The Secret Garden

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Have you or has anyone you know personally experienced the shock of moving to a completely new culture? How do these real-life experiences compare to Mary’s experiences?

2. Have you ever met someone whose attitudes and behavior reflected your worst qualities? Did this cause you to change in any way? Why or why not?

3. What role does nature play in your life? Do you feel better physically or emotionally when you spend time in nature?

4. How did you react to the inclusion of the Yorkshire dialect in the story? Do you find it interesting or frustrating when characters speak in dialect? Which character’s attitude toward the Yorkshire dialect is most similar to your own?

5. Do you agree with the novel’s idea that thoughts can make things happen in the physical world? What is helpful about this idea? What is dangerous about it?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. What gender roles were people expected to adhere to at the time this story takes place? Do the characters in this novel support or undermine traditional gender roles?

2. Critics disagree about whether the book is undermining or supporting the British colonial attitude toward India. What evidence does Mary’s characterization provide? 

3. What is the British “class system”? How is it reflected in the book? Does the book criticize the class system or support it? How do you know?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism. 

1. Compare and contrast Dickon’s mother with Mary’s and Colin’s mothers. What point is being made about the influence of mothers through these characters?

2. How does the name “Craven” characterize Archibald Craven? Which of his actions and attitudes support this characterization? Does he change over the course of the story?

3. The style of The Secret Garden has been called “sentimental.” What does this mean, when it refers to a literary style? What elements of this story make it sentimental?

4. How does the story anthropomorphize the robin in the garden? How does the robin’s perspective help develop the symbols of the garden and its door? 

5. In what important ways does Mary change as the novel progresses? How does the widening of the narrative perspective reflect these changes? What roles do nature and other people play in Mary’s transformation?