Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
¶ … SECRET GARDEN (1911) is a beautiful story that is concerned with how human beings affect and influence each other and how their interaction with each other has profound impact on their lives, thinking, attitude and perspective on life. No human life is meant to exist in complete isolation because total solitude results in decaying of mind and spirit. Human beings are supposed to interact and develop relationships with each other, which can actually have a therapeutic impact on the persons involved. Whether the impact is negative or positive depends on the type of relationship and personalities of people involved, but it is impossible to imagine people remaining unaffected by their interaction with others.
The Secret Garden is a classic example of how people have a profound impact on each other when they interact and develop healthy relationship. Three important characters in this novel come into contact with each other and continue to affect and influence each other's lives throughout the novel. These characters are Mary, Colin and the gardener Dickon.
From the very beginning Mary is projected as a disagreeable...
Because of her privileged upbringing, she had always found herself surrounded by servants who waited on her and provided her with everything she required. But all this had turned Mary into an unfriendly and narcissist brat. "She was not an affectionate child and had never cared much for anyone"(p. 7) However she loses her parents in a dreadful cholera epidemic and is forced to live with her only relative, an uncle in Yorkshire. This is the turning point of her life because this is where Mary meets Dickon and Colin who influence her life and whose lives are also affected by Mary's presence. Mary's main problem was her lack of interest in anything or anyone. But her curiously is awakened with mysterious crying sounds and Dickon's animal charming skills. Mary's interest in Dickon is first aroused by Martha's stories and since Mary has never had a pet, she "began to feel a slight interest in Dickon, and as she had never before been interested in any one but herself, it was the dawning of a healthy sentiment" (p. 39)
This was the first sign of transformation in her character. A…
Dickon appeared at the right time to heal the wounded mind and spirit of young Mary and Mary passes the trust and friendship she has gained on to Colin, her cousin. Colin was the male counterpart of Mary. "But it was too late to be careful. He was too much like herself. He had had nothing to think about and the idea of a hidden garden attracted him as it had attracted her" (p. 163). He was as spoiled as she had once been and isolation had dulled his spirit tool. He had lost interest in everything but Mary re-opens the door to a more enchanting world. Mary plays the same role in Colin's life as Dickon had played in hers. Since she doesn't have anything to fear like the servants, Mary can shout at Colin and tame him in the manner that befits his condition. She can see herself in the young boy and is thus in a better position to understand him. Mary helps bring Colin out of his hypochondriac fears. The Secret Garden thus becomes a therapeutic place for Mary and Colin where Dickon acts like a magician who brings the dead garden to life and thus heals the dull, untamed and wounded souls of two spoilt children.
REFERENCE
Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden. Grossett. New York. 1938
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
Oz & the Secret Garden Childhood, in its most natural state of being, is distinguished by a state of mind, which is full of hope, love, and a belief that life holds infinite possibilities for fun, adventure, and happiness just waiting to be discovered. Unfortunately, as childhood progresses, the mechanisms of the adult world increasingly intrude to a point where rationality and the limitations of human nature are finally accepted as
Carroll / Burnett Within the English canon of literary fairy-tales -- what German literary critics would refer to as a "marchen," or a conscious attempt to write imaginative literature, with some level of artistry, for children -- both The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll seem to have withstood the test of time, and attained a level of canonicity. Yet to call these
Messianic Secret and the Natures of Jesus The Messianic Secret is an expression which refers to the gospel motif found in Mark, wherein Jesus issues commands at various times, whether to devils or to His disciples, that they should keep His divinity a secret. This motif may also serve as a theme of the larger gospel message as a whole, established in the lines spoken by Jesus to His mother, "But
Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1909 "The Secret Garden" is one of the best loved children's stories of all time. As with most children's stories it is based on the fairy tale motif. No one really knows the exact origin of fairy tales, in fact they seem to have originated in that timeless realm of their subjects (Harischandra Pp). J.R.R. Tolkien describes the realm of fairy tales as "wide and deep
For instance, renowned designer Barbara Matera explained that when Glenn Close first tried on the Norma Desmond costume described above, she "winced under its weight" (New York's Top Costume Shop Reveals Its Secrets 1996:3). The costume's designer, Anthony Powell, instructed Close to turn around and face the mirror, and "upon seeing the stunning result her whole attitude changed" (4). Other anecdotal accounts on the design process from Matera included: