Anne of Green Gables :: Discussion Post #3

Aw, do we have to be finished with this story already? I knew I loved it, I remembered that I loved it when I first read it years ago, and now I am absolutely certain that Anne Shirley is one of the best characters ever written! At least in my humble opinion.

I have lots of thoughts about this final third of the novel (chapters 27-38), but how about we get to the questions and I can gush there? :)

{Be sure to click over to Jenni's post for more discussion and fun!}
{There will be a twitter chat tonight at 6:30pm MDT/8:30pm EDT, so come join in!}
{Don't forget about the watch-along that will happen over on twitter either. That will be this coming Friday night (4/6/18) starting at 6:00pm MDT/8:00pm EDT.}
Lots to look forward to!

1. Is this your first time reading Anne of Green Gables or a reread? Either way, what did you think about it?

This is a reread, although it's been so long since the last time I read it that I can't even tell you exactly when that was. I can tell you, however, that I loved it then and I love it now!

* I love that we get to grow right alongside Anne and see all her (mis)adventures and general love of life.

* I love that Marilla was completely blindsided by how much she would come to love and count on Anne (and I especially loved that moment when she comes to comfort Anne after Matthew's death and realizes that, since life can be so fleeting, she needs to tell Anne right then exactly how dear she is. *cue the warm fuzzies and my tears*)

* I love that Matthew and Diana just immediately loved Anne with no question or hesitation, forever and always.

* I love that even the characters, like Mrs. Rachel Lynde, who start off thinking that Anne is a bit too strange for their liking ultimately fall in love with her too! (I also love that she's always referred to by Mrs. Rachel or Mrs. Lynde or Mrs. Rachel Lynde. That formality totally suits her character! :)

* I think I just love the entire story and it's focus on loving life and seeing the bright side to hard things. It's not just Anne that is hope-filled, the story as a whole is so infused with HOPE. It shines in every chapter, through the happy and the sad and everything in between.

* And I also love the idea that was reiterated over and over through Anne, about how beauty is all around us if we're willing to actually see.

2. If this is your first time reading Anne of Green Gables, do you plan to read the rest of the series? If you’ve read Anne of Green Gables before, have you read the rest of the series? What do you think about it?

I'm pretty sure I read at least another book or two in the series when I was younger, but I'm not 100% certain if I read the entire series or not. (I think some of my memories might stem more from the movies than actually reading the books.) Yet I know that I at least read Anne's House of Dreams because that's where she and Gilbert get married and you can bet I wanted to read about that! :D And I can tell you that I really want to read more of the series now. So I'm thinking I might read on from here...

3. Who is your favorite character and why?

Anne, of course! I mentioned this a little bit above, but I'll expand it further. I love the way she looks at life. Her ability to always focus back on the positive, especially when enduring something hard, is quite incredible. All it takes for her is to look out a window and notice the flowers, or the sky, or the trees, or even one single ray of sunlight and she is quietly reminded of the beauty in small things. And it's those very small things that help her stay the course! They remind her that no matter how disappointing or hard a thing might be in the moment, that particular disappointment or hard is not the end. That we're given this one single life to live and we should appreciate it! And make the most of it. (Oh, that I might remember that and do the same!)

I love that she is not a perfect character. She gets into scrapes and makes several bad choices, and while life might seem fairly idyllic in Avonlea, consequences still happen. Yet it's her ability to learn from those things and see beyond them that is admirable. She might seem a bit too perfect, she is fictional after all, but I ended the story not feeling like that at all. She has a lot of growing and maturing to do, and looking back at her first days at Green Gables and then forward to where the book ends proves that she does that. By the final pages, her choices are no longer those of a frightened little twelve year old, but of an almost adult woman.

I guess all I can really say is that she's one of my most favorite characters ever! In my whole history of meeting memorable characters. :)

4. Who is your least favorite character and why?

Honestly? That's a hard call because I pretty much love them all! But if I have to choose, I'll go with Josie Pye because she never says anything nice. Or Mrs. Barry, at least during that time when she was convinced that Anne was out to ruin her daughter. I admit that I wasn't happy with her at all during that time period. (I mean, Anne was only twelve! What twelve-year-old isn't going to make a mistake or two? Even one so serious as getting Diana drunk. And Diana is partially responsible for drinking that much anyway.)

5. What was your favorite scene and why?

Oh boy. That's like asking me to pick a favorite author! Pretty much impossible! I loved so many scenes in this story. :) But maybe I'll go with those last few chapters (I told you it was hard to narrow it down) when we finally see Anne coming into her own. She's older and a bit wiser and more prone to making better choices. She goes to Queen's and flourishes in her studies, she loses Matthew and she and Marilla grow even closer, and she finally makes things right with Gilbert. I just love seeing her maturity! Also, I totally admit that I really just love the fact that she and Gilbert agree to be friends now. ;)

6. What did you think about the last third of the book and why?

I loved it! (I know I keep repeating myself, but I can't help it. :) As my answer to question 5 proves, I especially love the final several chapters.

* I love that Anne doesn't lose her inherent "Anne-ness" (or her imagination!), yet is finally growing into a beautiful young woman, both inside and out.

* Funnily enough, I love that Anne gets a taste of her own medicine when Gilbert begins to snub her. (She kind of deserves it and she knows it.)

* I love that she and Gilbert finally become official friends instead of "good enemies". (It's about time!)

* I really love that beautiful final moment of conversation between Anne and Matthew, where he got the chance to truly express, once again, exactly how much he loved her. (My heart bumped during that scene because I knew what was getting ready to happen next! *sadface*)

* I love the ensuing closeness between Anne and Marilla. They had always been growing closer, but Matthew's passing brought them the closest yet. And that moment when Marilla finally opens up to Anne and tells her specifically just how special she is to her....ah, my heart!

* I love how the friendship between Anne and Diana never changes. Their love for one another stands strong despite distance, circumstance, or any other friendship in their lives.

* I love that moment when Mrs. Rachel Lynde admits out loud that keeping Anne was the best choice Marilla could've ever made.

* Finally, I love that the quote I fell in love with, which inspired the name of this blog of mine, is in the final chapter! :)


A Few Favorite Quotes:

Marilla was not given to subjective analysis of her thoughts and feelings. She probably imagined that she was thinking about the Aids and their missionary box and the new carpet for the vestry room, but under their reflections was a harmonious consciousness of red fields smoking into pale-purply mists in the declining sun, of long, sharp-pointed fir shadows falling over the meadow beyond the brook, of still, crimson-budded maples around a mirrorlike wood pool, of a wakening in the world and a stir of hidden pulses under the gray sod. The spring was abroad in the land and Marilla's sober, middle-aged step was lighter and swifter because of its deep, primal gladness. {I do believe our dear Anne has rubbed off on Marilla without her being aware!}

"As for your chatter, I don't know that I mind it--I've got so used to it."
Which was Marilla's way of saying that she liked to hear it.

"That's the worst of growing up, and I'm beginning to realize it. The things you wanted so much when you were a child don't seem half so wonderful to you when you get them."

Anne and Diana found the drive home as pleasant as the drive in--pleasanter, indeed, since there was the delightful consciousness of home waiting at the end of it.

"It's nicer to think dear, pretty thoughts and keep them in one's heart, like treasures."

"Well now, I'd rather have you than a dozen boys, Anne," said Matthew patting her hand. "Just mind you that--rather than a dozen boys. Well now, I guess it wasn't a boy that took the Avery scholarship, was it? It was a girl--my girl--my girl that I'm proud of."
He smiled his shy smile at her as he went into the yard. Anne took the memory of it with her when she went to her room that night and sat for a long while at her open window, thinking of the past and dreaming of the future.

"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. It has a fascination of its own, that bend, Marilla. I wonder how the road beyond it goes--what there is of green glory and soft, checkered light and shadows--what new landscapes--what new beauties--what curves and hills and valleys further on."

The beauty of it thrilled Anne's heart, and she gratefully opened the gates of her soul to it. "Dear old world," she murmured, "you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you."

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.

"God's in his heaven, all's right with the world," whispered Anne softly.

Many, many, many thanks to the awesome Jenni, Kami, and Suey for hosting this wonderful read-along! I am so glad y'all gave me a reason to read this book again. I have loved the discussion questions and all the analyzing they have happily prompted in my brain! :D Here's to another read-along or three in the future. I'll be happy to read any book with y'all, anytime! ;)