Anne of Avonlea

The next afternoon, Anne and Diana return from a shopping trip to nearby Carmody and discuss their plans for the Village Improvement Society as they travel the streets—a new garden here, a much-needed paint job there, the removal of certain trees to make the view a bit prettier. As usual, Anne’s imagination for what might be is no match for Diana’s sturdy realistic outlook, and Anne reflects that “when she wander[s] into the realm of fancy, she must go alone” (11). Unfortunately, the girls’ view is ruined after turning onto the lane to Green Gables when Anne spots a Jersey cow in Mr. Harrison’s oat field.

Thinking that Dolly escaped the milking pen, Anne jumps out of the carriage and sprints across the wet field with Diana following her after tying the wagon to a hitching post. The cow runs from them both, and all three leave a destructive trail in their wake. Finally, Anne herds the cow onto the Cuthbert lane, where she meets Mr. Shearer, a Carmody man who offered to buy Dolly last week. Seeing her distress, he laughs and offers her $20 for the cow, and Anne sells the Jersey on the spot.

When Marilla gets home a few hours later, and Anne tells her about the events, Marilla wonders how Dolly could have broken out of the sturdy milking pen. Anne offers to look, and Marilla hears a shrill scream from the barnyard. Shortly after, Anne runs in, “wringing her hands” (13) and arguing back and forth with herself about how she never “reflect[s] a little before doing reckless things” (13). Dolly is still in the milking pen, and the cow Anne sold belonged to Mr. Harrison. Marilla offers to explain the situation to Mr. Harrison herself, but Anne refuses, deciding instead to apologize herself. She grabs a freshly baked cake to take over as a peace offering.

As Anne approaches Mr. Harrison’s house, the man jumps up from his pipe-smoking on the veranda and runs inside. Anne sees this as a bad omen, but really, Mr. Harrison feels ashamed by his attitude toward the young woman the day before. He opens the door at her knock and invites her in very politely. However, as soon as Anne sits down in the living room, Ginger, the parrot, exclaims, “What’s that redheaded snippet coming here for?” (15). Though Mr. Harrison quickly makes excuses that the bird is ill-mannered due to being raised by his brother, a sailor, Anne does not let it bother her since she is there under grave circumstances of her own making.

Anne begins by mentioning that she has come because of the Jersey cow, and Mr. Harrison frequently interrupts her, asking if the cow got into his oats, wheat, or cabbages. Finally, Anne is able to reveal that it was his cow that she sold, not Dolly, and offers Dolly or the $20 as an exchange. Much to her surprise, Mr. Harrison is not mad at all; instead, he admits to being “too hasty [himself] sometimes” and a “terrible outspoken old fellow” (17). He asks to see the cake that Anne brought, and they share a cup of tea over the treat. Mr. Harrison brings Ginger back into the room from her self-imposed sabbatical and shares that the bird is great company for him, even if Ginger does cause quite a bit of problems for people. It doesn’t take long for Anne to begin to like the “queer, fussy, fidgety little man” (18), and they become quite good friends by the end of tea.

Mr. Harrison greatly approves of Anne’s plan to start a Village Improvement Society, but his remark that “there’s lots of room for improvement in this settlement…and in the people too” (19) makes her defend Avonlea, claiming that she doesn’t like “places or people either that haven’t any faults” (19). She helps him clean the table, and when she leaves, Mr. Harrison thinks about how much he enjoyed her company. At Green Gables, Marilla meets Anne at the door, quite worried about her long absence, but Anne assures her that she and Mr. Harrison are on the way to being very good friends.

One evening, Anne, Gilbert, and Jane Andrews meet to discuss their first day of school as teachers the next day. Anne laments that Gilbert, who is taking the school at White Sands, and Jane, who is taking the school at Newbridge, will have the advantage of not knowing their students. Anne, however, will be teaching her old schoolmates and fears they will not respect her.

Jane seems unperturbed. Any student who does not respect her will receive a whipping. Shocked by this declaration of violence, Anne vows to “never whip a child” (21). The young women turn to Gilbert to break the tie and demand to know if he feels whipping is a necessary punishment for ill behavior. Gilbert, torn between his true feelings and the need to impress Anne, declares that “corporal punishment should be a last resort” (22). Neither woman is impressed by this, and Anne and Jane promise their way will be the best. Anne is determined to rule with love and Jane with discipline. Jane slyly mentions Anne's punishment on her first day of school in Avonlea when the teacher made her sit with Gilbert as punishment, and all three smile at the memory. Anne returns home to Green Gables but hears Mrs. Rachel’s voice coming from the parlor and does not want to hear the woman’s advice for the first day of school. Instead, she walks over to Mr. Harrison’s.

However, Mr. Harrison’s opinion of discipline is much like Jane’s, and he asks Anne if she has “been back in the woods laying in a supply of switches for tomorrow” (24). Once again, Anne vows to rule her schoolroom with affection, much to Mr. Harrison’s dismay. He declares, “Mark my words, you’ll never manage the young fry unless you keep a rod in pickle for them” (24). Anne returns home feeling very pessimistic, and Marilla has to remind her that she will not be perfect from the start.

A very nervous Anne heads to school the next morning, oblivious to the beauties of nature that usually enamor her on her morning walks. Her students wait patiently in their seats. She “could not remember a word” (26) of the inspiring first-day speech she spent all night planning for them and finally orders them to take out their reading books before sinking into her chair. As the students begin memorizing their verses, Anne carefully studies all of them. Many she knows due to just graduating not long ago, but there are new faces as well: the infamous Anthony Pye, whom Mrs. Rachel has warned her will be a holy terror; the Donnell boy and his sister, dressed in the finest laces and ribbons; Annetta Bell, a beautiful young girl with flowing blonde hair; the poor Cotton children all crowded into one seat; the long and lanky Barbara Shaw who trips over her feet every time she rises from her seat; but it is the boy in the front desk that most captures Anne’s attention.

When her eyes meet his, “a queer little thrill [comes] over her” (27) as if she just met another kindred spirit. She knows this must be Paul Irving, the American boy spending the school year with his grandmother. Anne “realize[s] that he was unlike other children anywhere” (27), even at 10 years old. He seems to recognize the same connection in her, and they exchange smiles.

As the day passes, Anne teaches them their sums and how to read. The children behave well except for two mishaps. One includes Anthony Pye, who pours water down a girl’s back. Anne, determined to win over the elusive Pye, lectures him about being kind and reminds him that she “want[s] all her boys to be gentlemen” (28), but her words are lost on the young boy. After dismissal, Anne sinks into her chair in exhaustion. She feels absolutely discouraged after the day, even though nothing horrible happened. Before she can catch her wits, a woman enters the schoolhouse “look[ing] like a head-on collision between a fashion plate and a nightmare” (29).

The woman, Mrs. Donnell, is attired in as many puffs and frills as can fit on one woman’s dress, complete with a white chiffon hat and a pink chiffon veil. She comes to confront Anne about the pronunciation of their last name—which she declares emphasizes the second syllable, not the first—and to address her son’s true name. The son, named Jacob after his uncle, can no longer be called “Jacob” because his uncle got married and had sons of his own, which makes him quite ungrateful, according to Mrs. Donnell. She requires that her son be called “St. Clair” instead—a name that she finds quite aristocratic. Before Anne can say a word, the woman flounces out the door.

On her way home, Anne meets Paul Irving, who waits for her at the Birch Path with a bouquet of freshly picked flowers. This brightens Anne’s day immensely, and upon her arrival at Green Gables, she reveals to Marilla that the day was filled with a wide range of emotions, yet she remains optimistic. Mrs. Rachel puts the icing on the cake when she comes to the house to tell Anne that all the students like her, except for Anthony Pye. This news does not deter Anne, who resolutely declares to win Anthony over with kindness and patience.