The Conflict and Reconciliation Between Anne Shirley and Rachel Lynde

Anne Shirley's relationship with Mrs. Rachel Lynde begins with a violent clash over Anne's appearance and evolves through apology, forgiveness, and mutual respect into a stable, affectionate bond that reflects Anne's moral growth and Mrs. Lynde's underlying kindness.

The Explosive First Encounter

Mrs. Rachel Lynde, the self-appointed moral guardian of Avonlea, arrived at Green Gables a fortnight after Anne's arrival, bursting with curiosity about the orphan. When Anne came in from the orchard, Mrs. Lynde delivered an emphatic verdict: "Well, they didn't pick you for your looks, that's sure and certain. She's terrible skinny and homely, Marilla. Come here, child, and let me have a look at you. Lawful heart, did any one ever see such freckles? And hair as red as carrots!" Anne, her face scarlet with anger, her lips quivering, and her whole slender form trembling, stamped her foot and cried, "I hate you—I hate you—I hate you—How dare you call me skinny and ugly? How dare you say I'm freckled and redheaded? You are a rude, impolite, unfeeling woman!" She continued to face Mrs. Lynde undauntedly, head up, eyes blazing, hands clenched, declaring she would never forgive her. Marilla, recovering her powers of speech, ordered Anne to her room, and Mrs. Lynde swept out, declaring she did not envy Marilla's job bringing that child up.

The Apology and Its Transformation

Marilla, though inwardly amused, insisted Anne must apologize. Anne initially refused, saying she could not say she was sorry when she was not. But Matthew, slipping upstairs, whispered that she should "just smooth it over," and Anne agreed to oblige him. When she appeared before Mrs. Lynde, she knelt dramatically, clasped her hands, and delivered an elaborate apology: "Oh, Mrs. Lynde, I am so extremely sorry. I could never express all my sorrow, no, not if I used up a whole dictionary. You must just imagine it. I behaved terribly to you—and I've disgraced the dear friends, Matthew and Marilla, who have let me stay at Green Gables although I'm not a boy." She confessed every word Mrs. Lynde had said was true—her hair was red, she was freckled and skinny and ugly—and begged forgiveness. Mrs. Lynde, perceiving only Anne's sincerity, forgave her heartily, adding that she knew a girl whose red hair had darkened to a handsome auburn. Anne, rising, declared Mrs. Lynde a benefactor and said she could endure anything if she thought her hair would be a handsome auburn when she grew up.

Growing Mutual Regard

After the apology, Mrs. Lynde told Marilla that Anne was "a real odd little thing, but there is something kind of taking about her after all." She noted that a child with a quick temper who blazes up and cools down is never likely to be sly or deceitful, and concluded, "On the whole, Marilla, I kind of like her." Anne, for her part, told Marilla on the way home, "It gives you a lovely, comfortable feeling to apologize and be forgiven, doesn't it?" and added that she had no hard feelings against Mrs. Lynde now. When Anne later confessed to a false story about the amethyst brooch—a confession she invented solely to be allowed to go to the picnic—Mrs. Lynde was not directly involved, but the pattern of Anne's truthfulness and Mrs. Lynde's judgment continued to intertwine. After Anne saved Minnie May Barry from croup, she told Mrs. Barry, "I have no hard feelings for you, Mrs. Barry. I assure you once for all that I did not mean to intoxicate Diana and henceforth I shall cover the past with the mantle of oblivion," a dignified speech that echoed the apology skills she had learned with Mrs. Lynde.

A Stable, Affectionate Bond

By the time Anne won the Avery scholarship and returned home, Mrs. Lynde was a regular presence at Green Gables. When Marilla's eyesight failed and Anne decided to stay home to teach instead of going to Redmond College, Mrs. Lynde came up one evening and deposited her substantial person on the stone bench. She told Anne she was glad she had given up college, saying, "You've got as much education now as a woman can be comfortable with." She also revealed that Gilbert Blythe had withdrawn his application for the Avonlea school so Anne could have it, calling it "real kind and thoughtful in him, that's what. Real self-sacrificing, too." Mrs. Lynde's final verdict on Marilla was that she had "got MELLOW," a change she attributed to Anne's influence. The relationship that began with a furious outburst and a humiliating apology had become one of genuine affection and mutual respect, with Mrs. Lynde acting as a steady, if sometimes blunt, supporter of Anne's place in Avonlea.