Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea

[ailbhe]

Wait - all those maids and hired hands described as French are actually black, aren't they?

I think I preferred the books before I realised that.

Comments

[ai731.livejournal.com]

I believe the French in Anne of Green Gables were Acadians. The Acadians settled PEI in the 1600s, and there would have been some intermarriage with the native Miq'mac. During the French-English war (1758), most of the Acadians were deported to France. After the war those that remained were stripped of the titles to their land, leaving them to work as tenant farmers and labourers. I think what's in Anne of Green Gables is *mostly* about class, rather than race.

Jerry Buote is almost certainly Acadian, as "Buote" is a historical Acadian surname in that area.

"you've flavored that cake with ANODYNE LINIMENT." ... "Well, you'd better go and give that cake to the pigs," said Marilla. "It isn't fit for any human to eat, not even Jerry Buote."