The Little Girl

The little girl is the only main character in the story. All other characters are merely mentioned or barely have an active role in the story. Thus, the story is entirely focused on the little girl’s experiences. The little girl is suffering; she is cold and hungry, and her father at home is violent. There is enormous pressure on the girl to make money by selling matches on New Year’s Eve. The girl has an active imagination, enhanced by her delirium due to the cold. Throughout the story, the girl dreams of escaping her terrible situation and experiencing splendorous fantasies.

Andersen emphasizes the girl’s lack of prospects and security through his descriptive language at the beginning of the story. The narrator describes the girl as being “bareheaded and barefoot” (4). This represents the fact that the girl has no security or support in any...