Merry Christmas

just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

Matthew

Glennellen's Compare/contrast essay

Glennellen’s Essay


In this essay, I am going to discuss two short stories by two brilliant authors. One of the stories is entitled “The Little Match Girl” written by Hans Christian Andersen in the 1800s. The other story is entitled “A Child Dreams of a Star” by Charles Dickens in the 1800s. He is known best for his Christmas classic, “A Christmas Carol”. Both men were born relatively around the same time, and were both very famous authors.

The story of “A Child Dreams of a Star” is about a young boy, a very caring, loyal, and positive child. He loves his family dearly, and has a special spot in his heart for his little sister. Every night, they would look out and see a bright, shining star that would come out before all other did. Unfortunately, she becomes ill, and is so weak that she can no longer look at the star anymore. Her brother would for her. She soon passes, causing much grief upon her family…especially her brother. He missed her so, but would always keep a positive mind. He loses all those who are dear to him through his life, including his mother and newborn brother. He longs to be with them, but knows that he will be soon. When he eventually grows to be an old man, he becomes tired and weak. He then ascends to Heaven to be with his family and loved ones, and all is right…at the right moment, and at the right place.

The story of “The Little Match Girl” is about a young girl, who is poor and without a mother. Her father is a cruel man, so she feels unloved and lonely…and often longs for something better. She roamed through the streets one night, with no shoes and clothed in rags. She had only owned a pair of slippers, but one she lost and one fell off her foot and was stolen by a little boy. He told her that it would make a good cradle for his own child when he was older. He said this because the shoes had been so large and way too big for her little feet. She was hungry, tired, and chilled to the bone as she continued to walk in the dark night. It was New Years Eve, and all the lights were on in every house. She could smell the roast goose in the air, making her mouth salivate. She had sold nothing that day, and new that if she were to return that night to her home, her father would surly beat her for not earning any money. She then came to a little corner between two houses, and sank down within it, huddling herself together to keep warm. She was frozen, and longing to be warmed and fed. Inside her pocket remained a little box of matches she had not sold. She took one and gave it a “scratch!” and it sputtered as it burnt. In the light of the fire, it appeared that she was next to a large iron stove. It had polished brass feet and a brass ornament. The light burnt out and she no longer saw these images. She then lit another match, and saw a table with a snowy tablecloth upon it, and on top of that, a roast goose stuffed with apples and dried plums. The goose jumped at her, with a knife and fork in its breast. Then the match went out. She lit another match, and this time found herself underneath a Christmas tree, larger and more beautifully decorated than any other she had seen before. And the light went out. She looked out and saw a star falling from the sky, and quietly said to herself, “Someone is dying”. Her old grandmother, the only one who had ever loved her, had told her when she was alive that whenever a star falls from the sky, a soul is going up to God…
She lit yet another match, and saw in the brightness, clear and shining, the figure of her grandmother. “Grandmother!” she exclaimed. “Oh, take me with you; I know you will go away when the match burns out; you will vanish like the warm stove, the roast goose, and the large, glorious Christmas tree.” She hastily lit all of her last matches in haste so that she may keep her grandmother with her. Her grandmother had never looked so beautiful. She took the little girl up in her arms, and carried her away with her, up to the Heavens, the brightness, the joy far above the earth, a place where there was no hunger, pain or cold, to be with God. In the dawn of morning, her little corpse, pale and smiling was found. She had frozen to death on the last night of the year. She sat there, in the stiffness of death, holding her little matches in her tiny hand, a bundle of which were all burnt. Some people would say, “She tried to warm herself with them”. No one ever quite knew, nor did they know what wonderful things she had seen or the glory she had entered with her grandmother, on New Years Day.

Both of these short stories have such meaning to them. They teach us not to be afraid of death, nor to look upon it as such a horrible and dreadful thing. When we die, it is the time that god meant for us to. Don’t wish to die, but do not wish not to die. Both authors made this very clear through such wonderful, meaningful short stories. The main conflicts of the stories include Man vs. Death, Man vs. God, and Man vs. nature. We can truly learn something from both stories and enjoy them thoroughly at the same time.

Compare and Contrast Essay: "A Child Dreams of a Star" and "The Little Match Girl"

Comparing “A Child Dreams of a Star” with “The Little Match Girl”

“A Child Dreams of a Star”, written by the famed Charles Dickens in the 1800’s, is a story of a growing boy who loses loved ones throughout his life but remains happy until his time comes. “The Little Match Girl” is a story produced by yet another famed writer, Hans Christian Anderson. It was written in the 1800’s also. The story consists of a poor girl who is dragged down deep in poverty and is not cast any help. She has visions of wonderful things and then dies and goes to a better place.
In “A Child Dreams of a Star” it is the early 1800’s. The story spreads throughout the main character’s whole life. The protagonist of the story is a positive person, despite suffering tremendous losses of loved ones throughout his entire life. He also does not fear death, but looks forward to it as a way to connect with his deceased loved ones. He dreams that every time a loved one of his dies, they go to the star that he and his sister would look at until her death, when she went to the star. He cries out to them every time, but they smile instead of taking him in, until the day of his death, when he joins them at the star. The theme of the story is that death isn’t horrible, but can be comforting and peaceful. The story may also have been written to help people overcome the fear of death.
The story “The Little Match Girl” takes place in the 1800’s. It is New Year’s Eve and bitterly cold. The main character is a lonely, poor, miserable, and young girl. She sells matches on the street to make money for her family, but has not made any on this given day. She sits to rest and warm her fingers with one of the matches she had not sold. She thinks so much warmth surrounds her that it is like being right next to an iron oven! But then the match goes out. She has a vision of a goose with a fork and knife coming towards her, ready for her to eat. But then the match goes out and it is gone. She lights another match and has a vision of sitting under a great big Christmas tree, and the lights on it are reaching higher and higher into the sky, like stars. Then she sees one fall and thinks of her dead grandmother who had told her that every time a star falls someone is dying. But once again the match goes out. Then she lights another match, only to see her grandmother, the only one who ever loved her. She quickly lit a bundle of matches so she could see her grandmother longer. Then the grandmother took the poor girl up in her arms and they flew towards the sky, and they were both with God. The child had died, frozen to death, but in a most wonderful way. The themes of this story are that death can be comforting, and to help those who are less fortunate then us, for often they go unnoticed.
There are quite a few similarities and differences in these stories, sometimes a similarity being a difference at the same time. For instance, in both stories there is a star, and in both stories the star is a large part of the story and represents death. In “The Little Match Girl” the star falls as she passes, as this quote shows: “Then she saw a star fall, leaving behind it a bright streak of fire. “Some one is dying,” thought the little girl, for her old grandmother, the only one who had ever loved her, and who was now dead, had told her that when a star falls, a soul was going up to God.” As the star fell the child was dying, unknown to her. In “ A Child Dreams of a Star” the star seems to have risen: “And one night as he lay upon his bed, his children standing round, he cried, as he had so long ago: ‘I see the star!’ They whispered one another, ‘He is dying.’ And he said, ‘I am. My age is falling from me like a garment, and I move towards the star as a child. And O, my Father, now I thank thee that it has so often opened, to receive those dear ones who await me!’” He also seems to be aware of his death, unlike “The Little Match Girl” who seems to just be dreaming things… That is another difference. For a similarity, in both stories death is represented as a positive event, warm and comforting. In the previous quote it shows this in “A Child Dreams of a Star” and in this quote from “The Little Match Girl” it also shows it: “She took the little girl in her arms, and they both flew upwards in brightness and joy far above the earth, where there was neither cold nor hunger nor pain, for they were with God.” As these quotes prove, the death of both of these characters seems to have been positive (except for the poor girl in “The Little Match Girl” being frozen and poor, but her actual “death” does not appear as a negative event).
Both of these stories have a very similar theme. The tone of “The Little Match Girl” is quite depressing in the beginning and middle, but in the end it seems a little more uplifting. “A Child Dreams of a Star” is happier to me throughout, for it does not tell of the main character’s despair as “The Little Match Girl” did (poverty, not making any money that day, being frozen to death, etc.). Both of these stories represent death as a positive event in one’s life. Overall both of these stories are very moving.

by Anna