Nora Shunia

Dr. McGee

ENGL 1190

28 October 2021

The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is set in the cold Misselthwaite manor during the Victorian era in England. Mary Lennox, a spoiled and greedy 11-year-old, is the protagonist. At the beginning of the novel compared to the end, Mary Lennox is portrayed as a completely different character. The author takes on a journey about how environmental factors can play an important role in our life. Throughout this essay, I will use quotes and examples at what factors contributed to the change of Mary Lennox.

Mary is described as the “most disagreeable-looking child ever seen.” She was always sick one way or another, so her face was always yellow, as well as her hair. She was a child who never received any time or love from her parents. Her father worked for the English Government and never had any time for her. Her mother, who held great beauty, only cared about partying, and amusing herself with gay people. She never wanted a child to begin with. She left Mary under the care of native servants. To impress the Mem Sahib, the servants catered to all of Mary’s needs, as he refused to be disturbed by any crying. Since Mary received everything, she pleased, by the age of 6 she was portrayed as an unkind and selfish little girl. At this point in the novel, the model of childhood Mary portrays is a sinful child. A sinful child is child who is sinful and in need of correction. She is guilty of many sins. Mary is selfish, spoiled, rude, demanding and physically abusive. She dislikes everyone and everyone dislikes her.

Early in the novel, Mary’s parents and most of the servants die from a disease. Those who did not die left the house quickly and left no one to care for Mary. Mary was forgotten about and found alone in a nursery by two officers. She is sent to live with a clergyman and his family, who immediately dislike her. The children tease her and inform her of her uncle in England who she will be sent to, Mr. Archibald Craven. Mary never cared about anything or anyone, although on the carriage train ride to Yorkshire, she was amused by the stories Mrs. Medlock was telling her about Mr. Archibald and his manor. She tried hard not to display any emotions, but some were coming out involuntarily. It was also different because no one cared to talk to Mary. They were there to serve her, nothing less nothing more. While she’s at the manor she meets one of the housemaids, Martha, who was much different than her Ayah. Martha was not obligated to do everything for Mary, which left her shocked. Although Mary thought she was going to learn a thing or two doing stuff on her own for the first time. As well, Mary was never interested in anyone before, but she grew an interest in Dickon, as he had a thing for animals, and she always thought she would like animals too. As time goes by at the manor, Mary’s demeanor begins to lighten as she explores the gardens. She has a second encounter with the robin and attempts to speak to him. After Martha tells her the story of how Mrs. Craven passes, she grows a pity for her uncle, something she has never felt before. Mary grows more and more curious as the days pass at the manor. She finds a portrait of a young girl that looks like her and wishes she was there to keep her company, another thing she has never wished for in India. As she ventures and explores the gardens freely, Mary realizes that she is fond of several people for the first time in her life. Once Mary believes she found the key to the garden, she begins to feel compelled. She has always received her way with everything she desired in India, but at the manor she was not to always get her way. As she would have her Ayah dress her and always commanded people to do things for her. “I never did in my life. My Ayah dressed me, of course.” Soon after Mary finds the robin again and he shows her the way to the secret garden door. Grass was still growing in this garden; Mary begins to feel like she has her own world although she doesn’t know if anything or anyone is alive in the garden and yet and feels not lonely while in the garden. Mary begins to occupy herself all day with weeding in the garden. Mary doesn’t know much about gardening, so she asks Martha later that night for gardening tools. Martha suggests to Mary to write Dickon a letter and that he would certainly agree to buy tools for her on one of his trips. At this point in the novel, the garden and Mary are almost symbolized as there reawakening. Mary clears space in the garden, “Now they look as if they could breathe,” implying that she has been given room to breathe since her move from India.