I did not pick up on the prejudice, other than in regard to the peddler who sold the hair dye. Nor did I get enough sense of place to explain why
Anne-loving tourists have flocked to the area.
I didn't feel there was necessarily a disconnect between Anne's early upbringing and how she acted--the disconnect I saw was between her circumstances as an orphan going to a new place and her confident talkativeness. I guess that talkativeness could have been covering anxiety, but I didn't get that vibe. Her dismay at the prospect of being sent back didn't seem at all genuine--she'd been so over-the-top already that it seemed merely more of the same histrionics, and at least a little bit manipulative.
She was quite overpowering, forcing people to fit into whatever box she wanted them to inhabit. Except for Gilbert, did she ever allow anyone in her orbit to abandon the box she'd put them in, sometimes before she'd ever even met them?
When she acts nobly, even at the end when she decides to stay with Marilla, it feels as if she's doing it for the enjoyment of being the self-sacrificing heroine in her own melodrama, rather than because of real depth of character. (Contrast Jo selling her hair in
Little Women.)
Re cracking the slate over Gilbert's head--sure, it's funny, but is it really meaningful? Anne acts because she's been insulted; I would like it better if her action had been in response to an insult to someone else, if she'd stood up for someone else. As it is, it's just another over-the-top reaction.
I did quite enjoy the fall off the roof--laughing out loud (extremely rare for me!) at this:
Quote:
“Anne, are you killed?” shrieked Diana, throwing herself on her knees beside her friend. “Oh, Anne, dear Anne, speak just one word to me and tell me if you’re killed.”
To the immense relief of all the girls, and especially of Josie Pye, who, in spite of lack of imagination, had been seized with horrible visions of a future branded as the girl who was the cause of Anne Shirley’s early and tragic death, Anne sat dizzily up and answered uncertainly:
“No, Diana, I am not killed, but I think I am rendered unconscious.”
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I think I like
Pollyanna better, perhaps influenced by Hayley Mills in the Disney version. Or perhaps because Pollyanna seems to be so much more caring than Anne. I'm not inspired to read further in the Anne series.