Girl with matches analysis. "Girl with matches"
Estes.
Analysis of the fairy tale "The girl with matches".
"The girl wanders the streets and asks passers-by to buy matches from her. This scene depicts one of the most unthinkable acts characteristic of women with a damaged instinct - she gives light for nothing. Here, small lights on sticks remind us of brighter lights - about planted on sticks of flaming turtles, familiar to us from the tale of Vasilisa.They symbolize wisdom and, more importantly, ignite the mind, turning darkness into light, making light that has already burned. main character soul renewal.
Here we have a girl who lives in great need, asking for alms, offering something extremely valuable - light - in exchange for a much less valuable - a penny. Does such an unequal exchange take place in our soul, or do we produce it in outside world, the result is always the same: further loss of energy. And then the woman loses the ability to satisfy her needs. What wants to live asks her, but gets nothing in return. Before us is a person who brings light from the abyss, like Sophia, who personified wisdom among the Greeks, but uselessly spends it in impulses of fruitless fantasy. Unsuccessful lovers, unfit bosses, forced situations and all kinds of harmful complexes push her to this choice.
When a girl decides to light matches, she uses these resources of hers not for action, but for fantasies. She expends her energy on fleeting purposes. In the life of a woman, this is manifested with all obviousness. She decides to go to college, and then for three years she thinks which one to choose. She is going to paint a series of paintings, but since she has nowhere to hang so many canvases, she does anything but painting. She wants to do this or that, but doesn't bother to learn, develop the receptivity or skill necessary to do the job well. She has filled ten notebooks with dreams, but has become entangled in fantasies trying to interpret them and cannot make them a guide to action. She knows that she needs to leave, start, stop, move on - and does nothing.
It is clear why this is so. If a woman's feelings are frozen, if she no longer feels herself, if her blood, her enthusiasm no longer reaches all corners of her soul, if she despairs, then life in fantasy becomes more pleasant for her than anything else that she can stop her eyes on. Little lights from matches, having no fuel, burn the soul like a dry log. The soul begins to deceive itself: it lives in the flame of fantasy, and in it all desires seem to come true. Such fantasies are like lies: repeat them more often, and you yourself will believe.
This way of dealing with fear, when we try to reduce problems or difficulties, enthusiastically coming up with impossible solutions or daydreaming about better times, is a scourge not only for women: this is the main obstacle in the path of all mankind.
Today I want to talk about a story. It has a deep psychological meaning. But first full text. Suddenly who did not read. I highly recommend it, when I read it for the first time, I cried.
GIRL WITH MATCHES
G.H. Andersen
How cold it was that evening! It was snowing and dusk was gathering. And the evening was the last of the year - New Year's Eve. In this cold and dark time, a little beggar girl, with her head uncovered and barefoot, wandered through the streets. True, she came out of the house shod, but how much use was there in huge old shoes? These shoes were worn by her mother before - that's how big they were - and the girl lost them today when she rushed to run across the road, frightened by two carriages that were rushing at full speed. She never found one shoe, the other was dragged off by some boy, saying that it would make an excellent cradle for his future children.
So the girl was now wandering barefoot, and her legs were reddened and blue from the cold. In the pocket of her old apron were several packs of sulfur matches, and she held one pack in her hand. All that day she did not sell a single match, and she was not given a penny. She wandered hungry and chilled, and she was so exhausted, poor thing!
Snowflakes settled on her long blond curls, beautifully scattered over her shoulders, but she, really, did not suspect that they were beautiful. Light poured in from all the windows, and the street smelled deliciously of roast goose—after all, it was New Year's Eve. That's what she thought!
Finally, the girl found a corner behind the ledge of the house. Then she sat up and huddled, tucking her legs under her. But she became even colder, and she did not dare to return home: after all, she did not manage to sell a single match, she did not help out a penny, and she knew that her father would kill her for this; besides, she thought, it was cold at home too; they live in the attic, where the wind blows, although the biggest cracks in the walls are stuffed with straw and rags.
Her little hands were completely numb. Ah, how the light of a small match would have warmed them! If only she had dared to pull out a match, strike it against the wall and warm her fingers! The girl timidly pulled out one match and ... teal! Like a match flared up, how brightly it lit up! The girl covered it with her hand, and the match began to burn with an even, bright flame, like a tiny candle.
Amazing candle! It seemed to the girl that she was sitting in front of a large iron stove with shiny brass balls and shutters. How gloriously the fire burns in it, how warm it blows! But what is it? The girl stretched out her legs to the fire to warm them up, and suddenly ... the flame went out, the stove disappeared, and the girl had a burnt match in her hand.
She struck another match, the match caught fire, lit up, and when its reflection fell on the wall, the wall became transparent, like muslin. The girl saw a room in front of her, and in it a table covered with a snow-white tablecloth and laden with expensive porcelain; on the table, spreading a wonderful aroma, was a dish of roast goose stuffed with prunes and apples! And the most wonderful thing was that the goose suddenly jumped off the table and, as it was, with a fork and a knife in its back, waddled along the floor. He went straight to the poor girl, but ... the match went out, and an impenetrable, cold, damp wall again stood in front of the poor girl.
The girl lit another match. Now she was sitting in front of a sumptuous Christmas tree. This tree was much taller and more elegant than the one that the girl saw on Christmas Eve, going up to the house of a wealthy merchant and looking out the window. Thousands of candles were burning on her green branches, and multi-colored pictures, which adorn shop windows, looked at the girl. The little girl held out her hands to them, but ... the match went out. The lights began to go higher and higher and soon turned into clear stars. One of them rolled across the sky, leaving a long trail of fire behind it.
“Someone died,” the girl thought, because her recently deceased old grandmother, who alone in the whole world loved her, told her more than once: “When an asterisk falls, someone’s soul flies to God.”
The girl again struck a match against the wall and, when everything around her lit up, she saw her old grandmother in this radiance, so quiet and enlightened, so kind and affectionate.
Grandmother, - the girl exclaimed, - take, take me to you! I know that you will leave when the match goes out, disappear like a warm stove, like a delicious roast goose and a wonderful big tree!
And she hurriedly struck all the matches left in the pack - that's how much she wanted to keep her grandmother! And the matches flared up so dazzlingly that it became brighter than during the day. Grandmother during her life has never been so beautiful, so majestic. She took the girl in her arms, and, illuminated by light and joy, both of them ascended high, high - where there is neither hunger, nor cold, nor fear, they ascended to God.
On a frosty morning, behind the ledge of the house, they found a girl: a blush played on her cheeks, a smile on her lips, but she was dead; she froze on the last evening of the old year. The New Year's sun illuminated the dead body of the girl with matches; she burned almost a whole pack.
The girl wanted to warm herself, people said. And no one knew what miracles she saw, in the midst of what beauty, together with her grandmother, they met New Year's Happiness.
Fairy tale analysis
You might think that this tale is just from the category of pitiful, but this is far from the case. Today I would like you to know secret meaning, which is embedded in this seemingly unpretentious plot.
G.H. Andersen masterfully wrote out various female portraits: little girls, girls, women and grandmothers. Without suspecting it, he put his psychological problems into his heroines: into their mouths, actions and life in general. Because his childhood years were not sugar at all. Thus, the writer tried to live through his childhood traumas.
Same with the Match Girl. For many, it is this tale that becomes very memorable, vivid and at the same time cruel.
Let us first consider the objective level of the tale, that is, inner world heroines. What happens in it? Here reigns coldness and dislike.
Pay attention to her inner parents: father and mother, how hostile they are to their daughter. They don't give her parental love and support, but on the contrary, they are forced to give away everything valuable that she has on the cheap. Her light creativity something that should be nurtured and developed.
How does this manifest itself in real life with real women? Lots of talented smartest women forced to drag out a miserable absurd existence. They are not able to find the strength in themselves, finally, to begin to develop their talents, voluntarily enclosing themselves in the shackles of everyday life. If you started writing a novel, but limited yourself to a couple of lines and put it on the back burner, you should know that your soul is already cold. If thoughts come to you that “if I were in other conditions”, “as soon as I earn money, I will allow myself”, “if it weren’t for my environment, then I would sing (draw, be famous) for a long time” , "I will take care of my personal life as soon as the child grows up" know that you are in the position of the Match Girl. Because indulge yourself with the illusion that you will ever change the existing course of events.
Often this happens to women who did not receive love, sympathy and help from their natural parents (or parents died in a very early age). When parents only made claims and brought up according to the type of "first lessons, and then we'll see if you deserve our love." Therefore, a woman does not show love, care, and attention to her true desires.
Here we see a similar plot “if you don’t sell matches, you will be punished.” And the girl prefers not to return home. House - symbolic soul girls are cold and empty, because the inner parents do not create comfort in it. They do not care about the family, as if they do not care what happens in the end. After all, few people can withstand such a tense situation for a long time. And a real woman, feeling this deadly cold, wants to warm up. She does not take matches for this, but alcohol, drugs, food, a lot of love affairs, countless purchases of clothes and jewelry, just not to think and feel what she feels. But the next morning she gets up in an even worse condition. So her soul is dead.
Pay attention to the fact that duties are imposed on a small, not grown-up person, which she obviously cannot fulfill. She is obliged to earn money, and not to play, grow and gain strength. Only people who are not interested in the development of the child act in this way. This happens in families where children are raised in advance as small adults and they are charged with the duties of absolutely adult things: to nurse the younger ones, to cook, to run the household. Killing the child in the child, and with it the creativity. Unfortunately, the consequences of such upbringing are deplorable. Such women are often burdened by games, fun with children. They lack a sense of humor and have problems with sex.
Now think about this: what kind of response did this fairy tale evoke in your soul? What feelings do you experience after reading? Perhaps you are so attached to the main character that there is a feeling as if this is happening to you. And then think about what ideas and talents of yours you do not give a go? What innermost thoughts have you driven into a far corner so as not to see or think about them? If you manage to answer them - that's half the battle, you will be on the right track to create a cozy warm home for your soul.
Warming the soul is not easy, because for this you need to be able to listen to yourself. If this girl had positive inner parents, then she would know what to do in difficult situation. Ask for help, secretly spend the night in someone else's barn, sneak into the house and there to fuss about food and warmth, that is, use all means in order to live and create further.
I know one trick to start building my inner support that works well. Imagine how you would like to see your inner parents: loving, kind, helping, caring for you. Try to imagine this picture. It will be good if you draw it. IN difficult moments you can turn to them for support, this gives you the opportunity to feel that you are not alone, even if the whole world has turned its back on you.
I usually tell my clients this: "Become your own mother." And I wish you the same. Take care of yourself, develop your personality and talents, then you will definitely not freeze.
I would love to discuss with you, so I look forward to your comments.
I said: “Yes, I think the author wanted people to cry. You see, it's not only in the old days there were children who died of hunger and cold. The author reminds us all - both adults and children, that even now not everyone has a warm cozy home, delicious food, a lot of toys, even parents - not everyone has. After all, if we remember this, then we will be glad that we have, and we will not complain about bad life, and maybe even help someone who is in trouble.”
Of course, this tale is not at all Ksyusha's first contact with the theme of death, rather it is the completion of a certain stage. The theme of death arose on its own when Ksyusha was two and a half years old. A cat that has lived with us for ten years has disappeared at the dacha. Attempts to come up with a further prosperous fate for the cat (found new owners, decided to become a wild animal) looked unconvincing. And even more so it was wrong to reassure Ksyusha that the cat would return. I had to firmly say: "Ksyusha, the cat will not return, most likely, she died." Ksyusha began to inquire: how did she die, where did she go after all, why will we not see her again? She cried and asked: “Where do those who die?” I answered: "They are in heaven." My answers calmed her for a while: “And if I climb onto the roof, and the one who died pops out of the cloud, can we talk?” I kindly say that this is impossible. Ksyusha again begins to cry and repeat: “I don’t want it to be like this.”
She mentally tried to come to terms with the fact of death for two years, crying, but did not stop asking questions. He asks, for example: “What is a mummy?” I say: "Ksyusha, you will not like to know this at all." She insists. I explain - again sobs. But he continues to be interested in details. Looks at some picture: “And all these people - are they dead?” Or: “Why are monuments erected only to those who have died?” And so two years.
Now she is quite calm about the fact that the body is in the cemetery. And the soul never dies. Of course, she tried to get an answer from me to the question “what is the soul?”. I honestly said that I can’t answer exactly, it’s just there and that’s it.
Together we try to understand what death is, and we talk about it.
But with the eldest son, everything was different.
Diary entry dated February 4, 2002(Misha is 4 years and 10 months old - almost like Ksyusha is now.)
Read "The Little Match Girl" by Andersen.
"Mom, she's not dead, is she?" Not dead, no!?”
And as if ahead of my answer (suddenly I will say that I died, alas, I died):
“She just fell asleep! Yes! After all, the snow is so soft and fluffy, like a pillow. She only needs to be brought to a warm house... We also need to give her money so that she can return to her place. They did that, didn't they?"
He said all this quickly, in one breath, as if convincing himself.
Maybe this is wrong. But if he so wants to believe.
After all, the truth does not always heal, or not all. Certainly not right away.
Be that as it may, the "Girl with matches" remained the most scary tale for Misha. Seems like forever. Last year, having learned that Ksyusha and I were going to New Year's performance"Girl with matches" to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, he literally begged me not to take Ksyusha there. I affectionately explained to him that only the title remained from The Girl with Matches, it is unlikely that the authors of the production want to make the whole audience cry, and Ksyusha is a slightly different child. He was looking forward to our return - apparently, he wanted to make sure that Ksyusha was still a cheerful, noisy and capricious child.
Natalia Solyanik
Today I want to talk about a story. It has a deep psychological meaning. But first, the full text. Suddenly who did not read. I highly recommend it, when I read it for the first time a few years ago, I cried.
GIRL WITH MATCHES
G.H. Andersen
How cold it was that evening! It was snowing and dusk was gathering. And the evening was the last of the year - New Year's Eve. In this cold and dark time, a little beggar girl, with her head uncovered and barefoot, wandered through the streets. True, she came out of the house shod, but how much use was there in huge old shoes? These shoes were worn by her mother before - that's how big they were - and the girl lost them today when she rushed to run across the road, frightened by two carriages that were rushing at full speed. She never found one shoe, the other was dragged off by some boy, saying that it would make an excellent cradle for his future children.
So the girl was now wandering barefoot, and her legs were reddened and blue from the cold. In the pocket of her old apron were several packs of sulfur matches, and she held one pack in her hand. All that day she did not sell a single match, and she was not given a penny. She wandered hungry and chilled, and she was so exhausted, poor thing!
Snowflakes settled on her long blond curls, beautifully scattered over her shoulders, but she, really, did not suspect that they were beautiful. Light poured in from all the windows, and the street smelled deliciously of roast goose—after all, it was New Year's Eve. That's what she thought!
Finally, the girl found a corner behind the ledge of the house. Then she sat up and huddled, tucking her legs under her. But she became even colder, and she did not dare to return home: after all, she did not manage to sell a single match, she did not help out a penny, and she knew that her father would kill her for this; besides, she thought, it was cold at home too; they live in the attic, where the wind blows, although the biggest cracks in the walls are stuffed with straw and rags.
Her little hands were completely numb. Ah, how the light of a small match would have warmed them! If only she had dared to pull out a match, strike it against the wall and warm her fingers! The girl timidly pulled out one match and ... teal! Like a match flared up, how brightly it lit up! The girl covered it with her hand, and the match began to burn with an even, bright flame, like a tiny candle.
Amazing candle! It seemed to the girl that she was sitting in front of a large iron stove with shiny brass balls and shutters. How gloriously the fire burns in it, how warm it blows! But what is it? The girl stretched out her legs to the fire to warm them up, and suddenly ... the flame went out, the stove disappeared, and the girl had a burnt match in her hand.
She struck another match, the match caught fire, lit up, and when its reflection fell on the wall, the wall became transparent, like muslin. The girl saw a room in front of her, and in it a table covered with a snow-white tablecloth and laden with expensive porcelain; on the table, spreading a wonderful aroma, was a dish of roast goose stuffed with prunes and apples! And the most wonderful thing was that the goose suddenly jumped off the table and, as it was, with a fork and a knife in its back, waddled along the floor. He went straight to the poor girl, but ... the match went out, and an impenetrable, cold, damp wall again stood in front of the poor girl.
The girl lit another match. Now she was sitting in front of a sumptuous Christmas tree. This tree was much taller and more elegant than the one that the girl saw on Christmas Eve, going up to the house of a wealthy merchant and looking out the window. Thousands of candles were burning on her green branches, and multi-colored pictures, which adorn shop windows, looked at the girl. The little girl held out her hands to them, but ... the match went out. The lights began to go higher and higher and soon turned into clear stars. One of them rolled across the sky, leaving a long trail of fire behind it.
"Someone died," the girl thought, because her recently deceased old grandmother, who alone in the whole world loved her, told her more than once: "When an asterisk falls, someone's soul flies to God."
The girl again struck a match against the wall and, when everything around her lit up, she saw her old grandmother in this radiance, so quiet and enlightened, so kind and affectionate.
Grandmother, - the girl exclaimed, - take, take me to you! I know that you will leave when the match goes out, disappear like a warm stove, like a delicious roast goose and a wonderful big tree!
And she hurriedly struck all the matches left in the pack - that's how much she wanted to keep her grandmother! And the matches flared up so dazzlingly that it became brighter than during the day. Grandmother during her life has never been so beautiful, so majestic. She took the girl in her arms, and, illuminated by light and joy, both of them ascended high, high - where there is neither hunger, nor cold, nor fear, they ascended to God.
On a frosty morning, behind the ledge of the house, they found a girl: a blush played on her cheeks, a smile on her lips, but she was dead; she froze on the last evening of the old year. The New Year's sun illuminated the dead body of the girl with matches; she burned almost a whole pack.
“The girl wanted to warm up,” people said. And no one knew what miracles she saw, in the midst of what beauty, together with her grandmother, they met New Year's Happiness.
Fairy tale analysis
You might think that this tale is just from the category of pitiful, but this is far from the case. Today I would like you to find out the secret meaning that lies in this seemingly unpretentious plot.
G.H. Andersen skillfully wrote out various female portraits in his creations: little girls, girls, women and grandmothers. Without suspecting it, he put his psychological problems into his heroines: into their mouths, actions and life in general. Because his childhood years were not sugar at all. Thus, the writer tried to live through his childhood traumas.
Same with the Match Girl. For many, it is this tale that becomes very memorable, vivid and at the same time cruel.
Let us first consider the objective level of the fairy tale, that is, the inner world of the heroine. What happens in it? Here reigns coldness and dislike.
Pay attention to her inner parents: father and mother, how hostile they are to their daughter. They do not give her parental love and support, but on the contrary, they force her to give away everything of value that she has on the cheap. Its light, creativity, something that should be cherished and developed.
How does this manifest itself in real life with real women? A lot of talented, smartest women are forced to drag out a miserable, ridiculous existence. They are not able to find the strength in themselves, finally, to begin to develop their talents, voluntarily enclosing themselves in the shackles of everyday life. If you started writing a novel, but limited yourself to a couple of lines and put it on the back burner, you should know that your soul is already cold. If thoughts come to you that “if I were in other conditions”, “as soon as I earn money, I will allow myself”, “if it weren’t for my environment, then I would sing (draw, be famous) for a long time” , "I will take care of my personal life as soon as the child grows up" know that you are in the position of the Match Girl. Because indulge yourself with the illusion that you will ever change the existing course of events.
Often this happens to women who did not receive love, sympathy and help from their own parents (or parents died at a very early age). When parents only made claims and brought up according to the type of "first lessons, and then we'll see if you deserve our love." Therefore, a woman does not show love, care, and attention to her true desires.
Here we see a similar plot “if you don’t sell matches, you will be punished.” And the girl prefers not to return home. The house - the symbolic soul of the girl - is cold and empty, since the inner parents do not create comfort in it. They do not care about the family, as if they do not care what happens in the end. After all, few people can withstand such a tense situation for a long time. And a real woman, feeling this deadly cold, wants to warm up. She takes not matches for this, but alcohol, drugs, food, many love affairs, countless purchases of clothes and jewelry, just so as not to think and not feel what she feels. But the next morning she gets up in an even worse condition. So her soul is dead.
Pay attention to the fact that duties are imposed on a small, not grown-up person, which she obviously cannot fulfill. She is obliged to earn money, and not to play, grow and gain strength. Only people who are not interested in the development of the child act in this way. This happens in families where children are raised in advance as small adults and they are charged with the duties of absolutely adult things: to nurse the younger ones, to cook, to run the household. Killing the child in the child, and with it the creativity. Unfortunately, the consequences of such upbringing are deplorable. Such women are often burdened by games, fun with children. They lack a sense of humor and have problems with sex.
Now think about this: what kind of response did this fairy tale evoke in your soul? What feelings do you experience after reading? Perhaps you are so attached to the main character that there is a feeling as if this is happening to you. And then think about what ideas and talents of yours you do not give a go? What innermost thoughts have you driven into a far corner so as not to see or think about them? If you manage to answer them - that's half the battle, you will be on the right track to create a cozy warm home for your soul.
Warming the soul is not easy, because for this you need to be able to listen to yourself. If this girl had positive inner parents, then she would know what to do in a difficult situation. Ask for help, secretly spend the night in someone else's barn, sneak into the house and there to fuss about food and warmth, that is, use all means in order to live and create further.
I know one trick to start building my inner support that works well. Imagine how you would like to see your inner parents: loving, kind, helping, caring for you. Try to imagine this picture. It will be good if you draw it. In difficult times, you can turn to them for support, this gives you the opportunity to feel that you are not alone, even if the whole world has turned its back on you.
I usually tell my clients this: "Become your own mother." And I wish you the same. Take care of yourself, develop your personality and talents, then you will definitely not freeze.
P.S. Illustrations by Natalia Demidova.
"Girl with matches" G.Kh. Andersen and "The Boy at Christ on the Christmas Tree" by F.M. Dostoevsky
Learning from students
Vladislav Osipov
The work was written by Vladislav Osipov when he was a student of the 6th grade of the secondary secondary school No. 110 of Kazan (literature teacher - Elena Vladimirovna Eremeeva).
"Girl with matches" G.Kh. Andersen and "The Boy at Christ on the Christmas Tree" by F.M. Dostoevsky
Benchmarking experience
This research the youngest participant of the scientific-practical conference "Science is a matter of the young", held annually in Kazan. The author in 2002 was awarded a diploma of the 1st degree (section "Literature").
The purpose of my small study is to analyze works of art that at first glance have nothing in common with each other. They were written by completely different writers, one of whom lived in Denmark, and the other in Russia. One was a great storyteller, and the other a realist writer. But a deeper acquaintance with the story of F.M. Dostoevsky "The Boy at Christ on the Christmas Tree" and the fairy tale by G.Kh. Andersen's "Girl with Matches" suggested to me that these works are similar in many ways. Why did it happen? I thought about this for a long time and came to the conclusion that these writers are united by an attachment to one theme - the theme of childhood suffering. Of course, Dostoevsky and Andersen are humanists. It was hard for them to observe the life of small destitute children. Therefore, it seems to me that with these two small works they wanted to draw attention to one problem: “Reader, you are now skimming through these lines, and at the same time, somewhere on the streets of Copenhagen or St. Petersburg, a child, exhausted by suffering and cold, is freezing.”
So, let's turn to the content of the works. The action of "The Little Match Girl" and "The Boy at Christ's Tree" takes place on the eve of the New Year and before Christmas, respectively. The girl walked down the street and sold matches to earn money for food. She wandered through the streets, afraid to return home. After all, her father will kill her because she did not sell the box. And in Dostoevsky's story, to which he gave the subtitle "Svyatochny", boys with a "handle", that is, begging for alms, are also expected to be beaten by "halatniks". Thus, fear, hunger, humiliation become an integral part of a child's life. In the center of the narrative of both writers is the unfortunate fate of children from poor families in the 19th century.
The composition of the story is one-part, the story consists of two parts. Surprisingly, it seems, almost in parallel, that the plots of these works develop as well. By chance, our heroes find themselves on the street.
“Finally, she sat down in a corner, behind the ledge of one house, huddled up and tucked her legs under her in order to warm up at least a little” (“Girl with Matches”).
“Here again the street - oh, what a wide one! Here they’ll probably crush them like that: how everyone screams, runs and rides, but there’s light, light!” ("The boy at Christ on the Christmas tree").
Both writers use antithesis as the main artistic device. The authors contrast the gloomy pictures of cellars, dark streets and dim lanterns with the unusual beauty of visions and dreams. young heroes. And surprisingly - these pictures are so similar!
“This is a Christmas tree, and there are as many lights on the Christmas tree as there are gold pieces of paper and apples, and around there are dolls, little horses; and children run around the room, smart, clean, laughing and playing, and eating, and drinking something ”(“ The Boy at Christ on the Christmas Tree ”).
“The girl lit another match. Now she was sitting in front of a sumptuous Christmas tree<...>Thousands of candles were burning on its green branches, and multi-colored pictures, which decorate shop windows, looked at the girl ”(“ The Girl with Matches ”).
As we can see, for children, the Christmas tree becomes a symbol of well-being, harmony, happiness and comfort. But they cannot get all this here on earth. Both writers understood that life and society are too cruel to children. This is probably why the ending of both the story and the story is the same: the fate of the heroes will be tragic, they will die of cold and hunger.
“In the cold morning hour, in the corner behind the house, the girl with rosy cheeks and a smile on her lips still sat, but dead. She froze on the last evening of the old year; New Year's sun illuminated the dead body of a girl with matches.
“And below, in the morning, the janitors found a small corpse of a boy who ran in and froze for firewood; they also found his mother ... She died even before him; both met with the Lord God in heaven.”
Special mention should be made of the attitude of the author to his characters, it seems to me very similar. Both Dostoevsky and Andersen sympathize with unfortunate children. Describing both the girl and the boy, writers use words with diminutive suffixes: “frozen fingers”, “pink cheeks”, “skinny hands”. Portrait characteristics are full of pity and tenderness, the hearts of real artists seem to be torn from pain. Neither Dostoevsky nor Andersen endow their hero with a name. I think this has a special meaning: such a fate was prepared for many children.
It is impossible not to pay attention to the fact that in both works there is an episode of a meeting with people close to the children. Even on the threshold of another life. At least in this way, but the boy and girl are rewarded for their suffering. Both writers give their heroes one moment of happiness.
“Grandma during her lifetime was never so beautiful, so majestic. She took the girl in her arms, and, illuminated with light and joy, both of them ascended to God.
“Where is he now: everything glitters, everything shines and all around are dolls, but no, these are all boys and girls, only so bright, they all circle around him, fly, they all kiss him, take him, carry him with them, Yes, and he himself flies, and he sees: his mother looks and laughs at him joyfully.
In conclusion, it is necessary to highlight the general idea of F.M. Dostoevsky "The Boy at Christ on the Christmas Tree" and fairy tales by G.Kh. Andersen "Girl with matches", written in the XIX century. Idea - “Be merciful!” In the 21st century, it sounds especially relevant, because there are still a lot of children in need of compassion and help.
Literature
Andersen G.Kh. Fairy tales. Stories. Moscow: Sunday, 1996.
Dostoevsky F.M. Stories. M.: Sovremennik, 1983.
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