Pollyanna Grows Up · Chapter
The Day Pollyanna Did Not Play explained
Pollyanna, exhausted by caring for a gloomy Aunt Polly, decides to stop playing the Glad Game for a day to show her aunt what it feels like.
What happens
Pollyanna, exhausted by caring for a gloomy Aunt Polly, decides to stop playing the Glad Game for a day to show her aunt what it feels like. She complains and acts discouraged, which eventually makes Aunt Polly realize how difficult she has been and prompts her to promise to try playing the game herself.
Themes in this chapter
Optimism and The Glad Game
Pollyanna's deliberate refusal to play the Glad Game highlights its importance as a coping mechanism, and Aunt Polly's eventual recognition of her own failure to play underscores the theme's centrality.
Family and Belonging
Pollyanna's devotion to caring for Aunt Polly, despite the strain, illustrates her deep sense of family responsibility and the emotional bonds between them.
Characters to notice
- Pollyanna Whittier
Pollyanna deliberately stops playing the Glad Game to teach Aunt Polly a lesson, but struggles with the effort and feels distressed when her aunt takes it seriously.
- Aunt Polly
Aunt Polly is blue, discouraged, and exacting; she eventually realizes her own failure to play the game and promises to try, though she is embarrassed by the sentiment.
Key passages
“Pollyanna was not finding it very easy these days to play the game, but she was playing it faithfully, valiantly.”
Pollyanna struggled to maintain her optimistic outlook but continued to try her best.
Shows Pollyanna's perseverance despite difficulty.
“I suppose you can,' she observed tartly. Pollyanna laughed. 'Well, you see, auntie, clocks are accommodating things, when you stop to think about it.'”
Pollyanna cheerfully explains that she can control her perception of time by focusing on different clock hands.
Illustrates Pollyanna's creative application of the Glad Game to daily frustrations.
“I never want to live through another like it.' She hesitated, flushed a little, then went on with evident difficulty: 'Furthermore, I—I want you to know that—that I understand I haven't played the game myself—very well, lately; but, after this, I'm going to—to try—'”
Aunt Polly admits she has not been playing the Glad Game and promises to make an effort.
Key moment of character growth for Aunt Polly.