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Home › Learn About Anne|Anne with an "e" › Friends and Neighbors

Friends and Neighbors

The charm of Anne of Green Gables doesn’t just come from the character of Anne Shirley alone; it is made richer by the friends and neighbors of the small community of Avonlea. Adding to the universal appeal of the book, the residents of Avonlea are characters we all can recognize and relate to as people in our own lives. Friend or foe, each character in the book contributes to Anne’s adjustment to her new life in Prince Edward Island and is influenced forever by her irrepressible spirit.

Here are a few of the people who figure prominently in Anne’s life:

Matthew Cuthbert  -  A shy but golden-hearted man, Matthew is a sixty-year-old bachelor living at Green Gables with his sister, Marilla. When they decide to adopt a boy to help on the farm, Matthew is totally perplexed when he shows up at the train station to find Anne there instead. Always uncomfortable around women, Matthew is uncharacteristically charmed by Anne and pressures Marilla to adopt her. Anne considers Matthew a kindred spirit and they always shared a very special bond.

Marilla Cuthbert  -  As Matthew’s unmarried and often stern sister, Marilla shares Green Gables with her brother. Marilla is known as being practical and austere and is often overwhelmed by Anne’s dramatic spirit. Marilla could best be described as a “hard-boiled softy” as underneath her stoic ways, she has a warm heart and a sense of humour. Marilla takes her responsibility to raise Anne properly very seriously and while she is strict, she grows to love Anne as her own daughter.

Diana Barry -  Anne's best friend and kindred spirit, Diana lives next door to Green Gables at Orchard Slope. As young, fanciful girls, they swear devotion to each other forever and become lifelong friends. Anne's imagination and spunk adds zest to Diana’s otherwise fairly ordinary life, often with surprising results.

Gilbert Blythe -  Gilbert Blythe is both friend and foe to Anne’s sometimes stubborn and competitive ways. A likeable, handsome and smart classmate, Gilbert incites Anne’s temper and humiliation when he makes the mistake of teasing about her red hair and she vows never to speak to him again. As students, Anne and Gilbert were rivals throughout their school years, pushing Anne to achieve high academic results. Eventually Gilbert and Anne recognize the many things they have in common and become very close friends, not without a foreshadowing of romance.

Mrs. Rachel Lynde  -  Everyone knows someone like Mrs. Rachel Lynde. As the busybody of Avonlea, Mrs. Lynde gives her opinion and passes judgement on everyone and everything in the community.  She lives next door to Green Gables and is very suspect of Anne when she comes to live with the Cuthberts and often disapproved of her precocious ways.