The Little Match Girl

When you visit Denmark you might see the famous statue of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen.  (Look it up!) As you walk the streets you might discover different references to the tradition that Hans Christian Andersen has left behind him. But if you know anything about Hygge or about Hans Christian Andersen you may be confused concerning the relation between the cozy feeling that so many associate hygge with and the sharp bitterness of his story: The Little Match Girl. How does this story which has so many images of cozy flames that bring warmth and joy to their beholder combine hygge with great suffering?

 The Little Match Girl or “den Lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne” is the story of a girl wandering the streets on the last day of the year trying to sell her matches in order to make some money to bring home to her family. As she wanders, she encounters scenes that she wishes to be a part of, for example, a house that is lit with a fire and a family celebrating the coming of a New Year. Yet she continues past, and is not able to partake in the cozy scene. She does not manage to sell any matches and resorts to lighting her matches to keep warm. Images appear before her eyes when she lights the matches. Images that encapsulate the essence of hygge. A cast iron stove that seems to warm her whole body. A feast set on a table waiting to be enjoyed. A large Christmas tree that showers her with its brilliance. But each time the match burns out and she is left with only the memory of warmth. 

The little match girl encounters all of these images as she walks through the characteristically northern winter snow and she is drawn to all of these images as they are also characteristic of the northern way of living. Andersen portrays both of these aspects beautifully. He shows both the beauty and necessity of light and company while contrasting these images with the sad reality of the results of the lack of light and company. 

The image of light is the most poignant image in the story. The light shining through the windows represents the warm family scenes that she was not a part of. The light of the matches that she lights to keep herself warm turn into even greater sources of light. And the light of the love of her grandmother who appears to her with a kind glow. Light in this story represents both physical warmth and the warmth that accompanies the kinds of gatherings that are lit by candles, stoves, or Christmas trees. Hygge lovers will resonate with the warm interior feeling that is concomitant with the warm exterior feeling that candles bring to a gathering of friends. 

It seems as if Andersen is highlighting both the beauty of the customs that are quintessentially hygge and the result of the lack of the key element of these customs which is love. He has done it in a genius manner in which the reader cannot help but empathize with the little match girl because she has been deprived of all the things by which love makes hygge so beautiful. The lack of warmth that the little girl experiences is both physical and emotional. This is a great lesson to be learned through this story: that though we love the physical things that accompany the hyggelig lifestyle there is a key ingredient that no amount of material possessions will fulfill. 

I will not ruin the ending of the story if you have not read it. It is very worth reading and is quite short. I challenge all readers of Andersen to find the beauty amidst the suffering and the love that redeems the lives of his characters.