Terry Pratchett's take on The Little Matchgirl in The Hogfather is both devastating and incredibly up lifting. Here's the thing, I've read The Little Matchgirl too many times and thought, 'hey, that's kind of fucked up. Why didn't anyone save her?'
Only to get told that 'oh, it's a tragic little story that's supposed to remind you to be grateful for what you have and also to show you the horrors of poverty. At least she's in a happier place now.'
And none of that ever sat quite right with me.
But Pratchett calls this out. He has Death ask the question of why no one came to help, about the reasoning behind letting this little girl die just for a sad story. It's poverty porn and also complacency in a systemic issue.
He doesn't leave you there though. Something is done to save her. Something is done to help. She is given a future. And no one knows who did it except for Death. She is given hope.
And this is something that I've found to be a through line on many of Pratchett's works, hope.
Yes things are fucked up. Yes things are awful. But there is always hope. There is always something that can be done.
And in just turning up your nose at an issue and saying, oh dear, that's very sad, you fail to take action and continue on with the problem year after year after year.
There is hope if we act. And there is no greater gift than a future.
2087
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