Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables

by

L. M. Montgomery

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Mishaps, Milestones, and Growing Up Theme Analysis

Themes and Colors
Home and Family Theme Icon
Beauty and Imagination Theme Icon
Friendship Theme Icon
Mishaps, Milestones, and Growing Up Theme Icon
Boys and Romance Theme Icon
God, Prayer, and Church Theme Icon
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.
Mishaps, Milestones, and Growing Up Theme Icon

Much of Anne of Green Gables recounts Anne’s mistakes and failed efforts to “be good.” Sometimes these things happen because of simple inexperience, like accidentally getting Diana drunk on currant wine that Anne believed was raspberry cordial, or putting liniment oil into a cake instead of vanilla. Sometimes Anne’s mistakes are the result of just indulging her imagination too freely, like reenacting a Tennyson poem and almost drowning in the pond, or sheer stubbornness, like accepting a dare to walk across a roof. These “scrapes” inevitably cause Anne a great deal of humiliation and self-reproach. Yet, over time, Anne recognizes that her mishaps teach her valuable lessons, and as she grows up, those lessons help her to overcome her weaknesses, become more resilient, and make better choices. Through Anne’s mishaps and triumphs while growing up, Montgomery suggests that the most important part of coming of age isn’t just about learning to “be good,” but building resilience and the willingness to learn from one’s mistakes.

Anne’s mistakes are important for her development, because each mistake comes with a lesson that Anne is ready and willing to learn. When Anne, who’s always hated her red hair, attempts to dye it black using cheap dye from a peddler, the result is disastrous, leaving Anne with greenish hair that eventually has to be cut short. She realizes she liked her old hair better than she thought, vowing to look at her pathetic short hair at every opportunity: “I’ll do penance for being wicked that way […] I never thought I was vain about my hair, of all things, but now I know I was, in spite of its being red, because it was so long and thick and curly.” Anne’s mistakes help her recognize her shortcomings, such as vanity, and to be more grateful for what she has.

After almost sinking a boat in the Barrys’ pond, Anne reflects to Marilla that “Ever since I came to Green Gables I’ve been making mistakes, and each mistake has helped to cure me of some great shortcoming. […] The Haunted Wood mistake cured me of letting my imagination run away with me. The liniment cake mistake cured me of carelessness in cooking. Dyeing my hair cured me of vanity […] And today’s mistake is going to cure me of being too romantic.” Though Anne’s conclusion is probably more hard-and-fast than reality (a single mishap usually doesn’t “cure” a person of a fault), she recognizes the pattern that surviving humiliating ordeals tends to build up a person’s character.

As Anne’s character strengthens and she grows up, she doesn’t just survive mishaps but gains resilience, which eventually helps her make mature decisions about her future. As Anne’s academic ambition grows, she finds that trying and failing is its own reward, strengthening her resilience. Though this starts out as a way of competing with her enemy Gilbert Blythe, she eventually finds that pouring herself into her studies is reward in itself, even if she doesn’t always succeed: “[I]t’s not a great deal of difference whether I win the Avery [scholarship] or not. I’ve done my best and I begin to understand what is meant by the ‘joy of the strife.’ Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing.” Anne doesn’t just overcome youthful flaws, but moves beyond them to build her character, find inherent reward in striving toward goals, and build new dreams.

When Anne’s dreams appear to be thwarted, the resilience she’s gained through her striving helps her rethink her future. The greatest test of Anne’s maturity comes after Matthew dies, and Marilla, whose eyesight is failing, is left alone to run their struggling farm. Anne decides to postpone her dream of college, earn money by schoolteaching, and help Marilla. “I’m just as ambitious as ever,” she assures Marilla. “Only, I’ve changed the object of my ambitions […] I shall give life here my best, and I believe it will give its best to me in return […] I thought I could see along [the road] for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it.” After a lonely childhood and a youth marked by mishaps, Anne has not only become more resilient herself, but wiser in her outlook on life—she no longer strives just to improve herself, but also to care for others. If it weren’t for Anne’s hardships, Montgomery hints—even her humiliating mishaps—she wouldn’t have developed the mature, loving character she displays at the end of the book.

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Mishaps, Milestones, and Growing Up Quotes in Anne of Green Gables

Below you will find the important quotes in Anne of Green Gables related to the theme of Mishaps, Milestones, and Growing Up.
Chapter 16: Diana Is Invited to Tea, with Tragic Results Quotes

“Oh, Mrs. Barry, please forgive me. I did not mean to—to intoxicate Diana. How could I? Just imagine if you were a poor little orphan girl that kind people had adopted and you had just one bosom friend in all the world. Do you think you would intoxicate her on purpose? I thought it was only raspberry cordial. I was firmly convinced it was raspberry cordial. Oh, please don’t say that you won’t let Diana play with me any more. If you do you will cover my life with a dark cloud of woe.”

This speech, which would have softened good Mrs. Lynde’s heart in a twinkling, had no effect on Mrs. Barry except to irritate her still more. She was suspicious of Anne’s big words and dramatic gestures and imagined that the child was making fun of her.

Related Characters: Anne Shirley (speaker), Mrs. Barry
Page Number: 160
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18: Anne to the Rescue Quotes

“That little redheaded girl they have over at Cuthberts’ is as smart as they make ‘em. I tell you she saved that baby’s life, for it would have been too late by the time I got here. She seems to have a skill and presence of mind perfectly wonderful in a child of her age. I never saw anything like the eyes of her when she was explaining the case to me.”

Related Characters: The doctor (speaker), Anne Shirley, Mrs. Barry, Minnie May Barry
Page Number: 178
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19: A Concert, a Catastrophe, and a Confession Quotes

“Remember, you Anne-girl, when you come to town you’re to visit me and I’ll put you in my very sparest spare room bed to sleep.”

“Miss Barry was a kindred spirit, after all,” Anne confided to Marilla. “You wouldn’t think so to look at her, but she is. You don’t find it right out at first, as in Matthew’s case, but after a while you come to see it. Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”

Related Characters: Anne Shirley (speaker), Aunt Josephine Barry (speaker)
Page Number: 197
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22: Anne Is Invited Out to Tea Quotes

Marilla felt this and was vaguely troubled over it, realizing that the ups and downs of existence would probably bear hardly on this impulsive soul and not sufficiently understanding that the equally great capacity for delight might more than compensate. Therefore Marilla conceived it to be her duty to drill Anne into a tranquil uniformity of disposition as impossible and alien to her as to a dancing sunbeam in one of the brook shallows. […] Marilla had almost begun to despair of ever fashioning this waif of the world into her model little girl of demure manners and prim deportment. Neither would she have believed that she really liked Anne much better as she was.

Related Characters: Anne Shirley, Marilla Cuthbert
Page Number: 220
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 27: Vanity and Vexation of Spirit Quotes

“Please cut it off at once, Marilla, and have it over. Oh, I feel that my heart is broken. This is such an unromantic affliction. The girls in books lose their hair in fevers or sell it to get money for some good deed, and I’m sure I wouldn’t mind losing my hair in some such fashion half so much. But there is nothing comforting in having your hair cut off because you’ve dyed it a dreadful color, is there? I’m going to weep all the time you’re cutting it off if it won’t interfere. It seems such a tragic thing.”

Related Characters: Anne Shirley (speaker), Marilla Cuthbert
Related Symbols: Red Hair
Page Number: 270
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 28: An Unfortunate Lily Maid Quotes

For a moment Anne hesitated. She had an odd, newly awakened consciousness under all her outraged dignity that the half-shy, half-eager expression in Gilbert's hazel eyes was something that was very good to see. Her heart gave a quick, unfamiliar little beat. But the bitterness of her old grievance promptly stiffened up her wavering determination. That scene of two years before flashed back into her recollection as vividly as if it had taken place yesterday.

Related Characters: Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe
Related Symbols: Red Hair
Page Number: 279
Explanation and Analysis:

“I’ve learned a new and valuable lesson today. Ever since I came to Green Gables I’ve been making mistakes, and each mistake has helped to cure me of some great shortcoming […] And today’s mistake is going to cure me of being too romantic. I have come to the conclusion that it is no use trying to be romantic in Avonlea. It was probably easy enough in towered Camelot hundreds of years ago, but romance is not appreciated now.”

[…]

“Don’t give up all your romance, Anne,” [Matthew] whispered shyly, “a little of it is a good thing—not too much, of course—but keep a little of it, Anne, keep a little of it.”

Related Characters: Anne Shirley (speaker), Matthew Cuthbert (speaker)
Page Number: 281
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31: Where the Brook and River Meet Quotes

“You don’t chatter half as much as you used to, Anne, nor use half as many big words. What has come over you?”

[…]

“I don't know—I don’t want to talk as much,” she said, denting her chin thoughtfully with her forefinger. “It’s nicer to think dear, pretty thoughts and keep them in one’s heart, like treasures. I don’t like to have them laughed at or wondered over. And somehow I don’t want to use big words any more. It’s almost a pity, isn’t it, now that I’m really growing big enough to say them if I did want to. It's fun to be almost grown up in some ways, but it’s not the kind of fun I expected, Marilla.”

Related Characters: Anne Shirley (speaker), Marilla Cuthbert (speaker)
Page Number: 315
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 34: A Queen’s Girl Quotes

Anne sat down on Marilla’s gingham lap, took Marilla’s lined face between her hands, and looked gravely and tenderly into Marilla’s eyes. “I’m not a bit changed—not really. I’m only just pruned down and branched out. The real me—back here—is just the same. It won’t make a bit of difference where I go or how much I change outwardly. At heart I shall always be your little Anne, who will love you and Matthew and dear Green Gables more and better every day of her life.” […]

[Marilla] could only put her arms close about her girl and hold her tenderly to her heart, wishing that she need never let her go.

Related Characters: Anne Shirley (speaker), Marilla Cuthbert, Matthew Cuthbert
Page Number: 343
Explanation and Analysis:

“Well now, I guess she ain’t been much spoiled,” he muttered proudly. “I guess my putting in my oar occasional never did much harm after all. She’s smart and pretty, and loving, too, which is better than all the rest. She’s been a blessing to us, and there never was a luckier mistake than what Mrs. Spencer made—if it was luck. I don’t believe it was any such thing. It was Providence, because the Almighty saw we needed her, I reckon.”

Related Characters: Matthew Cuthbert (speaker), Anne Shirley, Marilla Cuthbert, Mrs. Alexander Spencer
Page Number: 343
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 38: The Bend in the Road Quotes

“I’m just as ambitious as ever. Only I’ve changed the object of my ambitions. I’m going to be a good teacher—and I’m going to save your eyesight. Besides, I mean to study at home here and take a little college course all by myself. Oh, I’ve dozens of plans, Marilla. I’ve been thinking them out for a week. I shall give life here my best, and I believe it will give its best to me in return. When I left Queen’s, my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe that the best does.”

Related Characters: Anne Shirley (speaker), Marilla Cuthbert
Page Number: 378
Explanation and Analysis:

Anne’s horizons had closed in since the night she had sat there after coming home from Queen’s; but if the path set before her feet was to be narrow she knew that flowers of quiet happiness would bloom along it. The joy of sincere work and worthy aspiration and congenial friendship were to be hers. Nothing could rob her of her birthright of fancy or her ideal world of dreams. And there was always the bend in the road!

“God’s in His heaven, all’s right with the world,” whispered Anne softly.

Related Characters: Anne Shirley (speaker)
Page Number: 384
Explanation and Analysis: