Mr. Phillips
Mr. Phillips is the schoolmaster of Avonlea school during the first years of Anne Shirley's life at Green Gables, a teacher whose favoritism, sarcasm, and lack of pedagogical rigor make him a figure of frustration and injustice for Anne. His tenure is marked by a preoccupation with the older student Prissy Andrews, a tendency toward arbitrary and humiliating punishments, and a general neglect of the younger scholars. Though he occasionally offers a word of praise, his overall conduct establishes him as an antagonist in Anne's early school life, a role that ultimately contributes to her temporary withdrawal from school and her fierce rivalry with Gilbert Blythe.
Identity and Role at Avonlea School
Mr. Phillips is the sole teacher at the Avonlea school, a whitewashed building with low eaves and wide windows, furnished with old-fashioned desks carved with the initials of generations of students. He is described as being "all the time curling his mustache and making eyes at Prissy Andrews," a sixteen-year-old student studying for the entrance examination into Queen's Academy. This behavior is a matter of open gossip among the pupils; Ruby Gillis reports seeing him write something on Prissy's slate that made her "blush as red as a beet and giggle." Anne, reporting this to Marilla, is sharply told not to criticize her teacher. Mr. Phillips's attention is so fixed on Prissy that he is often in the back of the room explaining lessons to her, leaving the other scholars to do "pretty much as they pleased—eating green apples, whispering, drawing pictures on their slates, and driving crickets harnessed to strings, up and down aisle." This neglect creates a classroom environment where discipline is lax and the teacher's authority is exercised only in sporadic, often unfair, bursts.
Key Actions and Conflicts with Anne
Mr. Phillips's conflicts with Anne arise from his arbitrary and public methods of punishment. The first major incident occurs when Gilbert Blythe, trying to get Anne's attention, calls her "Carrots!" and pulls her braid. Anne, in a fury, brings her slate down on Gilbert's head, cracking it. Mr. Phillips, ignoring Gilbert's admission that he teased her, punishes Anne by making her stand on the platform in front of the blackboard for the rest of the afternoon. He then writes on the board above her head, "Ann Shirley has a very bad temper. Ann Shirley must learn to control her temper," and reads it aloud so even the primer class can understand. This public humiliation, compounded by the deliberate misspelling of her name without the 'e' she treasures, wounds Anne's sensitive spirit deeply. The second, more devastating incident occurs when Mr. Phillips, in a fit of "spasmodic reform," decides to punish lateness. He singles out Anne, who had been wandering in the spruce grove and was swept into the schoolhouse among the boys, as a scapegoat. With heavy sarcasm, he orders her to "Take those flowers out of your hair and sit with Gilbert Blythe." For Anne, this punishment—being forced to sit beside the boy she hates—is "as the end of all things," heaping "insult on injury to a degree utterly unbearable." She refuses to return to school, telling Marilla, "I've been insulted."
Teaching Style and Reputation
Mr. Phillips is not considered a good teacher by the community. Mrs. Rachel Lynde, a formidable local opinion, states that "Mr. Phillips isn't any good at all as a teacher. The order he keeps is scandalous, that's what, and he neglects the young fry and puts all his time on those big scholars he's getting ready for Queen's." She further notes that he would not have kept the school for another year if his uncle were not a trustee. Despite these shortcomings, Matthew Cuthbert reports hearing Mr. Phillips say that Anne was "the smartest scholar in school and was making rapid progress." Anne herself, while acknowledging his praise, complains that he changes the letters in geometry problems, making them impossible to follow. His teaching is inconsistent, and his focus is on the older students, leaving the younger ones to their own devices.
Departure and Aftermath
Mr. Phillips leaves the Avonlea school at the end of the term. His departure is marked by a surprisingly emotional farewell speech, beginning, "The time has come for us to part." Anne, despite her grievances, finds herself crying along with the other girls, noting that even Mr. Phillips had "tears in his eyes." She reflects on his faults—making her sit with a boy, spelling her name wrong, calling her a dunce at geometry, and being "horrid and sarcastic"—but still feels the sadness of the moment. His departure clears the way for the arrival of Miss Stacy, a female teacher who proves to be a far more effective and inspiring educator, and under whom Anne's academic ambitions truly flourish. Mr. Phillips's legacy is that of a flawed and forgettable figure whose unfairness inadvertently hardened Anne's resolve and deepened her rivalry with Gilbert Blythe.
