What happens in Chapter 7 of Anne of Green Gables?
Chapter 7 begins the morning after Anne arrives at Green Gables. Marilla walks into Anne's room and finds her wide awake, staring at the blooming cherry tree that she has already named "Snow Queen." When Marilla tells Anne to get dressed and come downstairs, she also reminds her to say her prayers—a request that leads to Anne's honest admission: she doesn't know how to pray. The orphan asylum never taught her, and her time with Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Hammond lacked any religious instruction as well. Marilla is genuinely shocked, her Presbyterian beliefs shaken by this oversight in Anne's upbringing. Anne, on the other hand, is not embarrassed; she’s curious and asks Marilla to teach her. That evening, Marilla writes a simple prayer for Anne to memorize. Anne recites it obediently but then adds her own lengthy, joyful extension—thanking God for Snow Queen, for the Lake of Shining Waters, and for simply being at Green Gables. Marilla tries to maintain a serious demeanor. The chapter ends with Anne tucked in bed, and Marilla heading downstairs, feeling a hint of discomfort at the realization that the child might be more fascinating than troublesome.
Analysis
Montgomery uses Chapter 7 to create a subtle clash between institutional religion and instinctive spirituality, allowing the latter to come out on top. Marilla's distress over Anne's lack of prayer reflects both class and cultural values, as much as moral ones; in late-Victorian Prince Edward Island, being unfamiliar with prayers indicates a childhood spent outside of respectable society. However, Montgomery avoids portraying Anne's ignorance as a shortcoming. Anne's spontaneous prayer—ornate, meandering, and filled with fervor—feels far more sincere than any memorized recitation, and the reader senses this even before Marilla consciously acknowledges it.
This chapter also develops Montgomery's ongoing theme of naming as a form of ownership and affection. Anne has already renamed the cherry tree and the pond; now she brings those names into her prayer, asserting that the sacred and beautiful are one and the same. This diminishes the gap between the natural world and the divine, aligning more with Romantic pantheism than Presbyterian beliefs—a subtle, recurring theme throughout the novel.
The tone of the chapter shifts with Marilla's stifled laughter, a crack in her defenses that Montgomery treats with characteristic subtlety: Marilla doesn’t laugh, but the reader can tell she wants to. That repressed smile plays a crucial role—it signifies the exact moment Marilla begins to be charmed against her better judgment. Montgomery's free indirect discourse allows us to experience Marilla's perspective just long enough to notice her softening, then pulls back before sentimentality can take hold.
Key quotes from Chapter 7
“'I've never said any prayers. At the asylum they said grace at meals but they never taught me to pray otherwise. I don't know what to say.'”
Anne responds to Marilla's bedtime instruction with disarming honesty, revealing the full emotional and spiritual poverty of her years in the orphan asylum and with her foster families.
“'I'd feel so much more comfortable if I could thank somebody for it.'”
Anne explains to Marilla why she wishes she knew how to pray, framing gratitude—rather than duty or fear—as her primary motive for wanting a relationship with God.
“'And that's all the praying I want to do. The rest of the time I'll just feel thankful.'”
Anne concludes her improvised, exuberant prayer, articulating a theology of continuous, ambient gratitude that quietly subverts the formal, rote model Marilla has tried to impart.
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