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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Anne of Green Gables, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Home and Family
Beauty and Imagination
Friendship
Mishaps, Milestones, and Growing Up
Boys and Romance
God, Prayer, and Church
Summary
Analysis
The next three weeks are spent making arrangements for Queen’s. Matthew has made sure Anne will be well outfitted, and Marilla doesn’t protest. She even plans a pretty evening dress for Anne, with material Mrs. Allan picked out. When the dress is finished, Anne tries it on and recites “The Maiden’s Vow” for Marilla and Matthew in the kitchen. It reminds Marilla of Anne’s first night at Green Gables, and she starts to cry. Anne sits on Marilla’s lap and assures her that she hasn’t really changed at heart—she’ll always be their little Anne. Marilla just embraces her wordlessly. Matthew, hiding his tears, wanders outside, reflecting that the “mistake” at the orphanage four years ago was really “Providence.”
Now that Anne is growing up, Matthew and Marilla are there primarily to support her, not to raise her. This fact is emotional for them, and Marilla is demonstrative in her feelings for the first time. From Anne’s perspective, she hasn’t really changed and never will, at least not inwardly. Whether that’s completely true or not, it shows how central Green Gables is to her identity. Matthew believes that God sent Anne to them as a blessing, even though it seemed like a mistake at the time.
Themes
One September morning, Matthew drives Anne to Charlottetown. Though Anne’s and Marilla’s farewell was calm and practical on Marilla’s side, Marilla spends the day in furious housework, and she cries herself to sleep that night. Anne’s day, on the other hand, is filled with the busy excitement of learning her way around the Academy. Like Gilbert Blythe, she’ll be starting Second Year work, an accelerated course for the teacher’s license. As she sits in one of her huge classes, she can’t help but feel glad that Gilbert is here—without their rivalry, she’d hardly know how to motivate herself.
Anne’s departure changes Green Gables forever, and her absence is deeply felt. For Anne, it’s a time of new beginnings, though some things remain the same—like her reliance on Gilbert’s competition to help motivate her academically. Gilbert has been a constant in Anne’s life and she values him, whether she admits that to herself or not.
Themes
That night in her boarding house room—a narrow, pictureless, dull little room—Anne is filled with homesickness for Green Gables. Just as she’s starting to cry, Josie Pye appears. Even Josie Pye’s face is welcome in this lonely place. Jane and Ruby show up soon after, and the group shares some of Marilla’s cake among them. Anne blushingly admits that she’s thinking of trying to win the Queen’s medal that year. She also learns that an Avery scholarship will be available to a Queen’s scholar. Suddenly, Anne’s ambitions shift. If she won the scholarship in English, she could go to Redmond College for a real Bachelor’s degree. Ambition, Anne decides, is delightful—as soon as one ambition is achieved, another one appears on the horizon.
Even if it’s the right place for Anne, Queen’s can never be the same as Green Gables or Avonlea. Still, old friends help her with the transition—and even while homesick, she doesn’t abandon ambition, which has been an important part of her maturity. When she learns that a goal beyond the Queen’s medal is available—the chance to get a full college degree in addition to teaching licensure—she is quick to embrace it.
Themes
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