Anne Of Green Gables

Anne visits Green Gables every weekend to stave off her homesickness, along with many of the Avonlea bunch but finds it quite ridiculous that Gilbert insists on walking with Ruby Gillis everywhere. She knows her reaction to him back on the lake was wrong and thinks that Ruby cannot appreciate Gilbert’s intelligence as she could. She wishes they could be friends.

After the Christmas break, the students begin competing for the Queen’s Medal, the highest honor awarded each year, and the Avery Scholarship. Most consider Anne to be a competitor for both. Anne maintains her focus, working hard to beat Gilbert, “but somehow the bitterness had gone out of it” (342). As the end of the year examinations approach, all the girls sink into nervous habits, refusing to eat or sleep from the dread of failure—all except for Anne, who comforts herself by envisioning springtime at Green Gables. While the other girls talk about current fashions, Anne dreams about all the possibilities that lie in wait for her.

The morning of the final results finds Anne resolute in her desire that no matter what happens, life will go on. She begs Jane to look at the board for her, but before Jane can leave, they hear a commotion from the boys’ hall. The boys lift Gilbert high into the air as they proclaim him the winner of the Queen’s Medal. Anne feels “one sickening pang of defeat and disappointment” (346), but shortly after, someone cries out, “Three cheers for Miss Shirley, winner of the Avery!” (346). Anne is stunned, but in all the commotion, all she wants to do is write home to tell Marilla and Matthew.

Marilla and Matthew attend her graduation, visibly proud of “the tall girl in pale green, with faintly flushed cheeks and starry eyes” (347). Matthew turns to Marilla and says, “Reckon you’re glad we kept her?” (347), which prompts Marilla to scold him for rubbing it in. Anne returns to Green Gables with them, elated to be home. When Diana arrives to see her, Anne shares that she will be attending Redmond in the fall. Diana tells her that Gilbert will be teaching at the Avonlea school to pay his way through college, and Anne covers her surprise. She doesn’t feel college will be the same without their rivalry and never imagined going without him.

At breakfast the following day, Anne notices that Marilla and Matthew do not look well. Marilla reveals that Matthew has “had some real bad spells with his heart” (349) lately and that the pain behind her eyes has intensified to the point where she has scheduled an appointment with a specialist. Marilla then changes the subject to the Abbey Bank and asks Anne if she knows anything about it. When Anne replies, “I heard it was shaky” (350), Marilla confides in her that all their money is tied up in that bank.

Later that evening, Anne walks with Matthew to get the cows from the far pasture and gently chides him for working too hard, to which he responds that he’d “rather drop in [the] harness” (351) than stop working. Reflectively, Anne mentions that his life would be easier if she had been the boy they originally wanted. Matthew pats her hand and assures her that he’d “rather have [her] than a dozen boys” (351). No boy won the Avery Scholarship, and he makes a point to tell Anne that he is proud of her. Later, Anne sits in her room holding this memory close on “the last night before sorrow touched her life” (351). 

Matthew enters the kitchen door, “his face strangely drawn and gray” (352), with a letter in his hand. Marilla asks him if he is sick, but he collapses in the doorway before he can answer. Anne runs to tell Martin, the hired man, to get the doctor, and she and Marilla work hard to bring Matthew back to consciousness. Mrs. Rachel and the Barrys arrive, and Mrs. Rachel leans over Matthew to try and help him, but it is too late. He is gone.

According to the doctor, Matthew’s death was “instantaneous and probably painless” (353), and the letter in his hand explains why. The Abbey Bank failed, and all their money is gone. That evening, Matthew lies in state at Green Gables in his coffin, and Anne puts his favorite flowers in with him. Though Diana arrives to spend time with Anne, Anne tells her she’d rather be alone. Meanwhile, Marilla’s impassioned grief is heard across Avonlea.

Anne cannot cry, and she doesn’t understand why. It’s not until she thinks about their final conversation that the tears finally come. Marilla hears her and joins her in her grief. She reminds Anne that they have each other and finally tells Anne how much she loves her. Two days later, they bury Matthew in Avonlea cemetery. Anne struggles with life after his death and chastises herself every time she smiles or laughs, feeling that it is a disservice to his memory. She confides her feelings to Mrs. Allan, who reassures her that Matthew would want her to continue finding joy in life. She expresses concern to Anne about how Marilla will cope with the loss of her brother once Anne leaves for Redmond.

She returns home soon after the doctor leaves after examining Marilla’s eyes. Marilla reveals that she is going to town to see the specialist and asks if Anne can watch the house while she’s gone. The two of them share a laugh about all the mistakes Anne made in her younger days, and Anne reflects on how much she has grown. Marilla inquires which of Anne’s friends will be teaching in the fall and then specifically asks about Gilbert. She reveals that she saw Gilbert at church last Sunday and thought that he looked quite like his father did at that age. She surprises Anne by sharing that she and Gilbert’s father were good friends when they were younger, but they quarreled, and she never forgave him. 

Marilla goes to town to see the specialist, and Anne returns home from a visit with Diana later in the day to find Marilla sitting with her head in her hands. The specialist told her that she must give up sewing, reading, and crying, or she will be blind in six months. She is understandably dejected and bitter, and Anne works hard to convince her that everything will be okay. Anne makes Marilla take a nap, and then she sits in her room and contemplates the choices in front of her.

A few days later, a man from Carmody comes to speak to Marilla under the premise of buying Green Gables. Anne is shocked and declares that Marilla cannot possibly sell her home, but Marilla reveals that she cannot keep up the homestead alone in her financial and physical condition. When Marilla breaks down in tears, Anne reveals her plan—she will not be attending Redmond but will instead stay home and teach to save Green Gables. Marilla tries to change her mind, but it is no use. Nothing about her plans has changed; Anne will keep up with her studies from home and teach in Carmody, a few hours away. She has already made arrangements with the Carmody trustees. Though Marilla wants to stop her, she cries happy tears at the thought of keeping her home.

The news soon makes its way across Avonlea that Anne has turned down the Avery Scholarship, and many think she is making a huge mistake—but not Mrs. Rachel. She arrives at Green Gables one evening to find Marilla and Anne on the porch and makes it a point to tell Anne that she is glad Anne isn’t continuing her education because she doesn’t “believe in girls going to college with the men” (366). Laughing, Anne assures her she will still be keeping up with her work or as much as she can in between her trips back and forth to Carmody. Without warning, Mrs. Rachel reveals that Anne will not be teaching in Carmody since the Avonlea trustees have decided to give her the local school. Anne jumps up in shock: Avonlea school belonged to Gilbert! But Mrs. Rachel tells her that Gilbert surrendered the school as soon as he heard about Anne’s plan to stay with Marilla. Anne is overwhelmed with emotion.

The next evening, Anne travels to the cemetery to put fresh flowers on Matthew’s grave. On the way home, she sees Gilbert walking back to the Blythe homestead. He lifts his cap in a cordial greeting, but she stops him to thank him for his sacrifice. Gilbert eagerly asks if they can finally be friends now because they “were born to be good friends” (369), and Anne confesses that she has wanted to be friends since that day at the pond. He walks her back to Green Gables, and they talk at the gate for a half hour. Their meeting doesn’t get past Marilla, and she teases Anne about speaking to Gilbert for so long. Anne responds that they have “five years’ lost conversations to catch up with” (371).

Anne sits at her bedroom window that night, perfectly content in her life. She recognizes that her horizon has changed, but she knows that the path she is now on will be just as beautiful. All her dreams have come true, and all the joys of life lie in wait for her.