Wishing I’d Met Anne Sooner
After I finished reading L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables for the first time this year, I couldn’t help but wish I had read it as a child – not unlike other children’s books I have been exploring lately. If Anne Shirley is so simpatico to me as a grown woman, I can only imagine how much I would have related to – and found comfort in – her when I was a young, overly imaginative little girl. Montgomery writes about relationships and the natural world in such a beautiful way without feeling overtly preachy – a hard task to accomplish in a children’s book from 1908, a time when it was still considered imperative for children’s books to have a moral lesson. Here then are 3 lessons I took from my first reading of Anne of Green Gables.
When Growing Up Means Giving Up Your Imagination
‘Do you never imagine things different from what they really are?’ Asked Anne wide-eyed.
‘No.’
‘Oh!’ Anne drew a long breath. ‘Oh, Miss – Marilla, How much you miss!’
Growing up, I was often considered to be a child who was a little odd, and prone to daydreaming and make-believe. I never did mind being this way, or even being thought of this way, but I found it interesting to note that whenever Anne is scolded (even if playfully) for her overactive thoughts, it is always adults doing the rebuking. Again, like Anne, I was also a child who was teased for using ‘big words’ in every day conversations. On reflection, the jibes were only ever from adults – other children were often weirdly awed at some of the words I used, and while I developed the reputation of keen writer and reader among my peers, it was in fact teachers or family members who would make fun of this. With the hindsight granted by adulthood, I can admit that is is a little amusing to hear someone so young use flowery vocabulary in every day conversations, but Anne of Green Gables makes pains to highlight that it is often adults, and entrance into adulthood, that ultimately stifles the the gift of imagination. In one ironic passage towards the end of the novel, Marilla laments that Anne herself has grown serious and quieter as she comes of age. Those bemusing qualities that were gently nurtured out of the girl evidently became the ones that are most associated with her former childhood, and are therefore missed all the more once gone.
The Quiet Power of Positivity and Persistence in Anne of Green Gables
‘Do you know,’ said Anne confidentially, ‘I’ve made up my mind to enjoy this drive. It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will. Of course, you must make it up firmly.’
Anne’s willpower is a force to be reckoned with at times. To stick with a plan of action in the face of adversity is a difficult enough skill to master, but Anne is able to remain steadfast in a certain way of thinking too, which is no mean feat considering how impulsive and changeable the human mind can be! It’s a reminder that, sometimes, making an active decision to behave or think in a certain way can be enough to make the change so (for a modern analogy, think “fake it ‘till you make it”).
This occasionally works to Anne’s detriment, such as when her determination evolves into stubbornness. For example, her resolution to never befriend Gilbert Blythe after he slights her is based entirely on a single exchange, and deprives her of a potential friendship. Though, whether her rivalry with Gilbert was an entirely a negative thing is up for debate, given that it fills Anne with the drive to succeed over her rival in studies and exams. Being resolute feels so easy when you’re young, and the stakes are low – no one ever tells you how hard it is to stay determined as you grow up, and how easy it becomes to give up when the going gets tough. But defeat is rarely a word in young Anne’s vocabulary, and it’s not usually about the reason for victory either: it’s about the success itself – Anne is willing to persevere so she can say she did her best and look back without regret, while enjoying ‘the joy of the strife’.
Is It Frivolous to Love Life?
“Anne’s beauty loving eyes lingered on it all, taking everything greedily in. She had looked on so many unlovely places in her life, poor child; but this was as lovely as anything she had ever dreamed. She knelt there, lost to everything but the loveliness around her, until she was startled by a hand on her shoulder. Marilla had come in unheard by the small dreamer.”
Montgomery depicts Anne’s tenancy toward being selfish or scatterbrained most often when she is indulging her imagination by gazing on the natural wonders of Avonlea. She is described as ‘lost’ in reverie, or ‘greedily’ taking the view in, characterising her as almost desperate to drink in the sights. The reason for this is made evident by the other ways Montgomery describes Anne: a ‘small’ ‘poor child’ who has grown up with the hardship of ‘unlovely’ places and people. Anne is grateful for her new surroundings, and takes care to romanticise the world around her, as both an escape from times of trouble and during reprieves as a means of appreciating her new life with the Cuthberts.
There’s been a trend in online content lately that encourages the romanticisation of life and the mundane – and equally, as with all internet concepts, detractors who say it is far too indulgent and superficial to romanticise everyday life too much. But it’s clearly a method of relief for Anne, and as there are events throughout the book that threaten to remove Anne from her new idyllic surroundings, it’s also a tool to help her enjoy and express gratitude for her life while she can.
Whether you agree with the idea of romanticising the mundane, Anne’s clear love of life is contagious, and at the very least a reminder to appreciate the little things that bring us joy.
Final Reflection on Anne of Green Gables
It shouldn’t be a shock that a coming of age story has so many life lessons, like some of the best children’s stories, but I was pleasantly surprised by how subtle these messages are. Much of this is ingrained in the character of Anne Shirley rather than just an overt moral lesson, and while we learn a lot with Anne, we also learn a lot from her, too. This is similar to the effect she has on her guardians, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, who come to exemplify patience and love through Anne’s impact on their lives. There are so many lessons to take away from Anne of Green Gables – and these are just her first adventures in Avonlea! I’m super excited to keep reading Montgomery’s work, and to see how life turns out for the little orphan whose start to life was very difficult indeed.
Have you read any L.M. Montgomery? What’s your favourite moment from Anne of Green Gables? Please let me know in the comments!
Header image: “Anne of Green Gables Museum” by Smudge 9000 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
