The most important thing about this book is that it is a good story. It starts in an exotic locale. There is a lot of mystery, and many questions that need answers. In a children’s book like this one the central characters are a always children. They must be the main movers of the action.
However these points would be insufficient to make this a favourite book if it did not also display a very good understanding of the experience of childhood.
As a child myself I recognized Mary’s sour behaviour on the boat from India, and how this provoked a cruel response from the other children.
I also understood the scene where Mary stands mulishly demanding to be dressed by the English maid. She expected her world to be consistent, and to be dressed as her ayah had dressed her in India. Poor Mary is trying to make sense of her new environment. I remember the frustration and anger I felt where the rules change suddenly but nobody has the common decency to tell you.
The adults in the book are two dimensional, except perhaps for Ben Weatherstaff. The servants at Mistlethwaite have their own agendas and although meeting Mary’s basic needs, have little time to build a relationship with her,. Here I recognised the gulf between the adults with all the power, and the world of children .Even in the more enlightened times of the 1950’s,children were often excluded from decisions that profoundly affected them.
Ben , however, recognises her as an outsider like himself. He introduced her to the robin and this starts her quest to find the secret garden. This marks the beginning of her healthier development. The barriers to her growth slowly melt away. In the garden, and in her relationship with Colin and Dickon she begins to have a purpose and to find a way forward.
Of course I had no inkling of any of this as I read the story.
There were other components that were significant. The Garden coming to life, Dikon and his animals, and the healing of being outdoors in the fresh air, all contributed to a sense of purpose. What Colin would have called “magic”. my Dad would have called it “soil mysticism.”My home was on a farm so closeness to the earth and animals was familiar if not magical for me.
I was sent to boarding school without much preparation or discussion when I was eight years old .For a long time I mourned the loss of my familiar home. My parents did not visit until half term, because it might upset me, and I really worried that I would not see them again.
But over time, with a few friends and sympathetic adults I worked out how to reconnect with the world. Even if I did not read about the Garden until later, the story resonated for me. It confirmed there were many ways to move on and that I had mastered the skill, just like Mary.
Leave a Reply