The Night Gardener

The tree’s danger increases significantly in these chapters as Molly and Kip become more deeply involved in the mysteries of the Windsor manor. Because the contents of the tree’s letter match the story that Molly originally told Kip about their parents’ whereabouts, this suggests that the tree can pluck the details straight from Molly’s mind: yet another image of spiritual vampirism. Combined with Molly’s sudden lack of creativity and failing physical health, it is clear that her acceptance of the first letter forges an unhealthy link between herself and the tree. By accepting the tree’s gifts, she allows it access to her own thoughts and desires, and so she therefore becomes spiritual “food” for the tree just as Kip almost falls prey to it in a much more physical way.

The image of vampirism is extended with the phantasm of the Night Man himself. The Night Man’s ability to impose nightmares upon people and collect the essence of their thoughts also implies that dreams serve as windows into a person’s mind and soul. Thus, the Night Man labors in service to the tree and uses people’s own darkest fears and deepest desires against them, keeping them trapped in one way or another while the tree literally saps the very life from them. In accordance with this ongoing dynamic of entrapment, the closing line of the letter for Kip and Molly saying to stay where they are is also a form of manipulation. Molly and Kip take the line to mean that their parents know where they are and are on their way there. Enticed by the very idea of being reunited with their long-lost parents, Kip and Molly ignore all that they know about the manor’s dangers and agree to stay put. As the mystery of the tree unfolds, this line represents just one example of the tricks that the cursed tree uses to lure its victims into remaining victims, thus creating an environment in which it can feed at leisure.

Throughout Part 1, Molly is not yet sure what to think of the Windsors. Constance and Alistair in particular seem at first glance to be mean, greedy people who do not care much about others. However, the revelations about their characters in these latest chapters demonstrate that they are in fact just ordinary people caught in a desperately extraordinary situation. In Chapter 21, for example, Alistair seems less like a bully and more like a lost little boy when he explains that he only accepts sweets from the tree because it reminds him of quality time spent with his father. Just like Penny’s books, Alistair’s candies symbolize his desire for things in his family to go back to how they were before: positive and wholesome. Similarly, at first glance, Constance seems to value jewels for their own sake. However, her admission that the ring is practically worthless and holds only sentimental value reveals the deep love and nostalgia she has for the early days of her marriage, when the future seemed bright and her husband was more attentive.

The box of rings in Constance’s room is a physical artifact that demonstrates just how profoundly the tree has changed the family. While the portrait demonstrates that the Windsors are far less vivacious than they were a year ago, the rings show how gradual and insidious that change has been. Because the many rings are slightly different sizes, it is clear that Constance is wasting away a bit at a time, possibly in such small amounts that she doesn’t even notice her worsening health and overall diminishment. Similarly, Molly also starts to decay without noticing, and she only realizes that her own decline has begun when Penny points it out to her. It’s unclear when Molly first starts to lose her color and turn gray, but there are two likely starting points for the change: either her first night in the house, when the Night Man began to feed off her nightmares, or later, when she accepted the tree’s first gift. From the ways in which the Windsors have all traded their physical and spiritual well-being in exchange for their hearts’ deepest desires, the novel implies that the tree feeds on pieces of people’s souls in exchange for granting impossible wishes. Thus, in a more philosophical sense, the story serves as a cautionary tale, positing that fulfilling one’s deepest desires can only be gained at great personal cost, and once gained, those desires may turn out to be no more than paltry illusions that sap all the goodness from life.

Chapters 27 and 28 finally reveal the true nature of the Night Man’s work and show the ways in which the author has cleverly subverted common images of comfort and healing, using them to create images of harm instead. For example, wiping sweat from someone’s brow is often portrayed as a way to care for them when they are sick, but the Night Man’s act of wiping brows is harmful in and of itself. Going nightly from room to room as conscientiously as any caretaker, he instead saps people of their spiritual vitality and collects it to “feed” to the tree. Although the Night Man’s movements are just as careful and attentive as those of a doctor, his actions are anything but beneficial for the people he tends. Thus, the very image of a sickbed attendant gains a negative connotation, for the Night Man deliberately causes illness rather than healing it. Accordingly, when Molly represents a threat to the tree, the Night Man puts her to sleep, revealing yet another power that he and the tree possess to control their enthralled victims. The enchanted sleep instantly gives Molly nightmares and demonstrates the drastic action that the tree will take to protect itself. Even Kip’s attempts to wake Molly represent an indirect threat to the tree, for if Molly wakes, there will be that much less sweat for the man to collect in service of the tree’s needs.

Finally, this section also serves to reveal several potential weaknesses that can be used to defeat both the Night Man and the tree he serves, for the flames from the lantern hurt the man, thus revealing that fire might be a viable weapon to destroy the tree for good. Similarly, the mysterious night-blooming flowers serve as a barrier that protects Kip from the Night Man’s pursuit, and they also will play a key role in the climax of the novel. Thus, even these setbacks bear the seeds of the children’s later success in finally triumphing over the Night Man and the cursed tree.