Q2. Describe the ‘The Little Match girl’ hallucination and their significance
Answers
fist pic is of significance and second and third about hallucinations from left to right
Answer:
In the short story “The Little Match Girl”, Hans Christian Andersen explores the theme of human wishes and aspiration through transportation into the realm of dreams and hallucinations. Such a momentary journey into the dream world is far away from the little girl’s ordinary life full of hardships.
Unsuccessful in selling her match sticks, the poor little girl was sure to be beaten by her father. So, she decided not to go home and sat down on the ground on a corner created by two houses.
To keep herself warm, she lights a matchstick. The fire burnt so beautifully and gave out such a lovely warmth. It seemed to the little girl as if she was sitting in front of a great iron stove with a bright brass knob in the bright flame of the match. The stove vanished when the flame went out.
She ignites another match against the wall and as the light fell on the wall, it became transparent, from where she could see the inside of the room. She saw on a table, a roast goose stuffed with Apple and dried plums, which hoped down from the dish and came up to her. The match went out and she could see nothing but a cold damp wall.
She lit another match and this time she saw a huge image of a gloriously decorated Christmas tree. It is illuminated by thousands of lights on its green branches, and gaily coloured balls looked down on her, as she sticks out her hand to grab one, the match goes out. But as it does, the tree's decorative candles now seem to be the stars in the sky. One shoots across the sky, falling in the arc of a magnificent trail of the blaze.
The little girl saw a star fall and says to herself that someone might have died, She learned from her dead grandmother that when stars fall from the sky, a human ascends to God.
She drew another match and in the light, she saw her loving grandmother standing there bright and shining. She cries, " Take me with you!" This time she thought that if the match were to run out her grandmother would disappear, just like the Christmas tree before. So she struck the whole bundle of matches on the wall and there appeared a brilliant light. She pleaded with her grandmother to take her to heaven and both of them flew high up in brightness and in joy to be with God.
The next morning, when the passersby look at her face, it seems frozen with a smile. They make different guesses on seeing the burnt matches beside her. They feel pity for her without knowing the amazing visions she saw before her death. They can’t imagine that she is celebrating the New Year joyously with her grandmother in heaven.
The unfortunate fate of the little girl is portrayed here. Death has been represented in bright images. The theme projected is hope which is symbolized by the matches and the cold winter is a symbol of hopelessness. There is parallelism between the girl’s condition and the weather condition outside. She was miserable and going through many difficulties. She fought to survive till the end.
It signifies that one must not lose hope to whatever extent the adverse conditions are. It is a sad story of a little girl who doesn’t lose hope till the last match. In bitterly cold weather she tried her best to sell the matches. In the end, she got relief from all the troubles when hope and faith came hand in hand to help her and she was out of all miseries. Almost frozen to death, when no one can even dream of a splendid life, she enjoyed the joys of New Year with her grandmother.
Here, Andersen has used dream interpretation as a modernist literary technique of studying the psychological states of human character.