The Book Report of the Secret Garden

Main Characters

Mary Lennox

Mary used to be an arrogant, thin, sour-face, selfish, and disagreeable girl before she came to England from India, as both of her parents died in India and she was transferred to her only uncle. In India, she disliked everybody and everybody, because nobody took attention of her or loved her since she was born. Her wealthy and good-looking parents had no interest about her and asked servants to take place of them to care for the child. However, the servants knew nothing about and raising and educating a child. They did everything Mary asked, said nothing even when Mary called their name, and seldom talked with her. And therefore, Mary had bad manners which made her even more hateful. 

However, things changed in England.

Mary met the kind-hearted housemaid girl, Martha, with whose help Mary learned to do things on her own, and the first time experienced happiness of receiving gift and being liked. Then in the manor, Mary made friends with a beloved bird, Robin, and felt to be trusted. Also, with Dickon, the cheerful boy, who told her things about plants, animals, and nature, and was always a very funny company of gardening in the secret garden with her, Mary learned the new way of exploring and loving nature, and became delighted so easily. Gradually, Mary was no longer the sour-face, thin, disagreeable girl with unpleasant manners, she became fatter, softer, and more beautiful and considerate, and she even help her cousin, Collin, a sick, ill-tempered and sad boy to become stronger, healthier, and happier..

Collin.

Collin was the son of Mary’s uncle. He was an ill-tempered, weak, and spoiled boy who always thought nobody wanted him to be born and grow up, even his father, because his birth led to his mother’s death. He cried and screamed all the time, because he was frightened by his imaginary illness and was sure he would die soon. As he was too weak to walk, he hated the wind and things outdoors, never went outside, and locked himself in a dark room. But things changed when Mary met him unexpectedly. When Mary, his cousin, told him the nice things outside, especially those in the secret garden, he became curious and felt life more passionate. Chatting, playing, laughing with Mary and Dickon in the secret garden, Collin became positive and stronger and tried to walk even run. He no longer hated life but wanted to live forever.

Summary

Mary Lennox was a sickly, sour-faced little girl born in India whose wealthy British parents had very little interest in her. After an outbreak of cholera and her parents’ death, she was sent back to England to her father's brother-in-law for guardianship, Archibald Craven, a widower with a son who could not accept his wife death for the birth of his son ten years ago.

When Mary arrived in the manor, she was then taken care of by the chambermaid, Martha Sowerby, who told Mary about a walled garden with roses that was the late Mrs. Craven's favorite place. No one has entered the garden since she died because Mr. Craven locked its entrance and buried the key in an unknown location. Mary was very curious about the secret garden and longing to enter it. With the help of Robin, the beloved bird, Mary found the key to the secret garden whose door was hidden beneath overgrown ivy. Once inside, she decided to revive the garden. Although she wanted to keep it a secret, she asked Martha’s brother, Dickon, to buy flower seeds. Every day, Mary did some planting happily with Dickon in the secret garden. Thanked to her new-found interests and activities, Mary herself begins to blossom, losing her sickly look and unpleasant manner.

On several occasions, Mary heard someone weeping in another part of the house. When she asked questions, the servants always told her it was the wind. One night, she went exploring and discovered it was her uncle's son, Colin, a lonely, bedridden boy as disagreeable as Mary used to be. His father avoided him because the child reminded him of his gone wife. Colin thought nobody liked him and he had an incurable disease which would lead him to die soon. Colin accepted Mary and made friends with her. With kind of tough character, they have some big quarrels, but finally Colin learned the manners and the fact that he wouldn’t die because of his imaginary disease. As spring approached, Colin agreed to let Mary bring Dickon to visit him inside his room, and they became friends.

They brought Colin outside in a wheelchair so he could see his mother's garden. Delighted, he visited it with Mary and Dickon whenever the weather allowed, ordering everyone else to stay away. As the garden revived and blossomed, so did Colin. He was determined to walk and run like a normal boy by the next time his father returns home. To accomplish these aims, he carried out a program of simple physical exercises and positive thinking. He made great progresses, ate more and became stronger and happier. But he pretended to be invalid in the house so as to give a surprise to everyone else, especially his father.

The climax comes when Mr. Craven traveled back home, he saw his past-invalid son with cheerful red face and strong body running through the door of the deserted garden-the secret garden! He was so moved and touched and couldn’t help running with tears.

Comments

The main figures of this story are children whose characters are partly negative. These children have grown up in an unnatural family-environment since they were born which leads to their weakness of both personality and body. For some reasons, their parents neglect them and leave them indoors alone. Therefore, without kind-hearted and trusted friends or relatives, these children become sensitive, fragile, and disagreeable. In the lines, the author has put much sympathy and passion on these poor children, while he criticizes the irresponsible parents. Beside, the author praises the power of nature, which can cure loneliness and refresh a person. With the power of lovely plants and animals, the poor children grow up healthier and happier.

I love this story so much. When I was young, I read the Chinese version, which just couldn’t touch my heart. But when I read the original one, I find it full of mystery, magic, exploration and happiness. However, it seems a real story which makes me compare it with the real life. Mary used to be selfish and unfriendly, but I won’t blame her or hate her because I could understand the reason why she behaved like that, which was not her fault, but the fault of the adults surrounded her. So some children behave badly, not because their natures are wicked, but the terrible environment shapes them, especially the family environment. And what we should do is not to scold them, but to treat them kindly, to listen to them, to trust them and to love them. Also, let the children play outside with their friends, and don’t lock them at home, as loneliness can create nightmare and even day mare.