For Mary and Colin, Martha is the greatest example of motherhood and helps both of them to live as peaceable as possible in the manor house. There is also Dr. Craven, the brother of Archibald and uncle to Colin, who watches over Colin during his illness and who hopes to inherit the manor if and when Colin dies. Lastly, there is Saidie, Mary's ayah or nursemaid/nanny who abandons Mary to the cholera, hoping that she dies along with her parents. Of course, there are other characters like Mrs. Medlock and Phoebe, but these are only secondary figures that do not play real important roles in Mary's life.
Two of the most important events in the Secret Garden are Mary leaving India and her discovery of robin redbreast and the secret garden. In the first event, when the cholera epidemic breaks out and every member of her family, along with all of the servants, dies, Mary finds herself completely alone and wanders away from her home. Some days later, Mary is found by some British soldiers who take her to England. If this had not happened, then Mary would never have met the Craven children, nor would she have been transformed by the magic of the secret garden.
Compared to India which at the time that the Secret Garden was written was a colony of Great Britain, Yorkshire in England was a very wealthy place, filled with manor houses like Misselthwaite and green, rolling countryside, the perfect place for a young child like Mary to live and play. Most of these manor houses or landed estates also had plenty of servants like butlers, maids, gardeners and household cooks, who tended to all of the needs of the family.
Mary's first meeting with robin redbreast which provides...
Both the bird and Mary share many traits like being orphans, having no friends and being very lonely. In some ways, the bird is Mary's savior, for it helps her to transform into a good, kind and likable girl; the bird is also a symbol for the birds so often found in the English countryside, especially robins which have long been seen as regal or royal birds with much wisdom and courage.
In the end, Mary, Colin and the other Craven children are all transformed by working, planting and playing in the secret garden. Part of the reason for this is that working with mother nature by planting flowers and vegetables takes a person back to his/her roots and puts them in a new frame of mind where nature is seen as wonderful, bountiful and nurturing, just like Martha Sowerby. Working and playing in this magical garden also transformed old man Archibald Craven, for at the end of the story, he accepts his son Colin whose illness really never even existed except in the mind of his father. All of this can be compared to the biblical Garden of Eden, where man and woman were transformed by eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. As to the moral of the Secret Garden, Burnett certainly wanted to tell the reader that even a spoiled and obnoxious child like Mary can be changed into a good person, one who cares about her family and friends and loves them like she loves herself.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.
"The Secret Garden." Internet. 2009. Accessed September 3, 2009 from http: / / www.
sparknotes.com/lit/secretgarden.
