Genre
Fairy tale
Setting and Context
A town (likely in Denmark) in the 19th century
Narrator and Point of View
The story is narrated from a third-person omniscient perspective; the point of view switches between the narrator, the little girl, and the people who find her body.
Tone and Mood
The tone of the story is pathetic (i.e. intend to evoke pathos); the mood is mournful but magical.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the little girl; the antagonists include her parents and the boy who steals her slipper.
Major Conflict
The little girl's major conflict is that she cannot return home without receiving a beating from her father, leaving her to wander the streets as hypothermia sets in.
Climax
The story reaches its climax when the little girl ascends to heaven with her grandmother, leaving behind her hunger, cold, and the cruelty of the mortal world.
Foreshadowing
The little girl's death is foreshadowed by the signs of frostbite and hypothermia settling into her body.
Understatement
Allusions
Imagery
Paradox
The little girl's mouth is smiling despite the fact she has frozen to death.
