Personality and Destiny free essay sample

Anne of Green Gables: Personality and Destiny Abstract Anne of Green Gables is the first long novel of famous Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, published in 1908. Its publication lightened the spirit of Canadians of that age, giving a place to Canadian native literature in the literary world. Current studies on Anne’s personality is mainly about Anne’s lunacy, mercuriality, narcissist, rebellion,precocity, imagination,love for nature and life. These personalities are considered fixed and invariable . But there is few studies comprehensively exploring the development of Anne’s personality and destiny as well as their interactions. So this topic is new to us and worthy of thorough study. The thesis will be divided into three chapters. Chapter one: Introduction. A brief introduction of the author, the work Anne of Green Gables, its influences and related research status at home and abroad will be presented. Chapter two:Analysis of Anne’s personality in three period of time and the interaction between her life experience and personality. We will write a custom essay sample on Personality and Destiny or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Montgomery credits this time of her life, in which she created many imaginary friends and worlds to cope with her loneliness, as what developed her creative mind. Her love for nature ran through her whole life and was strongly illustrated in her works. This was inseparable from her childhood experiences in Prince Edward Island. Lucy Maud Montgomery was extremely talented . She started to write poem at the age of nine. she won a short-story contest sponsored by the Montreal Star. At fifteen ,she had her first poem published in a local paper and was called â€Å"the lady writer† since then. In 1895 Montgomery qualified for a teachers license at Prince Wales College, Charlottetown. During the 1890s she worked as a teacher on Prince Edward Island. She did not enjoy her writing career but was content to devote her time to writing and published short fiction and poetry. From 1895 to 1896, Montgomery studied literature at Dalhousie University, Halifax. Then she returned to Cavendish, Prince Edward Island to take care of her widowed grandmother in 1898. Beginning in 1897, she began to have her short stories published in various magazines and newspapers. Montgomery had over 100 stories published from 1897 to 1907 inclusive. In 1908,she had her first novel Anne of Green Gables published and got a immediate success. After her grandmother died in 1911 , she get married with Reverend Ewan MacDonald, a Presbyterian Minister . Lucy Maud Montgomery was a very prolific writer and she published over 500 short stories, many poems, and twenty novels, as well as journals, essays, autobiography and letters. Today, Montgomerys novels, journals, letters, short stories, and poems are still read and studied by general readers and scholars from around the world. Among her most famous writing is the Anne series, consisting of eight books: Anne of Green Gables (1908), Anne of Avonlea (1909), Anne of the Island (1915), Anne’s House of Dreams (1917), Rainbow Valley (1919), Rilla of Ingleside (1920), Anne of Windy Poplars (1936) and Anne of Ingleside (1939). Other series written by Montgomery include the Emily and Pat books, which, while successful, did not reach the same level of public acceptance as the Anne volumes. She also wrote a number of stand-alone novels, which were also generally successful . She was made a member of the British Royal Society of Arts in 1923 as the first Canadian woman, and a Companion of the Order of the British Empire by King George V. She also was elected to the Literary and Artistic Institute of France in 1935. After her death in 1942, the National Sites and Historic Board of Canada declared Montgomery a person of national historic significance. In June 2008, an International Celebration of Imagination and Creativity in Honor of the 100th Anniversary of L. M. Montgomerys Anne of Green Gables was held in Prince Edward Island. So, L. M. Montgomery has remained a household figure across two centuries. Montgomery died in Toronto, Ontario on April 24th, 1942. In death, she returned to her beloved Prince Edward Island, where she was buried in the Cavendish cemetery. 2. Anne of Green Gables Anne of Green Gables is the masterpiece of Lucy Maud Montgomery . It is her bestselling novel . Written as fiction for readers of all ages, since the mid-twentieth century, the literary classic has been considered a children’s novel. Since publication, Anne of Green Gables has sold more than 50 million copies, and has been translated into 20 languages. Numerous sequels were written by Montgomery, and since her death, another sequel has been published, as well as an authorized prequel. The original book is taught to students around the world. It tells the growing up stories of Anne from the age of eleven to sixteen . The novel begins with a mistake that two old siblings ,Marilla and Matthew intended to adopt a boy to help Matthew on the farm ,but end up with an eleven year old orphan girl sent to them . As a man dreaded all women and little girls , Matthew did not know how to deal with the girl , so he took her home and made Marilla to deal with it. The girl’s name is Anne Shirley. Her parents both died of fever when she was three months old. Then she was successively adopted by two families, doing housework and taking care of babies just as servants. After the husbands died, she had to enter the orphan asylum and stayed there till she was told that some people wanted her . So when she realized that there was a mistake and she was not wanted in Green Gables , she cried her heart out. However , her talkativeness and rich imagination made Matthew get very fond of her and he wanted to keep her by making up his mind . Marilla could not change his mind and she also found Anne lovable,teachable,bright and quick,eager to please,and ladylike. So they decided to adopt her. As a child never belonged to anybody and loved by anybody, her gratitude and happiness can easily be imagined. Thus her brand new life in Green Gables began. It was agreed that Marilla should take the responsibility to train Anne to be morally good capable in houseworks. It was no easy work to train a little girl to do right, especially when the girl was as impetuous, talkative, and extremely imaginative as Anne. The first time when Mrs Lynde saw Anne ,she criticized Anne’s homely looks ,skinny figure ,freckled face and red hair. Anne was so angry about this and bravely fought back for her esteem. Of course Marilla could not allow such rude behavior in a child and Anne was persuaded by Matthew to apologize to Mrs Lynde. A similar situation occurred when Gilbert Blythe ,a handsome little boy in school mocked Anne’s red hair . Anne felt so indignant that she brought he slate down on Gilbert’s head and cracked the slate. She could not forgive Gil for this during the next five ears and regarded Gilbert as a dead enemy in study. Besides these miserable and furious moments , Anne’s life is exciting and interesting. Anne Shirley and Diana Berry became bosom friends and swore to be friends forever and ever. She enjoyed being Anne of Green Gables and doing everything Marilla told her to do compared with being Anne of any other place and doing anything else. She enjoyed her many first times ,first time to go to a picnic ,to eat the ice-cream ,to be invited to tea in the manse , to go to town and to recite before the public. Meanwhile,Anne’s life never lacked mistakes and troubles. She invited Diana to tea and served her guest three big tumblerfuls of currant wine instead of raspberry cordial as she meant to and made Diana badly drunk . So Diana was forbidden to play or speak to Anne. Anne saved Minnie May’s life ,so Mrs Barry trusted her again and invited her to spend a night with Diana in their spare room. However they jumped into bed on Miss Barry ,an old but rich relative who had promised to pay for Diana’s music lessons. She meant to dye her red hair raven black but it turned out to be green. She made a cake with liniment rather than vanilla . All her mistakes made Marilla amused and amazed. One of her merits is that she never made the same mistake twice with each mistake helping to cure her of some great shortcoming. As time went by ,Anne made less and less mistakes. For one thing ,she had grown up and became more sensible when doing things. For another ,she was so busy with her study that she had little time to make them. Ever since she made up her mind to defeat Gilbert in school ,she had been working with all her might. Although she no longer hated Gilbert after he saved her life on the river ,she still consider him as a foeman worthy of her steel . They both passed the entrance examination into Queen’s and tied for first place. After one year’s study in Queen’s ,Anne won the Avery scholarship to sponsor her to go to Redmond College. Marilla and Matthew were very proud of their girl which in turn was the driving force for Anne to strike so hard. Everything seemed wonderful and perfect until the day came when Matthew died of an instant heart attack. Anne and Marilla were two people who hit the rock bottom. They sticked together and comforted each other. Knowing that Marilla was losing her eyesight and planing to sell the Green Gables ,Anne decided to give up college and stay with Marilla at Green Gables. After Gilbert heard about it, he withdrawn his application for teacher in Avonlea and gave the opportunity to Anne. Thus the two youth became good friends. 3. Current Research Status of the Work As a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery,Anne of Green Gables never lacks critiques. Criticism was polite but unenthusiastic in the first period ,from its publication to 1970s, but the book has received continual attention, in-depth examination, and increasingly positive critiques since 1970s ,and a comprehensive study of Anne of Green Gables has been made by scholars and Anne fans around the world since 2008. The studies encompasses the fields of literary, womans, and childhood studies, and explore diverse themes such as L. M. Montgomery’s career and writing practices, her influence on Canadian fiction, shifting views and definitions of childhood, domesticity, identity and place, and Anne on film. This essay shows some detailed accounts of the critical reviews and studies on the enduring popularity and reception of Anne of Green Gables:its characterization ; narrative point of view ;its reception abroad in Japan and other countries;its genre as an initiation novel ; the perspectives of feminism, religion, education and nationalism ; and the translation methods and skills applied in translating the original work. As time goes by ,I believe this literary classic will be read and appreciated by more people as a priceless treasure. By studying Anne of Green Gables , people can always find something to value and to apply to their own life. Yet the studies on Anne and this novel in English speaking countries are much more than those in China. So Anne’s world is still a wonderland for many of us Chinese which requires further exploration. We appreciate the effort of the many translators who introduce this book to us , and those scholars who study and will study Anne in their own ways evocative of our childhood ,our love and dreams. Chapter Two Personality and Destiny Personality is the particular combination of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral response patterns of an individual. We have the old saying both at home and abroad that personality determines one’s destiny. So our parents,our schools and the society are devoted to cultivating our personality to ensure that we grow up to be useful and successful people. However ,sometimes people fail to realize that personality and destiny are mutually determined. One’s life experience, manifestation of the primary form of destiny, deserves people’s recognition. On one hand ,the differences in personalities among individuals is theorized to come from the differences of prior events and anticipated events for the individual. On the other hand ,differences in personality also exist within one individual due to different living environment and varied and ever richer life experiences. A persons own motivations for future decisions (building on their personality) will be affected from his or her history and past experiences in such situations. And these decisions can influence even determine the person’s future life experiences which will turn out to be his or her destiny in the end. 1. Anne’s personality and destiny This thesis works at Anne,the protagonist of Anne of Green Gables,from the angles of her personality and her destiny. By approaching the correlation between Anne’s personality and her life experiences , this research may gain the conclusion that one’s personality is coherent and developing , personality and destiny are not unidirectional determined but are mutually promotive and complementary. Anne Shirley ,an eleven year old orphan girl with red hair and freckled face ,was prone to get into troubles and make mistakes due to her fancy for imagining and daydreaming. She talked about everything she thought of and thought about everything she saw. She applied big worlds in her conversation . She asked all kinds of questions and doubted things people believed. She was impetuous but determined. She did things as she liked rather than as required by the social manners. She was too perceptual and too romantic. Such a girl as Anne was ,after 5 year’s living in Green Gables and getting along with people in Avonlea, she was finally accepted by her society and became the real Anne of Green Gables. It was like a beautiful dream of an awkward little duck turned out to be an elegant swan. What happened during the 5 years that made an orphan girl really feel belonging to somebody and some place? Anne’s personality and her destiny were by no means incidental. They were correlate and interactive , with both of which she was improved and perfected. Anne of Green Gables is composed of thirty-eight chapters,which can be divided into three parts,telling the stories about Anne in three periods of time. The first part is the first seven chapters. It introduces the setting ,the origin and some of the major characters of the novel. The major conflict of the first part is whether Anne could stay at Green Gables or not. So this period is before Anne is adopted by Matthew and Marilla. The second part is from chapter 8 to chapter 30. It recounts how Anne makes her way with the Cuthberts, Avonlea people and in school in the next three years after she is adopted . The last eight chapters compose the last part. This part present a mentally and physically matured Anne. By now,Anne is a grown-up of sixteen-year-old. She can deal with things more steadily and calmly. She takes the responsibility of the family and truly becomes Anne of Green Gables. The following passage will analysis Anne’s personalities in these three periods, explore the relation between her experiences and personalities. 2. Before Anne is adopted In the first period , Anne was an eleven-year-old orphan girl. The first time she appeared was when Matthew went to the railway station to pick up the orphan boy they planned to adopt. But she had no idea of it. She thought she was to belong to somebody and have a real home of hers. There were tense rigidity and expectation in her attitude and expression . Many of her personalities can be grasped within her conversation or rather monologue with the shy and silent Matthew. When the two met,Anne spoke first to Matthew in a peculiarly clear,sweet voice. She was natural, poised and extroverted. Matthew could not bear to disappoint such a passionate little creature so he decided to take her home and let Marilla do that. On the way home ,Anne expressed herself thoroughly. â€Å"Oh,it seems so wonderful that I’am going to live with you and belong to you. I’ve never belonged to anybody not really. But the asylum was the worst †(Montgomery 18). We can see from her words that this child was longing for a sense of belonging. And when this longing was going to come true , she could hardly believe it. Have we really only another mile to go before we get home? I’m glad and I’am sorry. I’am sorry because this drive has been so pleasant and I’am always sorry when pleasant things end But I’am glad to think of getting home. You see ,I’ve never had a real home since I can remember. It gives me such pleasant ache again just to think of coming to a real true home. (Montgomery 28) Anne pinched herself so many times to ensure that it was not a dream . â€Å"Until suddenly I remembered that even supposing it was only a dream I’d better go on dreaming as long as I could; so I stopped pinching†(Montgomery 32). How much a real home meant to that little bird was out of question . But what was the cause of the little longing heart? Readers may find reason from Anne’s history presented in chapter 5. When Marilla asked Anne about her life experience on the way to Mrs. Spencer’s ,Anne told her accordingly. Her mother died of fever when she was three months old. Four days later her father died. Thus she was left an orphan. â€Å"You see, nobody wanted me even then. It seems to be my fate†(Montgomery 57). These words may amuse our readers at first sight, but on second thought ,they make our heart ache. How could an eleven year old girl know anything about fate? What had she suffered that made her so resigned. Mrs . Thomas brought her up. â€Å"Then Mr. Thomas was killed falling under a train and his mother offered to take Mrs . Thomas and the children,but she didn’t want me†(Montgomery 58). After that she was taken by Mrs. Hammond to help take care of the twins. Mr. Hammond died I had to go to the asylum at Hopetown,because nobody would take me. They didn’t want me at the asylum,either† (Montgomery 59). When Anne was asked that whether those women were good to her,she faltered and blushed. â€Å"Oh,they meant to be ? I know they meant to be just as good and kind as possible†(Montgomery 60). Whatever they had done to her, she excused them for one’s drunken husband and the other’s many twins. But we can read between the lines that she suffered a lot in the past eleven years. Heavenly love and care had never touched that neglected corner of the world. No wander she had been so delighted at the prospect of a real home and fell in the depths of despair when she realized she was not wanted. The night when Marilla took Anne back to Green Gables after visiting Mrs. Spencer,she had decided to keep Anne. She did not told Anne then for fare that she would be too excited to sleep a wink. Anne was asked to pray that night,and that is part of her prayer, as for things I want ,they’re so numerous that it would take a great deal of time to name them all so I will only to mention the two most important. Please let me stay at Green Gables and; and please let me be good-looking when I grow up. (Montgomery 74) To some extent, her first wish had come true without her knowing it. But whether her second wish could be realized was still a mystery due to her status quo. The author described Anne as such, she wore a faded brown sailor hat and eneath the hat ,extending down her back,were two braids of very thick,decidedly red hair. Her face was small,white and thin,also much freckled;her mouth was large and so were her eyes,which looked green in some lights and gray in others. (Montgomery 16) Anne’s homely appearance was the cause of her sense of inferiority. She did not expect to be a bride because she thought she was so homely that nobody would ever want to marry he r. She could not feel exactly perfectly happy because of her red hair. I don’t mind other things so much ? the freckles and the green eyes and my skinniness. I can imagine them away But I cannot imagine that red hair away all the time I know it is just plain red and it breaks my heart. It will be my lifelong sorrow. (Montgomery 24) When Marilla assured Anne that her hair would not change in color in the future,she cited â€Å"my life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes†(Montgomery 54) to comfort herself. What a perceptual and sentimental girl! It may be girls’ nature to pay attention to their looks. But Anne cared much more than others. She just loved beautiful things. If she can not own them ,which was usually true for her, she imagined them. If she did not want anything ,she imagined it away. If she did not like the name of something ,she imagined a better name and always thought of it so. She loved nature and everything in it. She decided to sleep in a cherry tree all white with bloom in the moonshine if Matthew did not come for her. She named the Avenue the White Way of Delight,and the Barry’s pond Lake of Shining Waters. She even named a cherry tree Snow Queen and a geranium Bonny ,under the belief that it hurt a geranium’s feeling just to be called a geranium and nothing else. Anne gasped with admiration at the sight of the Avenue , pretty? oh, pretty doesn’t seem the right word to use h ,it was wonderful ? wonderful. It’s the first thing I ever saw that couldn’t be improved upon by imagination. It just satisfies me here ? she put one hand on her chest ? it made a queer funny ache and yet it was a pleasant ache. (Montgomery 27) She loved the trees ,the brook and the morning of Green Gables. â€Å"Anne’s beauty-loving eyes lin gered on it all, taking everything greedily in. She had looked on so many unlovely places in her life,poor child;but this was as lovely as anything she had ever dreamed†(Montgomery 45). Behind her love for nature and care for a single geranium lay a sensitive and lonely heart. There were no one who had loved or cared about her ,so she had to resort to her imagination and comfort herself with the imagined beauties. She was lonely herself so she could sympathize with the few poor weeny-teeny trees and felt the orphanhood in them. Without a bosom friend ,she made nature her soul companion and get comfort from it when she was disappointed. Thus,the romantic and imaginative elements in her was the very manifestation of her inner loneliness and the dissatisfaction with her life. 3. After Anne is adopted The lonely and unloved Anne finally had a home of hers. She finally could stay at Green Gables and enjoy the beautiful nature around it as she prayed. But there was no space in her mind to think about all the possible prospects at Green Gables except that she would have a home ,a real home. Thus Anne began her life at Green Gables. We learned from the first part of the novel that before Anne was adopted ,she was imaginative,talkative,romantic,sentimental,unloved and lonely which was very much due to her early life experiences. As she lived at Green Gables, got along with different people and dealt with all kinds of things ,her personalities underwent many unnoticeable and slow changes. These changes could be perceived by her thoughts and responses to the outer world. During this period, she had met with, influenced and been influenced by many people and many things, Except for those had been recognized,more of her personalities were manifested in her interaction with the environment in this period. She was grateful,kind,brave and diligent, but she was so easy to get into trouble and make mistakes at the beginning. However ,such a daydreamer had made improvement in many respects by the end of this period. Among the people who had affected Anne ,the most important roles are played by Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert,Mrs Lynde ,Mrs Allan Miss Stacy ,Diana Barry and Gilbert Blythe. They can be divided into two groups, initiation guide and initiation companion. 3. 1 Initiation guides Although Marilla and Matthew adopted Anne ,but it was Marilla who asked to take the responsibility to train and educate Anne. So Anne spent most of the time at home with Marilla to learn housework. Marilla was a very serious person. Since she had never raised any child and Anne was very different from other children ,she often could not understand Anne’s words and deeds. It was the cause of misunderstanding ,but was also the source of the amusement. Marilla is very conventional and a woman of high moral standard. She always reminded Anne to hold her tongue because she believe it was improper for a girl to talk so much. When Anne scolded Mrs Lynde, Marilla asked Anne to apologize to Mrs Lynde,although she knew what Mrs Lynde had done to Anne was unkind and impolite. She thought Anne was vain to pity her looks and hope for better appearance and darker hair. She always told Anne that being good and virtuous was more important than being pretty. Marilla was as fond of morals as Duchess in Wonderland,and was firmly convinced that one should be tacked on to every remark made to a child who was being brought up†(Montgomery 84). She was sensible and practical which made a contrast with Anne’s sentimentality and helped to cure her wrong imagination and get rid of the many so called fiddlesticks. Anne imagined the spruce wood over the brook was ha unted and thought it was romantic. But her imagination was so wild that she believed everything in it and did not dare go through it after dark. Marilla commanded her to do it in spite of Anne’s fare and pleading. It seemed cruel and unfeeling but it did cure Anne of her wild imagination. The frightened Anne chattered after that, â€Å"Oh ,Mar-Marilla,I’ll b-b-be cont-t-tended with c-c-commonplace places after this†(Montgomery 242). The relationship between Anne and Marilla seemed not very close or intimate. Anne sometimes thought wistfully that Marilla was very hard to please and distinctly lacking in sympathy and understanding. However ,it was not true. Marilla loved her. She did not spoiled her in the way that Matthew did and did not expressed her love openly as Anne did to her ,like holding her hand,kissing her face and hugging her. But she loved Anne in her own silent way and the love grew everyday even without herself noticing it. Anne accepted Josie Pye’s daring to walk on the ridge-pole of Mr. Barry’s kitchen roof but fell from it and broke her ankle. When Marilla saw Anne lay limp in Mr. Barry’s arms, Marilla had a revelation. In the sudden stab of fear that pierced her very heart she realized what Anne had come to mean to her. She would have admitted that she liked Anne ? nay, that she was very fond of Anne. But now as she knew as she hurried wildly down the slope that Anne was dearer to her than anything else on earth. Montgomery 270) As time went by ,Marilla had got used to Anne’s unceasing talking ,and found it was actually very interesting to hear her talk about things. Her talk always made Marilla amused and even burst into such a hearty and unusual peal of laughter that Matthew had never heard of before. When Anne left for four days to visit Miss. Barry,Marilla felt very l onely. â€Å"I’m glad you’ve got back, I must say. It’s been fearful lonesome here without you,and I never put in four longer days†(Montgomery 344). Meanwhile , Marilla was just to Anne. She observed Anne’s progress and was never mean to tell Anne. You seem to have got on fairly well and made fewer mistakes than usually†(Montgomery 236). When Mrs. Lynde praised Anne, Marilla confirmed â€Å"she’s real steady and reliable now. I used to be afraid she’d never get over her feather-brained ways,but she has and I wouldn’t be afraid to trust her in anything now†(Montgomery 362). So by then Anne has improved a lot and has gained Marilla’s approbate and love. She was still imaginative ,but more sensible and reliable. She made less mistakes and learned a lesson from each of them. She was interesting to talk to and always amused Marilla. Life was never dull since she lived at Green Gables. Matthew was left little to do as Marilla arrange almost every thing for Anne. But their roles were complementary and both necessary for the growth of a child. Matthew was a loyal friend and forever supporter to Anne. When Marilla was too strict to Anne ,he would secretly smooth the situation and solve the problem. He persuaded Anne to apologize to Mrs. Lynde when Anne and Marilla both refused to budge. He tried to persuade Marilla to allow Anne to go to the picnic which she was set on but had been refused by Marilla because Marilla thought she had lied to her about the amethyst brooch. Matthew had much more sympathy for Anne compared to Marilla. He was scrupulous about Anne’s many wishes. He bought Anne chocolate sweeties because she once said she liked chocolate sweeties. By accident,he found there were some differences between Anne and other girls and pondered about it for a long time and finally concluded that Anne’s dress did not have puffed sleeves she loved so much. Marilla made all her dresses plain and tight which Anne had complained once but no more. Matthew intended to buy her a dress with puffed sleeves as others’ but did not succeed. Then he asked Mrs. Lynde to make one for Anne as a Christmas present. Matthew always had faith on Anne and was proud of her. His Anne saved Minnie May’life ,his Anne did great work at school and her recitation brought down the house. He thought Mr. Phillip was fine because he had once praised his little Anne. Actually he would thought anyone fine who praise her little Anne. One time when she was playing Elaine she drifted down the river alone in Mr. Barry’s barge and it began to leak on the river and she was nearly drowned. She told Marilla , â€Å"I have come to the conclusion that it is no use trying to be romantic in Avonlea†(Montgomery 330). But later he told her little Anne â€Å"don’t give up all your romance,Anne, 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† (Montgomery 331). Matthew thanked his stars many a time and oft that he had nothing to do with bring her up. As it was ,he was free to spoil Anne as much as he liked. He knew that a little appreciation sometimes did quite as much good as all the conscientious â€Å" bringing up†in the world. Matthew was Anne’s kindred spirit ,his encouragement and appreciation gave her confidence and courage . These two were the best of friends. Marilla ,Matthew and Anne were all a little odd but they formed a stable family full of love and care. Under the education of Marilla and the spoiling of Matthew, Anne gained a sense of belonging and deserted her loneliness and sentimentality gradually. To be Anne of Green Gables ,there were so many wonderful things to do and so many beautiful days to enjoy that she did not have time to morn her unhappy history. Mrs. Lynde,Mrs. Allan and Miss Stacy all had their positive effect on Anne. Mrs. Lynde represented the highest moral standard of Avonlea. She felt obliged to tell every one in Avonlea what to do and not to do. She was straightforward and courageous enough to say anything she thought of. But her heart was kind and sincere. Her first meet with Anne was a disaster. She criticized Anne’s looks and hurt the child to the point where she had to scold her for her impoliteness and rudeness. Later Anne apologized sincerely to this lady for a reason only Matthew and Anne knew and was forgiven by this kind-hearted lady. Although Mrs. Lynde was so picky and traditional Anne was so liberal, both of them were true and sincere. Anne agreed with Mrs. Lynde on many of her ideas. They accepted each other heartily. Mrs. Allan was a religious and moral model and a spiritual guide. She was a kindred spirit for Anne. â€Å"Mrs. Allan is perfectly lovely she didn’t think it was fair for the teacher to ask all the questions, and you know,Marilla, that is exactly what I’ve always thought†(Montgomery 248). She had a generous and kind heart. When Mr. And Mrs. Allan were invited to tea at Green Gables,Anne made a cake on purpose for Mrs. Allan,but mistakenly put anodyne liniment into the cake instead of vanilla. Anne was so upset that she cast herself on the bed and wept as one who refused to be comforted. Mrs. Allan did not get angry but came to her room, comforted her and invited her to tea at the manse and had a heart-to-heart talk. Anne refused to bet when she went to a horse race, she said â€Å"I wanted to tell Mrs. Allan everything ,and I felt sure it wouldn’t do to tell her that. It’s always wrong to do anything you can’t tell the minister’wife. It’s as good as an extra conscience to have a minister’s wife for your friend. They became truly intimate friends and Anne visited the manse every week to talk about some serious subjects with Mrs. Allan. Miss Stacy was a knowledge and spirit guide for Anne. She was a good teacher and a helpful friend. Miss Stacy was a bright,sympathetic young woman with the happy gift of winning and holding the affection of her pupils and bringing out the best that was in them mentally and morally. Anne expanded like a flower under this wholesome influence. â€Å"I love Miss Stacy with my whole heart,Marilla. She is so ladylike and she has such a sweet voice. When she pronounces my name I feel instinctively that she’s spelling it with an e†(Montgomery 276). Anne felt respected and valued by Miss Stacy. That was why she felt so sorry for being deceitful and disappointing Miss Stacy when she was caught reading a novel in the history class by her. These ladies all had an positive effect on Anne. They were bright sunshine for this little spiritually hungry creature. Since Anne was kind,grateful and eager to learn,so others’ goodness and kindness could strick a responsive chord in her heart. She hoped she could be a person like them when she grew up. She wished had a strong mind as Marilla did . â€Å"I hope I shall be a little like Mrs. Allan when I grow up(Montgomery 307). Anne did well in study so Marilla and Matthew decided to send her to Queen’s and study for teacher’s license. She told Marilla ,â€Å"I would call it a worthy purpose to want to be a teacher like Miss Stacy†(Montgomery 354). . 2 Initiation companions Anne had many initiation companions,Diana Barry,Gilbert Blythe,Ruby Gillis,Jane Andrews,Josie Pye,Charlie Sloane among them, she loved Diana as much as she hated Gilbert. Diana was Anne’s first real bosom friend,besides the other two she had imagined,the bookcase girl Katie Ma urice and the echo girl Violetta. Anne was excited with the prospect of making friends with the pretty and smart Diana,but when she was to be see her ,she became frightened. â€Å"What if she shouldn’t like me! It would be the most tragical disappointment of my life†(Montgomery 122). She was trembling. Her face became pale and tense on the way to Mrs. Barry’s. But everything turned out great as readers expected. These two little girl began to know each other quickly and swore to be friends forever. â€Å"You are a queer girl,Anne. I heard before that you were queer. But I believe I’am going to like you real well† (Montgomery 126). They gave each other their precious objects as presents. Anne was allowed to play with Diana half an hour everyday so they could explore and enjoy every corner of the nature and share with each other their little thoughts. They went to school together,sat together at school and went home together. Anne no longer needed to imagine a friend since the real life could satisfy her real well. She would never be lonely with Diana’s company. But they also had their ups and downs. Anne decided to leave school because she was insulted by Gilbert and punished unfairly by Mr. Phillips,so Diana had to sit with the horrid Gertie Pye,and they had to be parted in school time. Anne was so determined that no one could change her mind. Later she invited Diana to tea but mistakenly made her drunk. Thus they were forbade to talk to each other by Mrs. Barry. But she missed Diana so much that she asked to go back to school to look at Diana and muse over days departed. It was not until Anne saved Minnie May’s life that Anne was allowed to play with Diana. Then Anne joined the Queen’s class to prepare for the entrance examination but Diana did not. It broke Anne’s heart to see Diana slowly go out of the classroom alone. â€Å"I really felt that I had tasted the bitterness of death when I saw Diana go out alone but we can’t have things perfect in this imperfect world,as Mrs. Lynde says†(Montgomery 355). However, most of the time they spent together were happy and interesting. They experienced life together and grew up with each other’s companies. â€Å"Diana and I talk a great deal about serious subjects now,you know. We feel that we are so much older than we used to be that it isn’t becoming to talk about childish matters†(Montgomery 348). They were both kind and sincere. They loved each other, cared for each other and help each other in need. They improve themselves and became a better child for the other’s sake. Their friendship was a quite rewarding one. Anne knew very clear what to love and what to hate and she was as intense in her hatreds as in her loves. Her mind was so determined to hate Gilbert after the confident and handsome Gilbert failed to make Anne look at him and deliberately called her red braid carrots. He had no idea that she has been pitying herself ever since she realized that her hair was different from others and was deeply convinced that her red hair was ugly. It seemed to hurt her pride every time she thought and talked about it ,let alone to hear it from others. Gilbert tried to apologize but Anne did not give his any chance. She decided never to look at him and speak him,and she would hate him forever. Thus Gilbert became Anne’s dead enemy. â€Å"She flung herself into her studies heart and soul,determined not to be outdone in any class by Gilbert Blythe†(Montgomery 197). The rivalry between them was soon apparent. It was good natured on Gilbert’s side,but not on Anne’s. Both of them were the best students in the class and promoted into the fifth class. There in geometry Anne met her Waterloo. â€Å"It’s perfectly awful stuff,Marilla,I’m sure I’ll never be able to make head or trail of it Mr. Phillips says I’m the worst dunce he ever saw at it. And Gil ? I mean some of the others ? are so smart at it†(Montgomery 199). Besides the rivalry, there were still so many things attracted her. The world itself was interesting for Anne. The new book that Jane Andrews lent her constantly distracted her from her homework. The view of the concert she would attend to and the spare-room bed she would sleep on all meant more than the humiliation she got when Gilbert did better than her in school. So she was determined to defeat Gilbert, but not that determined to give up all these attractions in life for it. She loved life,nature and everything new and pretty. The real open rivalry between Anne and Gilbert was when Gilbert saved Anne’s life on the road and asked to be friends but was refused. Gilbert was very disappointed. And Anne got a feeling of regret after that. â€Å"Previously the rivalry had been rather one-sided,but there was no longer any doubt that Gilbert was as determined to be first in the class as Anne was. He was a foeman worthy of her steel†(Montgomery 356). When Gilbert behaved very indifferent to Anne,she felt bad. She realized that she had forgiven and forgotten him without knowing it. If she had that chance to make friends again she would accept it. But it was too late. Anne still studied very hard after that but with different motives. She competed with Gilbert with more respect. She also wanted to pride Marilla and Matthew on her excellent school work. So Anne had really grown up. She had forgiven the person who she hated so much two years ago. She realized friendship was more valuable than hatred and that she used to be proud and horrid to Gilbert. She had got a fair and right purpose for working hard instead of the narrow and hostile one. Anne was a diligent thinker besides a diligent learner. She had got many revelations in life. She was frank and honest and brave enough to admit her faults. After she had saved Minnie May of croup in the critical moment,she claimed â€Å"I’m so glad Mrs. Hammond had three pairs of twins after all. If she hadn’t I mightn’t have known what to do for Minnie May. I’m real sorry I was ever cross with Mrs. Hammond for having twins†(Montgomery 209). She learned to examine herself of unsuitable behaviors and speeches. Mrs. Allan said one should never make uncharitable speeches. But â€Å"I simply can’t talk about Josie Pye without making an uncharitable speech, so I never mention her at all†(Montgomery 300). I’m afraid I think too much about my nose ever since I heard that compliment about it long ago†(Montgomery 301). And she believed that it was vain to do that. Her hair was cut by Marilla because she dyed it green by mistake. Then she told herself â€Å"I never thought I was vain about my hair ,of all things,but now I know I was† (Montgomery 318). As a teenager, she was able to figure out something but not everything. She had found out what a alabaster was when she was thirteen. But she also had her confusions. Once she asked Diana â€Å"do you suppose it’s wrong for us to think so much about our clothes? Marilla says it is very sinful. But it is such an interesting subject† (Montgomery 301). However, there was something she was very sure of. She did not yeild to the adult’s opinion and always had her own thinking about things she saw. When Mrs. Lynde once heard a minister confess that when he was a boy he stole a strawberry tart out of his aunt’s pantry and she never had any respect for that minister. â€Å"I wouldn’t have felt that way. I’d have thought that it was real noble of him to confess it†(Montgomery 308). And she thought it might encourage the naughty boys to become ministers some day. So Anne’s outlook of the world was positive and hopeful. She could find the positive side of matters. Such a girl would not be easily defeated by the hardship of life. In this period of time, Anne had lived her life thoroughly. She got a home and a happy family. She made a bosom friend and found many kindred spirits. She tried many new things, made many amusing mistakes, got into many troubles and learned many lessons. She was as talkative and imaginative as ever, but was more sensible. She was sincere and frank, passionate and determined. She was not lonely any more and learned to forgive people and be kind and generous. . Big changes The last part of this novel told readers the events happen when Anne is fifteen and sixteen years old. During this time, Anne becomes mature both physically and metally which prepares her for the great joy and disastrous grief of life. There are two big events for her in that period:she is admitted by Queen’s and gets the Alvory scholarsh ip to go to college after one year’s study there; Matthew passed away and Marilla was going blind, she gave up the scholarship and stayed at Green Gables to accompany Marilla. Anne was curious about growing up. The more she knew about the adult’s world ,the more she found it difficult to understand. She wanted to be a minister if she had been a man because a minister had such an influence for good, but why could not women be ministers, why was Mrs. Lynde so shocked when she heard Anne talk about it and thought it would be a scandalous thing? She was a little rebel in the patriarchal domination she believed Mrs. Lynde could preach as good as male ministers if she tried. She was puzzled why she felt wicked and wanted to do the very thing Mrs. Lynde told her not to do. Marilla told her that was because Mrs. Lynde kept nagging people to do right but had an opposite effect and this gave Anne a relief. â€Å"I shan’t worry so much over that after this. But I dare say there’ll be other things to worry me. They keep coming up new all the time†(Montgomery 367). She also felt the pressure and responsibility to do right, because she knew she had only one chance . If she did not grow up right she could not go back and begin over again. Things went smooth, schoolwork was as interesting, class rivalry was as absorbing, Anne was as ambitious to enter Queen’s and her social activities were expanding and one day Marilla found Anne was taller than herself. The little child she had been loving intensely had vanished and there was that tall,serious-eyed girl of fifteen. Besides ,Marilla found Anne was much quieter and used less big words than before. When Anne was told that,she colored and laughed a little,which showed that she became shy and restrained instead of the carefree innocent girl. She turned more introverted and stable. â€Å"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 there’s so much to learn and do and think that there isn’t time for big words†(Montgomery 371). She did not say much until Marilla asked her about the story club and her chance to pass the entrance exam,and Anne answers one by one. Anne was no longer the girl brought forward all kinds of questions and subjects and chattered all the time voluntarily with difficulty to stop. She was more practical and sensible. She could control herself from enjoying the beauty of nature. Because â€Å"there would be other springs,but if she did not succeed in passing the entrance,Anne felt convinced that she would never recover sufficiently to enjoy them†(Montgomery 371). It turned out that all the Avonlea students sat for the entrance had passed. Anne and Gilbert were ties and led the Island. This success made Matthew and Marilla and all her friends proud of her. Her hard working finally got rewards. Anne was invited to recite for a hotel concert where she and other girl saw many rich people and luxury things. But Anne was spiritually rich and satisfied and more content to be Anne of Green Gables than anyone else. So Anne did not admire them like Jane and comforted Jane, â€Å"we are rich,why,we have sixteen years to our credit,and we’re happy as queens,and we’ve all got imaginations,more or less I don’t want to be anybody but myself,even if I go uncomforted by diamonds all my life†(Montgomery 399-400). Then Anne entered Queen’s with her ambition and determination. She got Avery scholarship after one year’s painstaking and went home with her achievement and glory. Matthew died,in the next day when Anne went home from Queen’s. It was hard for Anne to bear the pain of losing her beloved Matthew. She could hardly believe the fact. Anne hoped that the tears would come in solitude. It seemed to her a terrible thing that she could not shed a tear for Matthew, whom she had loved so much and who had been so kind to her ut no tears came at first only the same horrible dull ache of misery that kept on aching until she fell asleep,worn out with the day’s pain and excitement. (Montgomery 431) In the night she awakened and thought of Matthew. Tears came. She wept her heart out. Marilla heard her,then she crept in to comfort her. Marilla told her th at she loved her as her own flesh and blood. Life was so delicate that the living should cherish every minute of it,even the inexpressive Marilla showed her love thoroughly to Anne. But Anne was not mature enough to understand this truth and did not know how to deal with her grief and pleasure. She felt something like shame and remorse when she discovered that the sunrises behind the firs and the pale pink buds opening in the garden gave her the old inrush of gladness when she saw them†(Montgomery 433). She felt disloyalty to Matthew when she was pleased by friendship and love. But she had more to care. Marilla was diagnosed of terrible eye disease and was going blind. Their bank had failed. Green Gable was hard to keep. These hardships could not frighten Anne. She did not escape but faced her duty courageously and found it a friend. She gave up the scholarship to stay at Green Gables with Marilla and taught nearby. Gilbert gave up the Avonlea school for her. Anne was thankful. They finally became good friends. The ups and downs in life had made Anne a real grown up , no matter what would happen to her in the future,she would face it with hope,courage and confidence. Chapter Three Conclusion So far, we get the conclusion that personality and destiny are interactive . It is true and it has long been accepted that one’s personality determines one’s destiny. But the impact of the destiny on the development of one’s personality is less discussed. This thesis show us that personality is also shaped by destiny. Anne was an orphan before she came to Green Gables. She suffered much more than the normal child in her early eleven years. She lived a life lack of love and care. So she was lonely and eager for love and friendship. When she finally got them ,she cherished them more than others. The real life was cruel so she resorted to her imagination to comfort herself. Imagination and sentimentality were the production of her bitter life. After she was adopted, she was loved and educated by kind people. She got best friends and went to school with other children. She became a member of a family and a society. The belongingness and friendship satisfied her little heart. So she no longer felt lonely or unloved. Under good influence,she became more sensible and reliable. In her fifteenth, she met a big challenge to further her study which also brought about great changes. She was quieter and more introverted. She turned restrained and practical. Having experienced leaving home to Queen’s and stiff choice between going to Redmond College or staying at Green Gables, Anne has come to a deep ecognition of self, realizing that being grateful to her adoptive mother and taking family responsibility are right choices. Thus this protagonist of Anne of Green Gables has progressed from a fragmented self to a realigned whole. From an overall point of view, Anne’s personality surely determined her destiny. Since she was extroverted, smart,ladylike,eager and teachable, Marilla was will ing to adopt her. She was interesting,sincere,joyful,friendly and quick-witted, so she made many good friends. She was diligent and determined ,so she did well in school. She chose to stay at Green Gables with Marilla for she was grateful and responsible. As she grew up,she came to understand the social mores of Avonlea, but she could not accept the concepts observed by the community completely. As she was a diligent and critical thinker,she still kept her independent ideas and tried to revolt against the patriarchal ideology. What would happen to her in the future was unknown, but whatever happened, she would face it with hope and courage. The famous Chinese scholar Zhou Guoping once commented on Anne: â€Å"Anne possesses two kinds of precious treasures. One is curiosity to life, and the other is imagination filled with optimism. † If we observe carefully, we may find many Annes around us. Actually , many people can find Anne’s reflection in themselves, especially girls and women. We can muse our good old days while reading Anne,and get some ideas to get along with little girls and to understand them help them grow up healthily. Environment and personality are critical for children to form a healthy life. Although Anne is an orphan and behaves a little queer, but she has a sound mind and body. Her personality has many advantages on living a happy life. Nowadays, psychological problems and diseases are not strange to us. Many of the patients are teenagers,even the adult patients may date the origin of their diseases back to their childhood experience. So how to build a good environment for the growing children is a crucial tasks for parents and the society. Anne can be take as an example of happy and healthy child. The author of this thesis hopes this paper could enrich the study to Anne of Green Gables, enlarge the research range of the relation between personality and destiny and provide some ideas for children’s education and their mental development.