61 pages • 2 hours read
Frances Hodgson BurnettThe Secret Garden
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1910A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 22-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 22 Summary
Ben was very fond of Colin’s mother, and he is delighted to see her son standing upright. Colin sends Mary to open the door for Ben. After she departs, Colin asks Dickon whether he had done some kind of magic that made it possible for Colin to stand. Dickon replies that Colin made the magic himself, the same magic that makes plants grow.
Ben returns with Mary. He concentrates on Colin, so he doesn’t notice that Mary is muttering under her breath, “You can do it!” repeatedly. (148) Ben addresses Colin as “Young Mester” and asks what orders Colin has for him. Colin announces that his mother’s garden is now his. He means to come here every day, which is to be kept secret.
Colin has fulfilled the first of his ambitions—to stand on his own two feet. Now he is determined to fill the second—dig in his garden. Feebly, he digs a small hole. Ben fetches a small rosebush, removes it from its pot, and hands it to Colin, saying, “Set it in the earth thysel’ same as th’ king does when he goes to a new place” (150). When the rose is planted, Colin rises again and stands independently as the sun goes down.
Chapter 23 Summary
When Colin returns to the house, Doctor Craven warns Colin that he shouldn’t exert himself too much and it wouldn’t be wise to go out again in the morning. Colin replies that it wouldn’t be wise to try to stop him. When the doctor is gone, Mary tells Colin that she is sorry for Doctor Craven because he has to be polite even when Colin is rude. She adds that always having his way has made Colin peculiar, and people gave Colin his way because they were sorry for him.
Colin doesn’t like the idea of people feeling sorry for him, so he decides to stop being peculiar. He feels that he can best do that by going to the garden every day; there is magic there, even if it isn’t real magic.
It does seem like magic for the next few months when summer comes and everything is growing and blooming, especially the roses. Colin is fascinated by all the live things, plants and animals. He forms a theory about the nature of magic. He thinks there must be a great deal of magic in the world, but people don’t know how to use it; the first step is just saying over and over that something good is going to happen—just as Mary did the day Colin first stood upright. He decides that when he grows up, he will be a scientist, and this will be his first experiment.
He has Mary, Dickon, and Ben sit in a circle while he repeatedly chants that the magic is in them and everything, making him stronger. Then Colin walks around the garden, leaning on Dickon but taking a few steps on his own. When he is done, Colin sets himself a new goal. He will make himself so strong that his father will love him.
Chapter 24 Summary
When Dickon is not working in the secret garden, he tends the home garden that feeds his family. When his mother has a free moment, she likes to hear Dickon’s stories about the goings-on at the manor. The children have agreed that telling Mrs. Sowerby about the garden is safe. Dickon shares how Colin is getting stronger every day but wants to save his recovery as a surprise for his father, so he and Mary have to pretend that he is still feeble and ill. The only trouble is that Colin is growing much stronger, and his appetite has improved so much that they are afraid the household staff will notice and write to Colin’s father before Colin is ready.
Mrs. Sowerby, that “comfortable, wonderful mother creature” (163), is amused by the children’s game—she thinks it is a healthy activity for them—and contrives a solution to the problem of food for energetic growing children. She begins sending a pail of milk and a loaf of bread with Dickon every day so the children can fill up before dinner and the household staff won’t know how much they are eating.
Every morning, Colin holds his chanting ceremony under the plum tree, then walks around the garden. Dickon learns some exercises from a strongman in the village and teaches them to Colin and Mary, and those become a part of their daily ritual.
Chapters 22-24 Analysis
From this point forward, the story traces Colin’s recovery and the restoration of his broken family. Colin lays claim to the garden, and the kingship metaphor is reinforced when Ben tells him to plant the rose “same as th’ king does” (150). A long-standing British tradition is for nobility and rulers to plant a commemorative tree to mark special occasions.
Colin is mistaken when he believes that his father does not love him or that making himself physically strong will bring his father back. Archibald loves his son, but the love is transformed into grief for his loss and fear that he will lose his child as he lost his wife. Archibald must overcome his weakness before he can be the father his son needs.
Colin’s “magic” is an example of the power of positive thinking, as his attitude helps him overcome his sickness. Of course, his rituals under the plum tree probably have less effect on his improved health than his walks around the garden or the exercises Dickon teaches him.
Mrs. Sowerby once again demonstrates her embodiment of motherhood. She plays the role of fairy godmother by bestowing gifts to aid the children in their quest to make Colin well without anyone knowing. Food and feeding are considered feminine gifts and are associated with nature and the natural world. Milk and bread are among the most basic and earthy of foods.
Another adult might disapprove of children keeping secrets from adults like Mrs. Medlock and Doctor Craven, who only wish for the children to be well and healthy. However, Mrs. Sowerby understands the need to have a world of their own where they can do the important work of learning and growing without the adults laughing at them, as Colin’s nurse did, or urging them to be careful and think about being ill, as Doctor Craven does. If Mrs. Medlock knew they were in the garden, she would see it as her duty to stop it. Mrs. Sowerby cares only about the children being well, and the needs and desires of the adults are unimportant to her.
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By Frances Hodgson Burnett
