Pollyanna is an orphan girl who goes to lives with her Aunt Polly, after her parents died.

Pollyanna is happy all the time, and makes other people happy. She plays a game called the "glad
game", where you find something to be happy about even when you are sad-a game her father taught
her.

Before I started reading the book, I did some research and found out that the tittle of this book comes
from the “Pollyanna principle,” a psychological term regarding the tendency for humans to remember
positive experiences more fully than negative ones. I think that, overall, this fact is what made me
want to read this book, the depth and serious ideas portraited by a cheerful girl in a line of exciting
events.

After I read it, I can say that it has made me see life in a different way. There was a quote that I still
think about and it goes “Just breathing is not living”. I think this captures the essence of the book
entirely, Pollyanna being the girl that is always trying to make the people around her see life as more
than unfortunate events.

I believe that Pollyanna was a positive thinker. She didn’t ignore the negative, but instead chose not to
dwell on it. Considering her situation, I’m sure she was combating a great deal of negativity within
herself, but she makes the conscious choice to focus on what was good in her life.

In conclusion, I think that we can all learn from her and the main idea of this book-which is the life
philosophy in order to live a positive life, one must begin by looking for the good in things.

Other characters
 Aunt Polly- a bitter woman in her 50s that was heartbroken after a past romance that turned
sour and after her sister leaving the family home to be with an unknown pastor (Pollyanna’s
father)
 Nancy-the maid, who becomes friends with Pollyanna and stays by her side through the time
she gets sick; friendly, smart, curious
 Dr. Chilton-Ms. Polly’s past romance, who lives nearby; takes care of Pollyanna when she
gets sick
 Mr. Pendleton- wealthy man, the man Pollyanna’s sister was supposed to marry before she ran
away; he wants to adopt Pollyanna but ends up adopting her friend, a homeless little boy
called Jimmy Bean