The external conflict in Anne of Green Gables is Anne's struggle to be accepted by the traditional and small rural town of Avonlea.
When Anne first appears at the train station, Matthew is flabergasted because she was supposed to be a boy: Matthew and Marilla had requested a boy to help work on the farm to aid Matthew as his health deteriorated. While Matthew comes to accept Anne fairly quickly for her funny way of talking, Marilla is more practical.
Marilla rejects Anne until she comes to feel empathy for her situation. If Anne can't live with the Cuthberts, she will be forced to become a working girl for a woman who has too many children and who abuses the girls who are sent to help her with the care of her children and other household duties. Anne has worked in similar situations in the past, and, in the end,...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
Marilla cannot bear to send her (or Anne's hopes of having a family and being cared for for the first time in her life) away.
Marilla also takes a firm interest in Anne's spiritual well-being, regarding her "heathen" demonstrations as God's charge to Marilla to help shape Anne's character, as she recognizes no one has even taught Anne to pray (much less to live with virtue).
Rachel Lynde, Marilla's best friend and nosy neighbor, also rejects Anne for being an orphan as do many of the girls at school and the people at church. There is a stigma surrounding orphans that Anne must overcome to find acceptance.
Heartbreakingly, Diana Barry's mother is another character who rejects Anne. She considers her as a bad influence on Diana, who is the one character who loves Anne from the start besides Matthew. However, when Anne rescues Mrs. Barry's youngest child, she wins back her approval. This is just one example of how Anne must "earn" the approval of the judgemental and close-minded people in this novel.
Her internal struggle aligns closely with this as she struggles with her temper, being unaccustomed to social etiquette, and being too "romantic" in her notions to satisfy the cultural expectations of the small town. Her temper and inclination to act dramatically when wounded is gradually overcome by the exerted efforts of Marilla and Anne's eventual understanding that the Cuthberts care for her: she eventually realizes that they are only teaching her their customs in order to help her be her best self.
In learning to walk with character and by serving others in extraordinary ways when challenges arise for them, Anne overcomes her internal and external obstacles.
One of the central conflicts which we see in this novel is the conflict of imagination pitted against social expectations. This is an external conflict, but also internal, and we see the forces of imagination most clearly in Anne. The forces of imagination often lead Anne away, distracting her from her household duties. Although Anne is pleased by the power of her daydreams, her powerful imagination brings her into conflict with the expectations of the Avonlea community. Marilia definitely does not share Anne's romantic sensibilities, and thus is exasperated by her continual disasters: cooking a cake that cannot be eaten or nearly drowning herself to act out a poem. This conflict is resolved as the novel progresses as Anne finds the ability to moderate her romanticism and strike a balance between her imagination and social respectability.
Another obvious external conflict is the animosity between Anne and Gilbert. The function of this conflict is to spur them both on to greater academic achievements, and it is a testament to the stubborness of Anne's character that she is only able to speak to Gilbert towards the end of the novel.