Kindness Matters
In L.M. Montgomery’s short story, "An Invitation Given on Impulse", kindness takes center stage. Montgomery invites her readers on a sweet journey through self-doubt to courage.
Ruth Mannering studies music at Oaklawn, a school for young women, and she struggles with loneliness. Her only family, her mother, recently passed away, leaving Ruth alone for the holidays. Contrast Ruth with Carol Golden, a bright, enthusiastic, charismatic young woman also studying at Oaklawn. Carol receives a letter from her mother granting her permission to invite anyone she pleases for the holidays.
Carol surprises herself when she invites Ruth to her home for the holidays. But what surprised Carol even more is the change within Ruth at the invitation. A friendship blooms and secrets are revealed.
I appreciated Ruth’s story in its entirety. At the beginning of the story, Ruth wallows in self-pity and blames others for her loneliness. But by the end of the tale, Ruth recognizes her own faults and chooses to be brave and open herself up to others, who respond with kindness and generosity. Yes, I enjoyed Ruth’s Cinderella story, but it is Carol’s back and forth mutterings of selfishness or kindness that I found endearingly human and relatable. Carol is the true hero of this story.
The story wraps up quickly. Really quickly. I wanted more at the end of the story. Though it was a satisfying ending, I suppose not satisfying enough.
Carol and Ruth’s friendship inspires me to open my mouth and say hello to strangers on the street, people on Instagram, and even to people that I’ve already come to know but perhaps may have misjudged them.
"An Invitation Given on Impulse" by L.M. Montgomery joins the Lesser Known Works collection.
Lesser Known Works, in case you’re curious, is a small production of public domain literature venturing across all genres. It’s a free, no purchase, no ads exploration into classic literature. We’ve stripped lesser known stories from favorited authors hanging out in the public domain just waiting to be read (like LM Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, Oscar Wilde, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charles Dickens, Edith Wharton, goodness and so much more).
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