Meeting a Kindred Spirit, Finding Home

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Welcome to Green Gables, Kindred Spirits! This week we met Anne, a talkative, imaginative daydreamer to whom everything is either absolutely splendid or devastatingly filled with despair. We met Marilla Cuthbert, who at first glance is practical, rigid, sensible, and unromantic, but then there’s that “rusty smile” indicating a sense of humor beneath it all. And of course, there is Matthew, sweet, gentle, shy Matthew, who though normally afraid of little girls, is quite instantly charmed by Anne. 

One of the most loved aspects of these books, beyond the endearing Anne Shirely, is the beautiful depiction of Prince Edward Island. You can read these books and without having ever stepped foot on the island and you can see, smell, and hear it in full detail. Anne’s love of the land is translated beautifully for the reader, so I felt I would be remiss to not include the plants and animals that fill Anne and the reader with wonder. 

Our first week in Green Gables is filled with:

Alder Trees, Birch Trees, Balsam Firs, Maple Trees, White Cherry Trees, Birch Trees, and Spruce Trees, Ladies’ eardrops, wild rose bushes, wild plums, apple orchards, crocuses, dandelions, lilacs, fern, and clover & the only wild animal mentioned are frogs!

The story begins in Avonlea, a fictitious town based on the real town and home of author Lucy Maud Montgomery, Cavendish, of Prince Edward Island. Nosy, gossipy, neighbor Mrs. Rachel Lynde has noticed something out of the typical pattern of Avonlea, Matthew Cuthbert, “the shyest man alive”, has left his homestead at Green Gables, dressed in his finer clothes. Mrs Lynde knows the going-ons of everyone in this community, and Matthew leaving town is an “unusual mystery” in “quiet, unmysterious Green Gables”. Mrs. Lynde visits Matthew’s sister, Marilla, to find out what has caused this mystery, and much to her surprise, learns that the Cuthberts are adopting an orphan boy from Nova Scotia to assist in the farm work. 

We get a glimpse into some prejudice and nationalism when Marilla is certain about the importance of this orphan being Canadian. Marilla explains how hard it is to get hired help in Avonlea except for “those stupid, half-grown little French boys” and “no London street Arabs for me”. “I’ll feel easier in my mind and sleep sounder at nights if we get a born Canadian”. These quotes from Marilla can be hard to stomach, and certainly do not give us the best first impression of her. It shows Marilla’s strong reliance on familiarity - - “it isn’t as if we were getting him from England or the States. He can’t be much different from ourselves”.

Mrs. Lynde is strongly opposed to this decision, and offended to not have been asked her advice on the matter. She thinks bringing an unknown child into their home is a dangerous endeavor, which she shares openly. Hasn’t Marilla heard of the orphans burning down homes, poisoning the residents, and sucking eggs! What she does not share, is her pity for this child, reflecting on the unrealistic expectations the childless Cuthberts will likely have on this orphan.

Meanwhile, Matthew is at the station in Bright River and discovers the mistake that rather than an orphan boy, there awaits a little girl. Matthew is nervous around unfamiliar people, especially unfamiliar women, and worse yet, little girls! Matthew is confused and unsure how to handle the situation. He does not want to break the spirit of this little girl, so he decides to take her home and let Marilla do that task. We very quickly get a sense of Anne, as she chatters nonstop, which is perfect for Matthew who would prefer not to speak, and her chatter is filled with imagination and wonder. She comments on the beauty around her, shares the tales she invents in her head, reflects on the awfulness of the asylum, self-deprecates her looks, asks many questions about the workings of the world, and wonders at nearly every passing plant and road.

On the ride, about a mile away from Green Gables, they ride through The Avenue, which Anne describes as “the first thing I ever saw that couldn’t be improved upon by imagination”. To me, this moment is a preemptive homesickness, a longing that might just be realized, the tangible realization of a dream that Anne has been imagining all her 11 years. The Avenue, which Anne renames the White Way of Delight, is Anne’s sense of, I am home.

I find it tough not to smile as I read the rambling thoughts of Anne. Her loneliness is so apparent in this first interaction with Matthew. She is so ready to be seen and to be heard, and not just surface level, she wants her spirit and soul to be known.

This is the first instance that we see Anne’s fondness for giving things she loves a name. I took a Natural History class in college where our professor told us that the best way to learn flora and fauna is to name it ourselves before we look into the scientific name. He said this is how we connect to our environment, and that we would remember it much better. Anne intuitively understands this concept, and shows her love and appreciation of a place through its’ naming. Anne is drawn to the romanticism of names. She needs for them to feel right and to reflect the meaning that she has assigned. To her, each of these landmarks are significant in her journey home, and she needs for them to have names that indicate their importance.

Upon Anne’s arrival, Marilla does not hold back with exclamations of “where is the boy?” and Anne understands immediately that she is not wanted, it is the way she has felt her whole life. Just as we witness Anne express joy and wonder, we see her as deeply express her pain and sorrow; “her depths of despair”. Even in the midst of what she describes as “the most tragical thing that ever happened to me”, Anne is still thinking of the romanticism in her tragedy. She asks for Marilla to call her Cordelia, as Anne is such an unromantic name. Here we see Marilla’s stoicism and lack of tolerance for foolishness; “unromantic fiddlesticks”! Anne chooses her battles, and requests that if she must be Anne, at least be sure to call her Anne with an E (which is the title of a wonderful Netflix adaptation of Anne of Green Gables!). Throughout their first encounter, we begin to see Marilla as more than a stoic and steadfast old maid, but in her “rusty smile” we recognize that she is already humored, if not even a little bit charmed, by this odd and unexpected girl who has landed in her kitchen. 

There is an exploration of the role of gender in the unfolding of this story. How would this orphan’s arrival look differently had the intended boy arrived? How would Marilla have greeted him? She doesn’t feel right putting a girl to bed on the couch she had made for the boy (?), but rather decides to give Anne a private room for the night in the east gable room (because certainly not the spare room). 

We have met two characters who are starkly different. The vastly romantic and imaginative Anne, and her rigid counterpart, Marilla. This rigidity sends a shiver down Anne’s bones, and yet she wants to stay. She wants this to be her home. Matthew is an indecisive man, timid in making a stand, yet he can’t hold back his thoughts about Anne, that maybe she could stay. He turns the whole idea of a child’s arrival around when in response to Marilla questioning about what good Anne would give them, he states “we might be some good to her”. Finally! Adoption discussed as a means of improving a child’s life rather than as free labor!

After going to bed crying, Anne wakes up the next morning with a delight at her whereabouts. Throughout the first few chapters we get glimpses into the natural landscape around us, the flowers, trees, and brooks that fill this place. But in this first morning in Green Gables, we see Prince Edward Island through Anne’s eyes, and it is glorious.There is a clover filled meadow, surrounded by what seems like a fairy inhabited forest of ferns, moss, spruce, and firs, and as if this isn’t beautiful enough, off beyond the idyllic barns on sloping hills, there is “a sparkling blue glimpse of sea”. Who wouldn’t want to live here??

Anne and Marilla head to the Spencers to learn how this mistake has been made and to see about returning Anne to the asylum. As they travel, Marilla asks to know more about Anne, who initially resists, much rather wanting to share an imagined version of herself, but provides the facts of her life at Marilla’s insistence. We learn that Anne was orphaned at 3 months old, losing both her parents to fever. Her next 10 years are split between two households, both of impoverished women with drunken husbands, needing help in child rearing, and ending most recently with Anne at the overcrowded asylum for 4 months.

Here we realize Anne has never been cared for by another person. This excitable girl filled with childlike wonder has never had a true childhood, as she earned her keep by caring for other children. In hearing her story, Marilla feels pity for Anne and begins to allow the idea of keeping her creep into her mind. Marilla is gifted a solution to take Anne off her hands, and she doesn’t want it. She knows at this moment she cannot send this child back to the asylum, and she definitely cannot hand her over to Mrs. Blewett, another woman wanting to use Anne for childcare. 

This discomfort that Marilla feels brings up an interesting question- why is she horrified at the thought of Anne being used once again for free labor with child-rearing, when she herself planned to take in an orphan boy for free labor on the farm. Do you think she would have ended up having a similar reaction if an orphan boy who was equally love-starved as Anne showed up at her door and shared a similarly tough life history?

Marilla is now in a situation that she never would have imagined (because of course Marilla finds imagining useless)- - she is going to raise a little girl.  Marilla decides to send Anne to bed without telling her the decision, as she fears the excitement will keep her up all night. And as the reader, we get to enjoy Anne’s very first prayer! Marilla holds back her laughter and reminds herself that Anne is not irreverent, she just has no reason to believe in God’s love without having seen love in its human form. Each chapter, we see Marilla with more humor and greater empathy for this lonely child. Marilla waits until the next afternoon to tell an anxious Anne that she is staying at Green Gables. Anne breaks down into tears from excitement and relief. 

Throughout these first 10 chapters, there are constant explorations of the importance of friendship and connection. Anne clearly has a deep desire for friendship, or what she calls “kindred spirits” and “bosom friends”. This lonely girl who seems to find her kindred spirits in her imaginings, as well as the plants and creatures around her, describes knowing that Matthew was a kindred spirit as soon as she saw him. 

Do you think she had experienced this with another person before or is Matthew her first, human, kindred spirit? 

We know from her interaction with Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Blewett where she was quiet and resigned, that she clearly does not share her romantic longings and imaginative ideals with just anyone, demonstrating a near instant comfort with Matthew and Marilla. 

Anne describes a “bosom friend” (which she acknowledges she has never had before but has dreamed of her whole life), as an intimate friend with “whom I can confide my inmost soul”. What a relatable longing. Again, this is Anne showing just how much she wants to be seen. To be known. As the reader, we are beginning to understand more of Anne’s past, her trauma and loneliness. It breaks my heart when I imagine Anne’s only friend being her own reflection who she had named “Katie Maurice” and an echo on the river, “Violetta”. What a lonely existence she has had.

After two weeks at Green Gables, Anne has befriended every bird, bee, tree and shrub, before she has the opportunity to meet Mrs. Rachel Lynde, who rushes over as soon as she is freed from sickness. Mrs. Lynde is not one to hold back an opinion, and she instantly lets Marilla know what a mistake she has made by keeping Anne. As soon as Anne is called in, without even a hello, Mrs. Lynde instantly speaks ill of her looks. We know how much Anne wishes her looks could be different. It is with this commentary of Anne’s skinniness, homeliness, and carrot-red hair, that we see her temper for the first time. She shouts at Mrs. Lynde with cries of “I hate you”. Anne storms off in tears, and rather than apologizing for her behavior, Marilla defends her, offending Mrs. Lynde even more in the process. 

Marilla is put to her first test of parenting. She must help Anne see that her behavior was wrong, even if Mrs. Lynde’s words were hurtful. How does she have Anne take accountability for her part in this, without making allowances for the unkind words said to her. She may be uncomfortable with the situation, but you’ve got to hand it to her, Marilla takes the trials of child-rearing with grace, making strong and protective decisions, thinking of Anne’s welfare, understanding her background, and consciously choosing to stay away from the birch switch as a tool of punishment. Anne’s punishment is to give Mrs. Lynde an apology, and Anne decides she would rather lock herself away than make a false proclamation. 

In the decision of keeping Anne, Matthew was warned to stay out of the child-rearing role, but in the case of her being locked away for three meals in a row, he cannot help himself; he sneaks around his own home like a burglar in order to get his message to Anne. He convinces Anne to get the apology over with, and Anne acknowledges that after letting her temper pass, she actually is sorry for what she did. Marilla accompanies her to give the apology, and Anne does not disappoint as she turns her punishment into another opportunity to act out her romantic imaginings and gives Mrs. Lynde the apology of a lifetime, filled with demonstrative expressions, yet causing no doubt in the sincerity. 

The chapter ends with a touch of sweetness, with Anne holding Marilla’s hand and expressing her joy for going home. “Something warm and pleasant welled up in Marilla’s heart at the touch of that thin little hand in her own– a throb of the maternity she had missed”. For the first time, we see that Anne may not be the only lonesome one here. Matthew acted on a feeling of lonesomeness at Anne’s absence, and now Marilla is feeling stirred by the love of another. This is a household hungry for love, and Anne’s arrival may be the nourishment they all need.

This week we have explored themes of familiarity, loneliness, romanticism & imagination, home & belonging, and friendship. These themes will continue as major threads of the story. What are your initial reactions? Which characters do you connect with most?

Thank you for reading

Thank you for reading and joining me on this read-along of Anne of Green Gables and I look forward to connecting with you!

Photo by Scott Walsh on Unsplash

Your bosom friend,

Bri