The Secret Garden Quotes

* Why did Mary defy Mr Neal? What did she achieve? What role does the character of Mary play in the text?

This shows Mallon’s ignorance and tolerance to help. Mary Mallon seemed to not care whatsoever about the people she hurt which is insane today. In this was Mary relates to a heartless villain of society because she seems to have no sympathy for others.

The greatest potential influence and need in a child’s life is a mother, someone who will put their happiness and needs after their child’s. The major theme in Sue Monk Kidd’s, The Secret Life of Bee’s, is the importance of motherhood in a child’s life, displayed through Lily’s constant search for a mother figure. Lily starts off looking to Rosaleen as a guide in her life, she then finds a mother figure in the Black Mary after learning about her story, and in the end, accepts August and the other sisters of Mary as her surrogate mothers. In the Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd excellently displays the theme of motherhood and its necessity.

Even thought both were working full time and physically absent most of the time, the difference in their parenting style had influenced their kid’s life in different way. Unlike Joy, who was strict and fixed rules and clear expectations for her son, Mary had a permissive and uninvolved parenting style. Mary did not teach her son much discipline, she was lenient and intervened minimally only when she faced serious problem. She even gave her son unclear message about what is inappropriate, by the role model she played. Especially when Wes found the weed on her closet (59).In the contrary, Joy fixed clear rules at home, like her reaction when Wes punched his sister, she said while talking to her husband,<< Wes, he needs to learn what is acceptable and what is not>>

Mary Lee Johnston, the mother of Precious, is an abusive woman who despises Precious for “stealing her man.” She weighs over 300 pounds and rarely leaves the house. Her “arms seem like giant arms” and “her legs which she always got cocked open seem like ugly tree logs.” She never tried to stop Carl, her sadistic boyfriend, from abusing Precious. She never encourages Precious to do anything with her life by telling her that “school can’t help you none.” Mary defrauds the welfare system without guilt and fails to provide care to Precious in any way.

n the novel, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily a 14 year old girl is abused by her father and runs away. Throughout Lily's life she was sheltered from blacks and always thought of them as a lower class in society and her in a higher class because of her skin color. As a result she has limited respect for blacks. There are many motifs in this book that change the mindset of Lily, one of which is the Virgin Mary. The symbol the Virgin Mary is a huge impact on Lily's growth and development.

play in Lily’s life because every time she sees the black Mary it is a symbol for strength and gives

This displays that her being ostracized has forced her to change her views on society and realize not everyone is as nice as they appear. Later on in Mary’s life, her aunt says to Dunny: “Now she remembers so little, and it’s better so, because when she does remember she thinks of Paul” (Davies, 129). This proves that she has continuously been ignoring and forgetting about society for a couple of years. She has isolated herself to avoid conflict and hatred. This alienation Mary has experienced has changed her perception of

     From Mary's tragic life, we can draw some eerily similar parallels between her life and the novel. One of the most obvious links that can be made is the connection

Mary is also struggling against a feeling of displacement. It’s ironic that the two things she places most importance on are the two things she doesn’t posses. Her parents ignore her up until their deaths and she has no friends due to a bitter

"The Chrysanthemums" introduces us to Elisa Allen, a woman who knows she has a gift for growing things, but it seems to be limited to her garden. Diligently working in her garden, Elisa watches as men come and go, living their lives unconfined, wondering what it must feel like to have that freedom. That emotion is revealed as Elisa gases at her husband and acquaintances talking, "she looked down toward the men by the tractor shed now and then." As she tills the soil for her chrysanthemums Elisa tills the thoughts in her head. The garden she so desperately maintained represents her world. A world that will only flourish if nourished. Emotional nourishment and stimulation is what Elisa lacked and longed for. The garden is limited in space to grow and so is her marriage. The garden is safe, non-threatening and so is her world. The garden contains many different elements that make it what it is, although unseen, and if the proper nourishment is not given it will die, as with Elisa.

Through it’s carefully chosen soundtrack of cheerful music on a drearily rainy day, the film’s opening underscores an immediate clash perfectly coinciding with it’s opening characters dispositions, and the entire movie’s demeanor. The pleasant mood of Mary the maid is contrasted with her dreadfully miserable and snobbish ladyship, the Countess of Trentham. Even though Mary suffers being drenched in the rain, she appears excited for the trip, while the securely dry and well taken care of Countess appears to be vehemently protesting.

Life is full of letdowns and disappointments, but people have to push through. “Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine/Meanwhile the world goes on” (Lines 5-6), Mary states that people are full of sorrow, but life goes on and a person’s imaginations continues to grow. In the critical essay written on, “Wild Geese” by Wendy Perkins, Wendy states, “In ‘Wild Geese,’ Oliver explores how we have been oppressed by these ‘constructions of culture’ and offers us fruitful, fresh alternatives” (1). Wendy is stating that, Mary was aware of people’s everyday misery and blamed in on the restrictions that came with their culture. The alternative offer is the person’s imagination, it is technique a fresh view on life because in a person’s imagination their life can be whatever they want it to be.

A garden that holds your secrets, that is a secret itself, holds a special spot in the book “The Secret Garden”. The garden is described as an overgrown hidden beauty that has not been seen for ten years. The woman who created the garden passed away because of an accident; in turn, her husband becomes bitter and wrathful. The door which led to the garden was locked and the key was buried while the orders were given for no one to enter the garden again. There’s more to the garden than just being hid away. The garden is a secret to some very important characters in this story, but why? Perhaps the overgrown secret may even have a secret of its own.

To truly understand and enjoy The Secret Garden, one need only to watch with an open mind and allow the story to sink in slowly. Forget the book, which is a