As a prolific writer in Canada, Montgomery has created more than twenty novels among which her first novel Anne of Green Gables is the most popular one. The heroine of the novel is an orphaned girl named Anne Shirley with freckles and red hair. The novel narrates Anne’s upbringing from the age of eleven to seventeen. Anne had led a miserable life before coming to Green Gables, which made her traumatized. Thus, this essay arranges from the perspective of trauma theory to analyse Anne’s course of life. According to the usual logic of trauma theory, this essay begins with Anne’s traumatic symptoms, and then finds out what factors related to Anne’s trauma. The final part is also the key of the essay which dissects Anne’s healing process from her trauma. On the one hand, applying trauma theory into Anne’s growing experiences can open a new view for readers to reevaluate Anne. On the other hand, readers can get some illumination through Anne’s experiences and arouse their awareness to get rid of their trauma in the daily lives.

Qin Jiaqi. A Healing Journey of Anne from Trauma in Anne of Green Gables. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2024) Vol. 7, Issue 5: 58-64. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2024.070511.

[1] Irene, Gemmel, & Epperly, Elizabeth. (2000). L. M. Montgomery and Canadian Culture. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 

[2] Waterston, Elizabeth. (1976). Lucy Maud Montgomery: 1874-1942. J. R. Sorfleet (Ed.), L. M. Montgomery; An Assessment (pp. 9-28). Guelph: Canadian Children’s Press.  

[3] Judith, Herman. (1992). Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. New York: Basic Books. 

[4] Cui Cui (2013). An Orphan Girl’s Quest for Identity—A Study of Anne of Green Gables. Published master’s thesis, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangxi.

[5] Montgomery, Lucy Mund. (1925). Anne of Green Gables. London: George G. Harrap.