What happens in Chapter 37 of Anne of Green Gables?
Chapter 37 opens with Anne fully immersed in her new role as a teacher at Avonlea school, feeling quietly happy and closely connected to Marilla. Then, without any warning, the chapter takes a sharp turn: Matthew, who is working in the fields on a warm June morning, suddenly collapses and dies from a heart attack. Anne and Marilla receive the news almost immediately, and their home is engulfed in sorrow. Neighbours rush to Green Gables, while Anne moves through the day in a haze, carrying out necessary tasks as the harsh reality of Matthew's death slowly sinks in. When she finally allows herself to grieve, it happens in the barn—alone with the memory of his gentle, unconditional love. The chapter concludes on a more subdued note, with Anne and Marilla sitting together in the evening, sharing their grief, and facing an uncertain future for Green Gables. Matthew's death isn't dramatized for effect; it happens as real loss does—suddenly, in the middle of life, during ordinary daylight.
Analysis
Montgomery approaches Matthew's death with a restraint that amplifies its impact. The chapter's title, taken from Longfellow, solemnly announces death, but the writing itself avoids melodrama. The death happens off the page using practical, almost clinical language—this contrast reflects how grief unexpectedly confronts the living. Over thirty-six chapters, Montgomery has shaped Matthew as a figure defined by silence and unwavering love; thus, his absence feels like a structural void rather than just a plot twist.
The barn scene stands out as the chapter's most meticulously crafted moment. Anne's collapse there echoes her early experiences when the barn and its animals symbolized her first sense of belonging at Green Gables. Mourning Matthew in that space means mourning her entire childhood at once. Throughout, Montgomery weaves in the motif of sight: Matthew's last glance at Anne, Anne observing his face, Marilla's diminishing eyesight—vision signifies love, along with the fear of losing what one has finally learned to appreciate.
The tonal shift from the chapter's domestic beginning to its elegiac conclusion is skillfully managed through variations in sentence rhythm: Montgomery shortens her clauses as shock sets in, then lengthens them into an almost liturgical cadence as evening descends. This chapter also subtly marks the novel's final transition—from a child's journey of becoming to an adult's narrative of loss, duty, and chosen loyalty. The reaper mentioned in the title does not just take Matthew; he also takes away Anne's girlhood.
Key quotes from Chapter 37
“Matthew—Matthew—what is the matter? Matthew, are you sick? … But Matthew had died—had died just as he had lived, quietly and without fuss.”
Anne and Marilla discover Matthew collapsed in the doorway; the narration moves from Anne's panicked questions to the flat, terrible confirmation of his death in a single breath.
“She had wept and prayed through the night and now she felt as if she could never weep or pray any more.”
Anne reflects on the hours immediately following Matthew's death, Montgomery rendering grief not as catharsis but as a kind of numbness that follows the first wave of sorrow.
“But I felt so proud of him—and he looked so pleased with me.”
Anne recalls Matthew's pride at her academic success, the memory surfacing in the barn and crystallising everything she has lost in losing him.
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Create an accountSign inVocabulary in Chapter 37
- reaper
- Here used as a metaphor drawn from the title: Death personified as a harvester who cuts down lives as a farmer cuts grain.