Letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body. To let a sad thought or a bad one get into your mind is as dangerous as That thoughts-just mere thoughts-are as powerful as electricīatteries-as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison. “One of the new things people began to find out in the last century was She had no intention of going to sleep, and, in fact, she wasīecoming wider awake every day which passed at Misselthwaite.” Sleep in them for a hundred years, which she had thought must be rather Read of secret gardens in some of the stories. The fewīooks she had read and liked had been fairy-story books, and she had It seemedĪlmost like being shut out of the world in some fairy place. She liked the name, and she liked still more the feeling that when itsīeautiful old walls shut her in no one knew where she was. “The Secret Garden was what Mary called it when she was thinking of it. I think that is why Mary is able to help him when no one else can. Oh, how Mary absolutely idolizes Dickon! Mary isn't as mesmerized by Colin perhaps, but they are so similar to one another in a way. Colin and Dickon are both interesting characters. Mary Lennox may not be as sweet and innocent as Heidi, Pollyanna, or even Anne, but, she is memorable in her own way! The way she interacts with Colin is effective even if it might not be the way Heidi or Pollyanna would have done it! And Mary isn't the only memorable character. The book itself is constantly singing the praises of Nature, of being one with the natural world, of finding your place within the Magic.

It is the 'secret garden' that helps to transform Mary and Colin. It is the natural world, the beauty and wonder of Nature, of all growing and living things that makes this book memorable. The 'Magic' of the 'secret garden' is at the center of this one. Is The Secret Garden a character driven book? I'm not sure it is. But Mary, well, Mary essentially tells him to grow up! Don't be so ridiculous! Colin is quite the tyrant when readers first meet him. And she becomes quite the influence on her cousin, Colin, a young misunderstood boy. Her hate melts away the more time she spends outdoors, the more time she spends in the gardens, the more time she spends with Dickon. She discovers that life is worth living and that people are worth loving. But given the right opportunities and circumstances, Mary transforms dramatically. So her arrival in England, in Yorkshire, to her uncle Archibald Craven's estate shocks her a bit. One gets the idea that while plenty (in India) have obeyed the young girl's orders (or wishes) none at all have bothered to love her or even like her. (She's no Pollyanna or Heidi!) Readers meet the newly orphaned Mary, and she's not exactly easy to love being quite spoiled and bratty. Mary Lennox is a perfectly flawed heroine.

The secret garden 1911