Anne of Green Gables Chapter 38 Summary

Summary

Marilla returns from town after visiting an oculist and reveals to Anne that her eyesight is failing; the doctor warns that without rigid rest and the prescribed glasses she risks becoming blind within months. Marilla reacts with bitterness and despair, feeling that without the ability to read or sew she will have no purpose, and contemplates selling Green Gables to secure a livelihood. Anne is deeply shaken but quickly rallies, comforting Marilla and persuading her to rest.

When a prospective buyer (Mr. Sadler) appears, Marilla contemplates the practical necessity of selling, but Anne refuses to accept the loss of their home. She announces that she will not go to Redmond to take the scholarship but will stay to teach locally and care for Marilla, arranging to teach at Carmody if Avonlea is unavailable. The news spreads through Avonlea: Mrs. Allan and Rachel Lynde (Rachel Lynde) voice approval and surprise. Rachel tells Anne that Gilbert Blythe has withdrawn his application and will teach elsewhere so Anne can keep the Avonlea school. Anne thanks Gilbert in a brief, reconciliatory meeting at dusk; they agree to be friends and academic companions. The chapter closes with Anne visiting Matthew’s grave, reflecting on the altered course of her life — “a bend in the road” — and feeling contentment and faith that new, quiet joys await her at Green Gables.

Key events

1. Marilla returns from the oculist and reveals the risk of blindness.
2. Marilla considers selling Green Gables to meet expenses.
3. Anne decides to forgo her scholarship and stay home to teach and care for Marilla.
4. Word spreads; Rachel Lynde and Mrs. Allan react; townspeople discuss Anne's choice.
5. Gilbert Blythe withdraws his claim and enables Anne to receive the Avonlea school.
6. Anne and Gilbert reconcile and pledge friendship.
7. Anne visits Matthew's grave and accepts the new path — the 'bend in the road.'

Analysis

This chapter performs a pivotal emotional and structural turn: it shifts Anne’s trajectory from outward advancement (college) to inward commitment (home, teaching, caretaking). The personal crisis of Marilla’s failing eyesight externalizes the novel’s recurring theme of duty versus ambition. Anne’s choice reframes ambition: she does not abandon aspiration but redirects it into teaching, self-education at home, and practical devotion to Marilla. Montgomery uses this crisis to deepen Marilla’s characterization — her brittle sternness softens into vulnerability, producing a more rounded, sympathetic figure whose emotional capitulation allows community bonds to strengthen.

Narratively, the chapter compresses social response and character development into everyday interactions: gossip, neighborly counsel, and the simple courtesy of Gilbert’s withdrawal. Gilbert’s act functions as a plot device that both spares Anne practical hardship and repairs interpersonal rupture, transforming former antagonism into cooperative friendship. Symbolism appears in recurring landscape imagery — the graveyard, the Lake of Shining Waters, and the final “bend in the road” — which frame Anne’s internal acceptance as pastoral consolation and moral affirmation. Montgomery’s narrator balances melodramatic stakes (possible blindness, selling the home) with intimate domestic detail, making the ethical choice feel both heroic and quietly ordinary. The chapter thus reorients the novel from promise of external success to the moral value of rootedness, care, and redefined ambition.

Important quotes

“Blind! Anne, just think of it!”

Marilla CuthbertMarilla exclaims on learning the oculist's warning that, without strict care, she may become blind within months.

“Now there is a bend in it. I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe that the best does.”

Anne ShirleyAnne articulates her acceptance of a changed future — choosing to stay and teach — and frames it with hopeful faith in the unknown ahead.

“'God’s in his heaven, all’s right with the world,'" whispered Anne softly.”

Narrator (Anne whispered)In the closing lines, Anne expresses serene trust and contentment after deciding to remain at Green Gables and face the new path.

Characters in Chapter 38

• Rachel Lynde
• Ruby Gillis
• Diana Barry
• Anne Shirley
• Gilbert Blythe
• Josie Pye
• Marilla Cuthbert
• Charlie Sloane
• Muriel Stacy
• Jane Andrews
• Matthew Cuthbert
• Mr. Sadler
• Mr. Blair
• Mrs. Allan
• Thomas
• Mr. Barry