The Family, The School, and The Community in a Rural Area: From Montgomery’s Novel to the Mills’ Picture Book – A Secondary Publication

Abstract

This paper explores the intertextuality between The Rag Coat (1991) and Anne of the Green Gables (1908). Both literary works are contextualized in the North American rural community, and their main characters are girls in their early adolescence who have tenacious personality traits. The rural communities where these works are set, far from being an intimidating motif, make these protagonists show their determination to overcome what might be expected from them in these settings. Both sociohistorical contexts create rural micro-bubbles that, as it is studied, are composed of the family, the school, or the neighborhood. Furthermore, some other common themes are observed in both works such as children’s work, or nature’s personification. It does not seem to be a coincidence that Mills illustrated one of the editions of Anne of the Green Gables in 1989. However, the studies that have put both works in connection are practically non-existent. Thus, this paper tries to approach both authors and the possible autobiographical features in their works. Later, it inquires into some coincidences between both female protagonists as well as into the importance that family, neighbors, school, and nature acquire in the rural contexts where they are set.