![]() ![]() ![]() Everyone in the house fears Colin will die of a hunchback, alone in his bedroom before reaching adulthood. Due to the religious era the book is set in, Colin only became ill because of the anxiety and chaos that accompanied his birth and early childhood. It is quite clear from the conversations Mary and Colin have that Colin uses his sickness as a reason not to do anything, it is almost as if he lives in fear. When Mary finds Colin, he is upset and pale as he never leaves his bedroom, and does not socialise with other children (until Mary). Mr Craven cannot bear to look at him because Colin reminds him of his late wife and has ordered the servants not to speak of Colin. Colin experiences parental neglect like Mary. When Mary meets her cousin, Colin Craven, he too is a sick, lonely, neglected and a self-absorbed child. By the end of the novel, she appears to be a ‘new child’ who is happy and has built relationships once she and Colin have helped to heal one another. The neglect, loneliness and lack of love Mary has received clearly has significantly affected her mental health. Mary’s feeling of dispossession and loneliness is reinforced by her lack of knowledge of her mothers’ family living in England. ![]() This is highlighted when the clergyman tells her of her mothers’ parental neglect and that her mother “scarcely ever looked at her”. Mary experiences the feelings of not belonging to anywhere or anyone when her own mother is embarrassed of her ugliness and has no connection with her. Mary has a sense of dislocation and loneliness while in India and when she first arrives in England as we see she feels dispossessed by everything and everyone she has ever known when she responds, “where is home?” to another child. Mary is then sent to live in England with her wealthy, hunchback Uncle who hides her from his sick son. Mary Lennox is a child of a wealthy British family living in India when an epidemic kills her unloving, neglectful parents and her servants. It remains a popular and beloved story of a child's journey into maturity, and a must-read for every child, parent, teacher and anyone who would enjoy this fascinating glimpse of childhood.Have you ever wondered about the secret messages’ authors are trying to convey to us, even in our favourite children’s books? Well, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett focuses on the healing of children’s physical disabilities and mental health by focusing on two children’s parental neglect, sickness and disability. In 1991, a Japanese anime version was launched for television in Japan. The book has been adapted extensively on stage, film and television and translated into all the world's major languages. It is the best known of Frances Hodgson Burnett's works, though most of us have definitely heard of, if not read, her other novel Little Lord Fauntleroy. Commonsense, truth and kindness, compassion and a belief in the essential goodness of human beings lie at the heart of this unforgettable story. It has wonderful elements of mystery, spirituality, charming characters and an authentic rendering of childhood emotions and experiences. The Secret Garden appeals to both young and old alike. The kindly servants ignore her queries or pretend they haven't heard, spiking Mary's curiosity. The mystery deepens when she hears sounds of sobbing from somewhere within her uncle's vast mansion. ![]() Once when he's away from home, Mary discovers a charming walled garden which is always kept locked. However, her nature undergoes a gradual transformation when she learns of the tragedies that have befallen her strict and disciplinarian uncle whom she earlier feared and despised. When she arrives, she is a rude, stubborn and given to stormy temper tantrums. She travels to his home, Misselthwaite Manor located in the gloomy Yorkshire, a vast change from the sunny and warm climate she was used to. Mary is given to the care of her uncle Archibald Craven, whom she has never met. However, her memories of her parents are not pleasant, as they were a selfish, neglectful and pleasure-seeking couple. The plot centers round Mary Lennox, a young English girl who returns to England from India, having suffered the immense trauma by losing both her parents in a cholera epidemic. Initially published as a serial story in 1910 in The American Magazine, it was brought out in novel form in 1911. One of the most delightful and enduring classics of children's literature, The Secret Garden by Victorian author Frances Hodgson Burnett has remained a firm favorite with children the world over ever since it made its first appearance. ![]()
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