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.