Mary develops an endearing quality when she attempts to speak Yorkshire to Dickon and Martha to their amazement. Both sickly, bad tempered and spoiled when we first meet them they mature into healthy and empathetic children. One of the most loveliest thing about reading this is seeing the growth of Mary and Colin under their own direction. To the servants’ surprise, Mary and Colin enjoy each other’s company and together with Dickon, Martha’s good willed, nature loving brother, they set out to find and restore the secret garden and in doing so, effectively restore and regenerate themselves. As a sickly child, Colin was expected to die but he clung on to life and for the last ten years, everybody, including Colin himself, has been waiting for his death. Colin has been isolated in his room ever since his mother died in childbirth. She finds Colin, her sickly, spoiled cousin, with a temper as bad as Mary’s when she first arrived. Everybody denies there is anybody else in the house but Mary hears the cries again in the next few days and goes exploring. While she is free to wander the grounds as she pleases, Mary soon finds out about a secret garden that has been locked up for the last ten years after the devastating death of her aunt who had loved the garden.ĭuring one violent storm, and strong winds circling the house making the noise known as ‘wuthering’, Mary hears somebody cry. While Martha works, Mary explores the manor’s vast gardens displaying a surprising affinity to nature and wildlife. Mary eventually warms to Martha and they become friends. She spoke in broad Yorkshire in her amazement. Martha sat up on her heels again and stared. “Who is going to dress me?” demanded Mary. Medlock’s servant,” she said stoutly … “but you won’t much waitin’ on.” “Are you going to be my servant?” Mary asked, still in her imperious little Indian way.
With the no-nonsense attitude of the servants, Mary soon learns that her usual behaviour will not do at Misselthwaite and that she must learn to be independent. In England, Mary lives at Misselthwaite, a relatively secluded rambling estate on the Yorkshire moors.
When an epidemic of cholera wipes out most of the village including her parents, Mary is sent to England to live with her uncle. Left alone almost all her life with her Indian servants, Mary grows to be a spoiled and snobbish girl who has come to expect that everything much be done for her. Her mother, a beautiful and graceful woman, is much more concerned about parties and society than about her sullen, sickly child. The Secret Garden begins with Mary Lennox, an unwanted and isolated ten year-old living in colonial India. There’s something so wonderfully mature about this children’s classic.
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