Anne of Green Gables: Chapter 37: The Reaper Whose Name Is Death Summary & Analysis

The next morning, Anne comes through the hall with an armful of flowers, hearing Marilla speaking anxiously to Matthew. When she reaches the door, she sees Matthew, gray-faced, with a newspaper in his hand. Before she or Marilla can reach him, he faints across the threshold. Anne sends the hired man for the doctor, and soon Mrs. Lynde arrives to help. She listens to Matthew’s heart and tearfully tells Marilla she doesn’t think there’s anything they can do. Anne looks at Matthew’s still face and sees Mrs. Lynde is right.

The doctor determines that Matthew probably died painlessly from some great shock. The source of the shock is found to be the news of the Abbey Bank’s failure. All day friends and neighbors visit Green Gables. Anne tucks Matthew’s favorite flowers around his casket, feeling unable to cry. Diana offers to spend the night at Green Gables, but Anne feels she needs time alone to try to come to terms with Matthew’s death. Marilla has been weeping stormily, in sharp contrast to her lifelong reserve.

Finally, in the middle of the night, Anne wakes up remembering Matthew’s last words to her—“My girl that I’m proud of”—and cries at last. Marilla comes in and comforts Anne. She says they’ll help each other now. She knows she’s been strict with Anne in the past, but she wants to tell her while she can: she loves Anne as if she were her own flesh and blood, and she’s been the joy of Marilla’s life since she first came.

After Matthew’s funeral, life in Avonlea and Green Gables begins to go back to normal. At first, Anne feels almost ashamed to find pleasure and beauty in life again, but Mrs. Allan reminds her that Matthew loved to hear Anne laugh, even though it feels “unfaithful” to Matthew to regain interest in life. After visiting Mrs. Allan, Anne walks home slowly and finds Marilla sitting on the front steps. Marilla explains that she needs to get her eyes examined by a visiting specialist tomorrow, so she’ll need Anne to look after the place for the day. They laugh together over the memory of some of Anne’s youthful mishaps. Anne ruefully recalls her childish preoccupation with her red hair and freckles. The latter are gone, and most people tell Anne that her hair is auburn nowadays.

As they talk about the plans of several of Anne’s friends, the conversation drifts to Gilbert Blythe, and Marilla tells Anne that she once dated Gilbert’s father John. It all ended over a silly, stubborn quarrel—Marilla wouldn’t forgive John for something, and she’s always sort of regretted it.