Essay Summary of The Secret Garden
Characters
Protagonist: Mary Lennox – One of the novel’s two protagonists, Mary Lennox is a ten-year-old girl who, after the death of her parents in India, is sent to live with her uncle in Yorkshire, England. She evolves from a spoiled, unloved and unloving creature to a girl who is full of spirit and surrounded by friends. She begins the book as its central character.
Colin Craven – The other of the novel’s protagonists, Colin Craven is Archibald Craven’s ten-year-old son and heir. He was born shortly after the death of his mother, and his father could not bear to look at him because of his resemblance to her. Colin’s childhood has been entirely bedridden, and his servants have been commanded to obey his every whim. As a result, Colin is extremely imperious and gloomy.
Dickon Sowerby – Dickon is alternately described as “a common moor boy” and “a Yorkshire angel”; he is both. Two years older than Colin and Mary, Dickon has lived on Missel Moor his entire life, and has a uniquely intimate relationship with the land.
He has rosy cheeks, rough curly hair, and blue eyes precisely the same color as the sky over the moor; he even carries a set of pan-pipes. He has the power to charm both animals and people: all the creatures who come close to him are instantly tamed, and he counts a fox, a crow, and two wild squirrels among his pets. He is the brother of Martha and the son of Susan.
Martha Sowerby – Mary’s friend and maidservant, Martha is distinguished by her charming frankness and levelheaded approach to all aspects of life. Her simplicity and kindness are a great help to Mary upon the latter’s arrival at Misselthwaite. In her very ordinariness, Martha represents the goodness of all the people of Yorkshire.
Ben Weatherstaff – Ben Weatherstaff is a gruff elderly gardener who is only permitted to stay at Misselthwaite because he was a favorite of the late Mistress Craven. He introduces Mary to the robin redbreast, and helps the children keep the secret of the garden. Ben himself clandestinely tended the garden during the ten years in which it was locked, out of love and loyalty for the Mistress Craven. Although he is rather rough, Ben’s essential kindness is fundamental to his character.
Archibald Craven – The master of Misselthwaite Manor, who suffers from a crooked spine and general ill health. He has been in a crushing depression ever since the death of his wife. Archibald spends most of his time abroad, since he wants to see neither his house nor his son, Colin, because these remind him of his late wife.
Susan Sowerby – The mother of Martha and Dickon (as well as of twelve other children), Susan Sowerby functions as a symbol for the concept of motherhood itself. She is all-nurturing, all-knowing, and appears dressed in a hooded blue cloak like that of the Christian Virgin Mary (the mother of Jesus Christ). Both Mary and Colin express the wish that she were their mother; stories of her sustain each of them before their respective transformations.
Mrs. Medlock – The head of the servants at Misselthwaite Manor, Mrs. Medlock is distinguished by her punctilious obedience of all of Master Craven’s odd rules. Beneath her rigid exterior, she, like all the people of Yorkshire, is basically kind. She and Susan Sowerby were friends in their irlhood.
Dr. Craven – Archibald’s brother and Colin’s uncle, he tends to Colin during the latter’s illness. He is a bit stuffy and officious, and both Colin and Mary laugh at him at every opportunity. Described as a weak man, he half-hopes for Colin’s death so that he might inherit Misselthwaite II. Setting The story of “The Secret Garden” was happened in India and Misselthwaite Manor, in England.
Summary
Mary Lennox lives with her rich parents in India. No one has ever really cared for her; hardly anyone knows she is even there.
One day a cholera epidemic breaks out and nearly everyone dies. Mary hides in the nursery and when she wakes up the next morning, there is no one left. She is sent to England where her uncle, Archibald Craven, lives. A woman called Medlock is sent to take her to the manor. Normally the 500 year old Misselthwaite Manor on the Yorkshire moors isn’t a place for a child to grow up. There are about a thousand rooms, hundreds locked, so no one can go in. There is a big mystery about a secret garden that had been locked up ten years ago.
A young housemaid called Martha has to look after Mary. First Mary doesn’t like her much, but because Martha is so nice and funny she soon starts liking her. Martha gives her a skipping rope, so Mary can play in the many gardens of Misslethwaite Manor. In the gardens she meets Ben Weatherstaff, an old gardener, and his robin. The robin becomes Mary’s first friend. He shows her the key to the secret garden and also the door hidden under thick ivy. As soon as she enters the garden, it becomes her own little mystic world. One day she hears cries and looks for the person.
It isn’t the first time she has heard it, but every time she wanted to look somebody stopped her and gave her some explanation. In a room behind a tapestry she finds a boy, Colin Craven, her cousin. He can’t walk nor stand up, and everybody thinks that he’s going to die. His father has never wanted to see him because he’s so different from his dead mother. With Dickon, Martha’s brother, and Mary he goes into the secret garden in a kind of a wheel chair, and learns to walk. They all say its “Magic” that made all these wonders possible: Colin’s walking, Mary’s change into a nice girl and her joy in the secret garden. IV. Problem
