Anne of Green Gables: I’ve Put My Hand to the Plow

I’m not feeling discouraged … When I make up my mind to do a thing, it stays made up.
and 
Oh dear, I’m afraid Rachel was right from the first. But I’ve put my hand to the plough and I won’t look back.
and
“… an unaccustomed softness crept into her face.”

pp.77, 121, & 158

Marilla: determined, persevering—and willing to change—or be changed. When it comes to duty, Marilla can be counted on. But Marilla is learning that duty to Anne involves love and compassion over against propriety. She has taken Anne’s side over an adult—not for the first time—but quite openly for the first time. 

Marilla is changing in relation to Anne, but more importantly in relation to how she sees life. It is not so black and white. And yet that black and white stubbornness is what motivates her persevering through with Anne. When one begins a thing—no matter how vexing … .

And no matter the opinions of others. Marilla does not fear man. But she’s losing her fear—in a good way—of convention. Yet she’s not jettisoning orthodoxy with it. Marilla is smart enough to know the difference. She has retained that great characteristic of the Almighty: faithfulness. And her faithfulness to Anne empowers her to both persevere and grow to love her.