Anne of Green Gables Coming of Age

They grow up so fast, don't they?

Especially Anne of Green Gables. The first nineteen chapters of the book zero in on Anne's first year in Avonlea, and then suddenly, the picture zooms, way, way out, and Anne's studying to go to school to get her teaching degree. It only takes her two chapters to get that degree and graduate.

So why the focus on young, eleven-year-old Anne? Maybe because we have to appreciate mini-Anne to understand how Marilla feels when she grows up. Marilla's torn, remember? She loves current Anne but misses the weirder, smaller version from the past. Anne manages to hold onto her sense of awe and love of nature as she grows, but she does lose some qualities that made her unique (like her long, fanciful speeches) in order to become an adult who can get things done.

Questions About Coming of Age

1. Do you think later-in-the-story Anne really is the same person, deep down, that she was as a child? Why?
2. What do you think Anne means when she says she wants to keep her thoughts to herself?
3. What are all the different versions of Anne?
4. Anne says she's the same person inside that she was when she arrived at Green Gables. What qualities has she kept?

Chew on This

Mrs. Allan and Miss Stacy had more of an impact on the adult Anne becomes than Marilla does.

Anne would not have been academically ambitious without her rivalry with Gilbert Blythe.