Two Stories: Compare Ugly Ducking And The Little Match Girl

COMPARE UGLY DUCKING AND THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL
ADA 3M Comparative Essay
Comparative Essay
October 19th 2017
1.0 Introduction
‘The Ugly Duck’ and ‘The Little Match Girl’ are fairy tales that depict the realities in our society today. Although written in different backgrounds and settings, the moral teachings behind the stories have transcended different generations. The aim of this essay is to compare and contrast the two stories, and discuss similarities and moral lessons that each story exemplifies.
While the two stories have disparities, a critical evaluation also reveals similarities between them. For example, both ‘The Ugly Duck’ and ‘The Little Match Girl’ were motherless, having been abandoned while they were young. Although they both lived within society, both of them suffered rejection and negligence of varying degrees. Secondly, both were poor and had to endure hunger due to lack of food. They both suffered under abject poverty, lacking basic needs such as food and clothing. Another similarity between the two is that even though they went through difficult moments, both remained hopeful of a better future. Both ‘The Ugly Duck’ and The ‘Little Match Girl’ remained optimistic even in situations that would have caused them to despair and give up. Both stories are written in a simplistic style. The target audience for both stories is children, perhaps explaining the use of simple vocabularies and unsophisticated plot. However their ending suggests that the plot wasn’t just meant for children as The Little Match Girl finally dies while the Ugly Duck becomes a pretty swan.
In spite of the above similarities, The Ugly Duck and The Little Match girl haveseveral differences in the plot, setting and character formation. The first difference is that the former was a duck while the later was a little girl. However, despite these obvious differences, the circumstances that they faced were similar. The second difference that existed between the two is that Ugly Duck had no knowledge of her fate; unlike The Little Match Girl who knew her fate given that the former is an animal character while the latter is human. While she was very sad, Ugly Duck received help from other Swans while The Little Match Girl received no help from those around her during her sad moments. The former received help from those around her whenever she needed it, while the later did not. Thus even though both went through similar circumstances, the response of those around them was different. There is a stark contrast in the way the two stories end. For example, at the end of the story, Ugly Duck ends up becoming a pretty swan in stark contrast to The Little Match Girl who eventually succumbs to hunger and cold at the end of the story. The moral lesson ...