Pollyanna Grows Up · Chapter
Plans and Plottings explained
Pollyanna tries to persuade Mrs.
What happens
Pollyanna tries to persuade Mrs. Carew to go for a walk in the Public Garden so she can reunite her with Jamie, but rain and then cold weather thwart her plans. After several failed attempts, Jerry Murphy arrives with news that Jamie is sick and wants to see Pollyanna. Despite Mrs. Carew's initial refusal, Pollyanna reveals her belief that the boy is Mrs. Carew's long-lost nephew Jamie, prompting Mrs. Carew to agree to go immediately.
Themes in this chapter
Optimism and The Glad Game
Pollyanna struggles to find something to be glad about in the rain, but recalls that God promised no more floods; Jamie has been unknowingly playing the glad game for a year.
Family and Belonging
Pollyanna's urgent desire to reunite Mrs. Carew with her lost nephew Jamie; the theme of finding and restoring family bonds.
Charity and Social Responsibility
Pollyanna's concern for Jamie's welfare—he is sick, lacks food, and cannot walk—and her insistence on helping him despite Mrs. Carew's objections.
Characters to notice
- Pollyanna Whittier
Determined to reunite Mrs. Carew with Jamie; devises plans for a walk in the Public Garden; becomes anxious and persistent when weather delays her plans; finally reveals her suspicion that Jamie is Mrs. Carew's nephew.
- Mrs. Carew
Initially reluctant and impatient with Pollyanna's insistence on walking in the Garden; refuses to let Pollyanna go with Jerry; upon hearing that the boy might be Jamie, she immediately agrees to go.
- Jerry Murphy
Brings news that Jamie is sick and wants to see Pollyanna; speaks in a rough, streetwise manner; is impressed by the prospect of riding in a car.
- Jamie Kent
Referenced as the sick boy who sent Jerry to fetch Pollyanna; described as a reader of knightly tales, a feeder of birds and squirrels, and a player of the glad game.
- Mary
Shocked and disapproving of Pollyanna's association with Jerry; tries to prevent Pollyanna from going with him.
Key passages
“Don't you think it looks a little like clearing up?”
Pollyanna repeatedly asks everyone if the rain is stopping.
Shows her anxious fixation on the weather as it thwarts her plan.
“I can be glad that—that it will have to stop raining sometime 'cause God said he wouldn't send another flood.”
Pollyanna finds a glad thought: the rain must end eventually because God promised no more floods.
Illustrates her application of the glad game even in frustration.
“I think, Mrs. Carew, he's—Jamie.”
Pollyanna reveals her belief that the sick boy is Mrs. Carew's nephew.
Climactic moment that changes Mrs. Carew's mind and drives the plot forward.