Story 7: The Little Match Girl (Workbook Answers)
Treasure Trove
Chapter 7
The Little Match Girl
(Workbook Answers)
Answer 1. The evening was special as it was New Year's Eve. It was terribly cold, snow was falling and darkness was gathering.
Answer 2. The slippers that the girl was wearing belonged to her dead mother. They were too big for her and hence were of no use.
The little girl had lost her slippers as she ran across the street to
escape from two carriages that were being driven terribly fast. One
slipper could not be found and the other was taken away by an urchin.
Answer 3. It was a bitterly cold evening but the girl was walking bareheaded and barefoot. Thus we conclude that the girl was poor and dejected.
Answer 4. The girl was sent out in the cold by her father to sell matches. Since she could not sell any matches, she was afraid of going back home because she would be beaten by her father.
Answer 5. The title 'The Little Match Girl' is appropriate as it revolves around a little girl who sells matches. The girl in the story is not named and is referred to as 'a poor little girl in the story'. The word 'match' in the title refers to matchsticks. The girl lit the matchsticks to warm herself in the bitter cold. It also symbolises warmth and love that she got from her grandmother but not from her parents. Thus the title of the story reflects the content of the story.
Extract 2
Answer 1. The protagonist of the story - the little match girl, is referred to in the given extract. The little girl had lost her slippers as she ran across the street to escape from two carriages that were being driven terribly fast. One slipper could not be found and the other was taken away by an urchin.
Answer 2. The girl was carrying matches as she was sent by her father to sell matches to earn some money.
Answer 3. The child is poor and motherless. She does not get any affection from her father but is sent out in the biting cold to sell matches. The child spends her entire night by huddling herself against a wall. She dies of cold, hunger and abuse. The girl is thus rightly described as a "picture of misery".
Answer 4. No one has brought a matchstick from her because people were indulged in the celebration of the New Year. This act of selling was used as a front of begging. The parents had sent the little girl to sell matchsticks because they expected the people to feel sympathy for the little girl and buy matchsticks from her.
Answer 5. A didactic story is the one which is intended to teach people a moral lesson..The story is meant to teach, especially the wealthy, to show empathy for those, who do not have the basic necessities of life. It reminds them not to overlook the needs of the less fortunate, especially the innocent children. It teaches them to be charitable and help the poor during the festivals and throughout the year, to alleviate their suffering.The purpose of this story is very meaningful because it is an issue that is not only limited to those times but relevant to today.
Extract 3
Answer 1. The girl was sitting in a corner formed by two houses, one of which projected further out into the street than the other. To warm her fingers, she pulled a match from the packet to light it by striking it on the wall.
Answer 2. The girl did not dare to go home because would be beaten by her father as she could not sell any matchstick.
Answer 3. The girl had an affection-less relation with her father. Her father was ruthless who sent her out to earn money in such cold. She was a victim of child abuse and was not fed and clothed properly.She was scared to go home for the fear of being beaten by her father.
Answer 4. The story depicts a realistic view of the society in the Victorian era. During the Victorian era, the middle class emerged and took over a significant percentage of work places. It is at this time, there appeared an under class, which remained unemployed and lived in abject poverty. This class resented both the aristocracy and the middle class. There existed a huge gap between the financial condition of this class and the wealthy.
Answer 5. The children were regarded as miniature adults who were used for cheap labour. In this story, the child is poor and motherless. She does not get any affection or love form her father but is sent out in the biting cold to sell matches. She became a victim of child labour and of physical abuse at the hands of her father. Child labour is a big issue in India too. We can find children working in inhumane conditions.
Extract 4
Answer 1. 'She' refers to the little girl who is walking in the bitter cold trying to sell matchsticks. She sat in the corner between two houses.
When she lit the first match, she had a vision of a large iron stove and felt its warm and bright flame.
Answer 2. When she lit the second match, the girl saw a feast laid on table. The feast comprised a roast goose stuffed with apples and dried plums.
Answer 3. The little small and poor girl, who is suffering from cold and hunger imagined about certain things which she desperately longed for and which made her feet better, including an iron stove, a huge Christmas tree and a table laden with delicious food. The girl imagines her deceased grandmother's face just because, she had faith and hope.
Answer 4. The light from the matches symbolise the light of God and hope. They are symbolic of the warmth which the little girl was longing for.
Answer 5. When she lit a match and saw her grandmother, she did not want to lose her and therefore, lit the whole bundle of matches. She found hope in the image of her loving grandmother.
Extract 5
Answer 1. The little match girl who died of cold and hunger is referred to here. Her cheeks had turned 'rosy' because of extreme cold. Moreover she has a 'smiling lips' because her wish to be with her loving grandmother comes true through her death. Her smile indicates that the girl is relieved of her pain through her death.
Answer 2. Her visions of an iron stove, a sumptuous feast, a twinkling Christmas tree and her late grandmother are referred to as "beautiful visions". It is by lighting the matches that she gets to encounter these "beautiful visions".
Answer 3. The Little girl's grandmother was dead but was the only person, whom she remembered fondly. She has been described as the only one who loved the little girl. It seems that the little girl used to hear stories from her grandmother as she remembered her grandmother's view about the stars falling from the sky. The memory of her grandmother helped her keep warm while others ignored her.
Answer 4. The girl pleaded with her grandmother to take her to heaven and both of them flew in brightness and in joy to be with God. The girl's smiling face after her death thus symbolises a better afterlife.