Question

Why did the little girl look ‘the picture of misery’?​

Answer 1

Explanation:  The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson

• The story is set against the backdrop of a New Year`s eve.
• It is a sad story which reflects the misery of a young little girl.
• It was a very cold new year eve evening accompanied by snowfall and frost.
• People were seen busy in celebrating and rejoicing the eve.
• However there was a little girl who was loitering on the streets trying to sell her match boxes.
• She was bare footed and even bare headed.
• She did not have enough warm clothes to keep herself warm.
• She was desperately trying to sell her match boxes when accidentally she slipped and all her match boxes fell in the gutter.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

On the face of it, the little girl was a 'picture of misery' because she was 'cold and hungry' and was creeping along. This in itself is a sad scenario, with a small child facing such difficult times that she neither has anything to eat, nor does she have any warm clothing to keep her from 'shivering'. Also, the child does not have enough energy to even walk, as the author says that she 'crept along'.

If we consider the events in the girl's life so far, the degree of misery increases manifold.

1. No family- Even as it is New Year's eve, a time when families get together to  celebrate, there is no celebration in the child's life. She is so unfortunate that her family has put her out in the streets. There is absolutely no family support for her.

2. Poverty- The child is living in such great poverty that she does not even own a pair of slippers. She has been wearing over-sized slippers belonging to her mother. She neither has socks, nor a cap to shield her from the freezing wind.

3. Ill fate- The little girl lost a slipper while trying to quickly cross the street. The second slipper found its way to a boy, who wanted to save it for his children. On top of this, she had been unable to sell any matches all day.

Looking at how the child's situation was, on the home front, it seems that the world had conspired to add to her misery in one way or another. Put together, she was definitely a 'picture of misery'.