Did the little match girl die?

Answer 1

Yes, in the original Anderson story. Her body was found by the police and evidentally she died of exposure to the cold. Some modern rewrites have blood-sugared the outcome and have even suggested that the girl, nameless in the original ( as are many expendable characters) be rescued and adopted by some fortunate family. This would give the pathetic tale a positive ending. Like many Fairy Tales ( and there are no supernatural elements here other than memories of the Good Grandmother)- There are numerous variants- in some the child has been abused by her real or adoptive father, locales vary from Copenhagen to Czarist Russia to mid-modern Manhattan . All are settled in or around the Christmas season when one assumes the charitable impulse is at its height. The indifference of people to human suffering during the holiday season when there is much merrymaking and Ho Ho Ho undercores most versions of the tale. It does make one think and wonder about social problems just under the surface.