Anne And Elijah Character Analysis

I am a product of many places. I was born in South Jersey, lived in Tennessee for two months, spent three summers with family in Chicago, and visited six different countries. I’ve attended high school with kids from as far away as Germany and China, and had a class with a student from Hawaii last semester. Not to mention how quickly I can learn about any area of the world whenever I want to with just a few mouse clicks. This kind of cultural broadening was next to impossible for children growing up in the time of Anne and Elijah. During that time, you were born in a town, got married in a town, and died in that very same town. Anne and Elijah were raised by people who grew up in the same community with one another, who shared a culture, and …show more content…
Now, as mentioned previously, value was placed on either traits present from the very beginning, like Elijah’s manners and honesty, or the value is realized towards the end of the story, like Anne’s imaginativeness and romanticism. There is one positive character trait that develops and is highlighted in both stories, and that’s both Anne and Elijah’s intelligence. Anne is portrayed as a bit scatterbrained in the beginning of the story, forgetting chores and making rather silly mistakes. But as the story goes on, as Anne matures, it’s shown what a precedent her studies take. A key element of her personality and story line is her desire to beat Gilbert in grades (Montgomery). Elijah is portrayed as intelligent as well, in the top of his class, and is chosen to come with Mr. Leroy in the end because he can read (Curtis). Both characters are very hard working as well, shown struggling with some subjects (Geometry for Anne, and Latin for Elijah), and studying constantly (Montgomery, Curtis). These may seem like individualized personality traits, but they actually relate heavily back to the community atmosphere. Both Anne and Elijah live in very small towns, where everyone knows their business. The pressure to do well is high. But for Anne, an orphan who is strongly attracted to the idea of having a place to call home, succeeding academically seems vital to her remaining at Green Gables. Elijah must succeed because of the pressure his community places on him, as a representation of his family and of his race. For former slaves, without the privilege to read or write, learning literacy and receiving a full education was an immeasurable gift. Once again, Anne is motivated by a rather personal sense of pride and necessity, while Elijah is heavily affected by the history of his