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Symbolism, And Tone In Anne Of Green Gables

Decent Essays

In the novel Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert were planning on adopting a young boy to help them with chores, only to find a girl, Anne Shirley, waiting for them at the train station. They wanted to send her back to the orphanage, but the longer she stayed with them at Green Gables, the more they could not picture life without her. The three literary elements addressed in this charming book are characterization, symbol, and tone. First, the author uses characterization to exhibit the personality of each character. “She had a good chance to do so, for the said Gilbert Blythe was absorbed in stealthily pinning the long yellow braid of Ruby Gillis, who sat in front of him, to the back of her seat” (110). This is characterization because it shows Gilbert loves to trick others, even if it hurts them. This is important because this was one of Anne’s first impressions of him and she did not like that he acted this way. “‘ I can’t go through the Haunted Wood, Marilla,’ cried Anne desperately” (103). This is characterization because it shows that Anne has a large imagination and she …show more content…

“‘Oh, Marilla, how can you be so cruel?’ sobbed Anne. ‘What would you feel like if a white thing did snatch me up and carry me off?’ (165). This is tone because Anne has a dismal tone in her voice, showing that she is heartbroken. This is important because tone helps the reader understand how a character is reacting to a certain situation. “‘Did anybody ever see such a temper!’ exclaimed the horrified Mrs. Rachel” (65). One can see by this that the tone of Mrs. Rachel’s voice was surprised and shocked because she didn’t believe that such a temper could be within such a young girl. In addition, she was startled that Anne snapped at her and was unclear of what had just happened. Therefore, the author uses tone to show how a character is feeling during a specific time or

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