Ideology and the Children’s Literature: A Critical Analysis of The Secret Garden KOMAL RAICHURA College

'You thought I was a native! You dared! You don't know anything about natives! They are not people - they're servants who must salaam to you. You know nothing about India.'

Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden (32)

The Secret Garden is one of the books featuring India written for young British citizens during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. These books gave an idea of British life in India, centring on the adventures and exciting experiences children could have, such as riding on elephants, and on the tales that children heard. Looking at The Secret Garden in relation to other books in the genre reveals a vivid and clear picture of the opinions the British held of India and the view they expect their children to have of the colony. These expressions included the rarely questioned idea that Britain should rule over India, that the British were “better” than Indians and that Britain itself was “better” than India.

The British East India Company entered as a trading company, established in the early 1600s and gradually monopolizing the trade between England and India. It received special dispensations from the British government and was the major cause of British presence in India for long years. Some other...