did not give

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 her as much warmth as was required in that weather, but she had an
illusion that she was getting warmth.
(D)She loved her grandmother dearly. When she saw her grandmother,
she pleaded with her to take her away before she vanished like the
other images that the little girl had seen that evening.
(E)Though the little girl died at the end of the story, it is a happy ending to
the story. The little girl had a miserable life. She portrayed picture of a
pitiable, sorrowful child. She was deprived of all the love and affection
which she deserved from her father. Her life was full of miseries. She
was walking in the streets barefooted through the biting wind and
driving snow. In her last vision, she saw her grandmother whom she
pleaded to take her to heaven as she was left alone after she passed
away. It seemed as if her last wish was fulfilled. There was radiance
on her face when she met and talked to her grandmother in her
subconscious mind.
(A) The Little Match Girl/ The Little girl
No shoes - feet were naked, red and blue/ odl apron
She came from a desperately poor home- no shoes at the peak of
winter.
Pathetic/ miserable / cold/ poor
(B) Winter/ New Year’s Eve / 31st December / last evening of the year
She had not sold any matches (or earned a single penny) – this would
make her father very angry – he would beat her.
Home was very cold too – wind whistled through the roof which was
stuffed with rags and straw.
(C) For light and heat / warm herself / numb fingers.
A great iron stove with polished brass knobs and ornaments
appeared before her.
A fire burned beautifully in it/ gave out warmth / when she stretched
her feet to warm them, the stove vanished / simply an illusion.
(D) Her grandmother
begged her grandmother to take her with her.
Was afraid her grandmother would vanish / like all the other beautiful
visions she had that evening / the warm stove, the roasted goose and
the glorious Christmas Tree.

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 (E) she died
Either Happy + reason : All her troubles ended and she joined her
grandmother in heaven where she would not feet cold or hunger /
needs.
OR
Sad + reason: A little life full of promise is put out. Indifference of
society to her suffereing. Irony that she died of cold and starvation at
a time /season when all the world talks about giving to others.
[Marking Scheme]

What Examiners Say

 (A)Most of the candidates perfomed well in this part.
 (B)Some candidates wrote that it was Christmas time.
The second part was answered correctly by all.
 (C)The first part was answered well.
The candidates got mixed up with the sequence of the visions. Instead
of the iron stove some wrote about other visions like the goose or the
Christmas tree.
 (D)The first part was answered well.
This was a direct question, but some candidates could not write the
correct answer. They wrote only a part of the speech.
 (E)Some candidates did not clarify whether it is a happy or a sad ending.
Others did not give an explanation in support of their choice.

The Little Match Girl 9

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