The power of food as a tool in the growth and maturity of individuals is crucial through food’s usage as a metaphor to indicate the coming of age. The control of food defines the mother-daughter relationship and it is ironic that a mother’s cooking impairs her daughter’s self-actualization. Marilla suppresses Anne’s identity and personality by refusing to call Anne by the name of Cordelia and mentions “[u]nromantic fiddlesticks! … Anne is a real good plain sensible name” (Montgomery 24) and then orders Anne to “never mind [her] imaginings” (32). Anne refuses Marilla’s initial supper to symbolize Anne’s refusal to accept the “[u]nsympathetic Marilla” (24) as a motherly figure. Since Anne is an orphan, Marilla contains all the power to determine
