Anne Of Green Gables
Anne flew to the door, face alight, eyes glowing. On the very threshold she stopped short, wheeled about, came back and sat down by the table, light and glow as effectually blotted out as if some one had clapped an extinguisher on her.
“What’s the matter now?” demanded Marilla.
“I don’t dare go out,” said Anne, in the tone of a martyr relinquishing all earthly joys. “If I can’t stay here there is no use in my loving Green Gables. And if I go out there and get acquainted with all those trees and flowers and the orchard and the brook I’ll not be able to help loving it. It’s hard enough now, so I won’t make it any harder. I want to go out so much—everything seems to be calling to me, ‘Anne, Anne, come out to us. Anne, Anne, we want a playmate’—but it’s better not. There is no use in loving things if you have to be torn from them, is there? And it’s so hard to keep from loving things, isn’t it? That was why I was so glad when I thought I was going to live here. I thought I’d have so many things to love and nothing to hinder me. But that brief dream is over. I am resigned to my fate now, so I don’t think I’ll go out for fear I’ll get unresigned again. What is the name of that geranium on the window-sill, please?”
“That’s the apple-scented geranium.”
“Oh, I don’t mean that sort of a name. I mean just a name you gave it yourself. Didn’t you give it a name? May I give it one then? May I call it—let me see—Bonny would do—may I call it Bonny while I’m here? Oh, do let me!”
“Goodness, I don’t care. But where on earth is the sense of naming a geranium?”
“Oh, I like things to have handles even if they are only geraniums. It makes them seem more like people. How do you know but that it hurts a geranium’s feelings just to be called a geranium and nothing else? You wouldn’t like to be called nothing but a woman all the time. Yes, I shall call it Bonny. I named that cherry-tree outside my bedroom window this morning. I called it Snow Queen because it was so white. Of course, it won’t always be in blossom, but one can imagine that it is, can’t one?”
Why does Anne declare, “I don’t dare go out,” despite clearly being drawn to the outdoor beauty of Green Gables? What does this reveal about her fears and hopes, particularly regarding her past experiences?
💡 Writing Tips
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To answer this, focus on Anne's emotional reasoning. Identify the core conflict she expresses: her desire to love versus the pain of loss. Consider her reference to being 'torn from them' and how her past might have shaped this fear. Look for clues that reveal her deep yearning for belonging and the protective measures she's developed due to past disappointments. Explain how her current situation (not knowing if she'll stay) amplifies this reluctance.
📝 Sample Answer
Anne refuses to go out because she fears loving Green Gables and then being forced to leave it. She states, “There is no use in my loving Green Gables” and “There is no use in loving things if you have to be torn from them.” This reveals a deep-seated fear of attachment and subsequent heartbreak, likely stemming from a childhood marked by instability and many losses as an orphan. She explicitly links her joy to the 'brief dream' of living there, indicating that she's learned to protect herself from emotional pain by not forming connections that might be severed. Her refusal is a self-preservation mechanism, showing a vulnerable child who yearns for a permanent home but is too cautious to fully embrace potential happiness due to past trauma.
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