Emily Of New Moon

Emily frequently experiences “the flash,” which is her word for the feeling of inspiration. The flash does not come to her in the weeks between learning that her father will die soon and when he actually passes away, and Emily is afraid it has left her forever. However, it does return when she moves to New Moon. It is often triggered by something beautiful in nature, an interesting person she would like to describe or by hearing another piece of writing, such as when Miss Brownell reads “The Bugle” to a different group of students and Emily asks her to repeat a line. This rapturous appreciation of beauty usually compels Emily to find the right words to describe it and get it down on paper. It is such a unique and personal experience that Montgomery likely experienced something similar as a writer to describe it the way she does.

The natural beauty of Prince Edward Island is a significant aspect of the setting; Montgomery includes many long descriptions to emphasize to the reader how beautiful this landscape is. Nature is often Emily’s greatest inspiration when she is looking for things to write about; she is frequently thrilled and gets “the flash” when she is outside and sees something beautiful. At the novel’s beginning, the narrator says that Emily feels as if she is only separated from the beauty of nature by a thin, gauzy curtain, much closer than most people. She often personifies things like trees and brooks and has even named the wind. Several characters, including Father Cassidy and Dean Priest, have compared Emily to an elf or fairy because she seems more a part of the natural world than human society.

As the seasons change, Emily finds new things to love about New Moon farm, such as the apple orchard, the snow, Jimmy’s Garden, and the cow pasture. She writes poetry praising the trees, flowers, wind, and snow. She even walks two miles to White Cross to ask a Catholic priest to intercede to prevent Lofty John from cutting down a grove of trees.

However, Emily’s love of nature gets her into trouble when she is out by the shore while visiting her Great Aunt Nancy. She sees a cluster of beautiful flowers that she calls farewell-summers, and Dean Priest later calls asters. When she reaches for them, the moss under her feet gives way, and she slides down a rocky hill, almost falling and crashing onto the boulders below. Dean Priest later comments that flowers may have caused the trouble, but they also saved her, because if he hadn’t been admiring them, he never would have seen nor rescued her.