One of my favorite heroines, Anne of Green Gables (and Avonlea, and the Island, and so on, and so forth), turns 100 this year.
Much of Anne's charm is that she's grown with me--when I was little, I adored Anne of Green Gables. In college--living in my own little "Patty's Place" with two wonderful roommates--my favorite was Anne of the Island. And now--a married and, most of the time, grown-up woman--I find myself more and more picking up the later books, Anne's House of Dreams and Anne of Ingleside.
But I also love that--when I'm feeling petty or irritated--I can spend an hour or two with Anne and suddenly "all's right with the world" again. She makes me feel silly for giving in to my lesser-self, and makes me want to try anew to be a better person.
"She held . . . the unconscious influence that every girl, whose ideals are high and pure, wields over her friends . . . . Anne's greatest charm was the fact that she never stooped to the petty practices of so many of the Avonlea girls—the small jealousies, the little deceits and rivalries, the palpable bids for favor. Anne held herself apart from all this, not consciously or of design, but simply because anything of the sort was utterly foreign to her transparent, impulsive nature, crystal clear in its motives and aspirations."
For this week's poll:
Who is your "Anne"? That is, someone who makes you genuinely want to be a better person by their example; someone who reminds you what is really important in your life; someone who helps lift you out of the doldrums. Why?
Comment and discuss.
