Summary
Mary starts spending more and more time in the garden, which she has taken to calling “the secret garden.” She likes the feeling of being in a hidden place where no one else knows where she is. She focuses her time on weeding and exploring the different plants in the garden. She starts being more friendly with Ben Weatherstaff, who is warming up to her. They talk about roses and Mary asks him how to know if roses are dead or not, thinking of the roses she encountered in her secret garden. Ben becomes slightly suspicious at Mary’s eagerness to know about the roses and tells her to stop asking him questions.
Mary encounters Dickon, Martha’s 12-year-old brother, in one of the gardens. Dickon already knows who Mary is, even though this is the first time they have met. Martha has told him a lot about Mary. Dickon has received Mary’s letter and has come with supplies to help Mary plant her seeds. Mary notices how easygoing Dickon is and she feels shy in his presence. The robin comes to greet them and Dickon talks about his natural connection with animals. When Dickon asks where they will plant the seeds, Mary momentarily panics. Then she decides to tell Dickon about the secret garden, asking him to keep it a secret.
Dickon and Mary enter the garden and Dickon shows her different plants. When he sees the roses, he can tell that some of there are still alive. They work on planting seeds. They both agree that they will work on the garden every day, but not in a way to make it too tidy, because that would take away its beauty. Mary tells Dickon he is one of five people she likes. Then spontaneously, she asks him whether he likes her, and she herself is surprised at her forthrightness. Dickon says he does and that the robin likes her too. Mary is sad when the clock strikes and she has to leave for dinner.
Mary runs back to her room to eat and tells Martha about meeting Dickon, gushing about how beautiful he is. After eating, Martha informs Mary that Mr. Craven is back home and wishes to see her before he leaves again the next day to travel for a few months. Mary is happy to hear that he will be gone for a long period of time, as it will give her and Dickon the opportunity to work on the garden without being caught by him. Mrs. Medlock comes in to help Mary dress up for the meeting. Mary is very nervous.
When Mary meets Mr. Craven, she notes that he is not ugly, but looks very miserable. He asks Mary how she is and says he has forgotten to send her a governess to take care of her. Mary immediately begs him not to find her a governess, as this would limit her freedom. Mr. Craven agrees and tells her this is the same advice Martha’s mother, Mrs. Sowerby, has given him. He says he knows nothing about children and is too unwell to take care of her, but he wants her to be happy. Mary spontaneously asks him if she can take a bit of soil for gardening, and her question surprises Mr. Craven. He says that of course she can. Mr. Craven sends Mary away. Mary is delighted at the news that she will not have a governess.
She races back to the secret garden, expecting Dickon to be there, but he is gone. He has left a note with a drawing of a bird on its nest, saying that he will return soon. That night Mary looks forward to meeting with Dickon the next day. She is disappointed then when it starts to heavily rain. She can’t fall asleep and starts to hear the sound of the crying child again. She decides to venture out to discover what the noise is herself. She finds that the crying is coming from one particular room, and so she enters the room. There, she is surprised to see a young boy crying on the bed. The boy is equally surprised to see Mary. The boy is Colin Craven. He explains that he is the son of Mr. Craven and that he is always ill and bedridden. Mr. Craven and the servants do not talk about him.
Colin tells Mary that his father mostly avoids him because his presence reminds of him of Mrs. Craven, which is too painful for Mr. Craven to bear. Colin is in disbelief that Mary is there and keeps asking if he is dreaming. Mary sits down and tells him about herself. Mary mentions the secret garden that was locked up right after the death of Mrs. Craven. Colin is very eager to hear about the garden, as no one has ever told him about it. Colin reveals how because he is so sickly and the heir to his father’s estate, all the servants do whatever he tells them. He imagines asking them to bring him to the secret garden, knowing they would have to oblige. Mary panics and tries to convince him that they should work on the garden in secret and he agrees. Mary stays with Colin until he falls asleep.
In the morning, Mary tells Martha that she has found out about Colin. Martha panics, as she knows she will get in trouble if anyone were to find out that Mary knows about Colin. Martha is surprised that Colin was nice to Mary; usually he is quite badly behaved and rude. Colin requests that Mary visit him again that evening. Mary tells Colin that he reminds her of a rajah, a name for Indian princes who wear jewels and are waited on by servants. She also tells him that he is very different from Dickon. Colin again mentions how everyone says he will die at a young age, which disturbs Mary. She suggests Colin should meet Dickon to lift his spirits.
The two children talk for a long time and end up laughing and joking as if they are two normal children. All of a sudden, Mrs. Medlock and Dr. Craven, the cousin of Mr. Craven, walk into the room and are very shocked to see Mary there. Colin insists that everything is fine, and that he wishes to have his cousin Mary come and visit him whenever he wants. The adults are worried Colin is becoming too excited and will get ill, but the boy insists that he feels better with Mary there. Dr. Craven sternly reminds Colin that he sick and needs to be careful in the company of others.
It rains all next week, so Mary spends her time mostly with Colin, talking and reading from picture books. Mrs. Medlock tells Mary that Colin has become much more agreeable and easy to care for since she started spending time with him. Finally one morning the sky is blue again and Mary wakes up early and goes to the garden. She notices how all the plants are sprouting after the rainy days. She finds that Dickon is already in the garden, working hard and being watched by a crow and a fox. They run around looking at all the newly blooming flowers. Mary tells Dickon about meeting Colin. They agree to try to get Colin to come out to the garden sometime.
Analysis
Mary Lennox’s new world continues to unfold, much like the roses in her beloved garden. The most striking development in these chapters is Mary’s discovery of the secret garden and her dedication to reviving what has been a long neglected and hidden place. Throughout the book we will see how the author uses the garden as not just a narrative device but as a larger means of symbolism, signifying life, death, and rebirth. For example, the garden has been left to wilt after the tragic death of Mrs. Craven. With the loss of life, Mr. Craven also shuts away the vibrant space of plants and flowers because he himself no longer has the will to live, which is shown through the description of his sad and vacant disposition. Yet the arrival of Mary introduces new life into what has become stagnant and hopeless.
Mary herself has experienced a kind of resurrection, transforming from a sullen and apathetic little girl into a joyful and enthusiastic child eager to interact with the living world around her. It is Mary’s enthusiasm that becomes like a seed of hope that inseminates the various characters she encounters. When she first meets her uncle, Mr. Craven, Mary declares that she wants to be left alone to play outside rather than have a governess. Her passionate interest in the gardens reminds Mr. Craven of his wife, who also loved nature, and we see a hint of a smile momentarily wash away his unhappy demeanor.
Mary’s positive influence on others can also be seen in her surprising meeting of Mr. Craven’s son, Colin. Colin has been relegated to bed for all 10 years of his life due to apparent illness. After being told by everyone around him that he is sick and incapable, Colin has accepted this and has lost all interest in playing or going outside. He even tells Mary that he believes he may die at a young age. Mary will not accept this grim statement, and she tries to lift his spirits through her stories of the garden and the friendly robin. It only takes Mary’s happy presence in his room to enliven Colin, allowing him to shed the disagreeable and spoiled character that he is known for by all the servants of the estate.
Through the character of Colin, we are meant to ponder the true cause of health and vitality. Colin has been locked away his whole life supposedly because he is too sick to leave his bed. But it is exactly that Colin is so isolated and neglected by his own father—for whom Colin is solely a painful reminder of his lost wife—that seems to augment his symptoms. What dwells in the darkness of secrecy—whether it be Mr. Craven’s son or the abandoned garden—can never truly be destroyed. Burdened by grief, Mr. Craven desires for the past to fully die. Yet this attitude has seemed to only prolong his suffering rather than allow him to heal. With Mary, it is shown that it only takes a bit of love and nurturance for those things on the verge of death to become reborn.
All of Mary’s energy is now going into the garden and reviving the plants after 10 years of neglect. We see Mary team up with Martha’s brother, the exuberant and kind-hearted Dickon. It becomes obvious that Mary has developed a strong liking of Dickon. Beyond the typical crush she may harbor, Mary’s attraction to Dickon also has to do with the fact that he represents the stark opposite of Mary’s former identity. Dickon is a simple and unpretentious child who makes friends easily and exudes the sort of happiness that Mary is just beginning to feel for the first time in her life. His profound connection with nature is also something Mary greatly admires.
Frances Hodgson Burnett makes these scenes come alive through her vivid language, especially in the scenes that illustrate the garden life at Misselthwaite Manor. For example, in Chapter 11, when Mary brings Dickon to the secret garden for the first time, we are shown this hidden treasure through the eyes of the curious children. As they wander around the densely packed plants, they encounter “a curtain of tangled sprays and branches,” and “moist green” leaves shooting through “lifeless-looking” wood. It is not a common sight to see an overgrown garden, but its lushness makes it all the more magical place for Mary and Dickon.
