Compare And Contrastgomery's Secrets

In L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, Anne Shirley and Mary Lennox with their adopters, siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, and Archibald Craven, keep their own secrets whether for personal or family reasons. Furthermore, their new homes, Green Gables for Anne and Misselthwaite Manor for Mary, influence the girls’ maturation processes because their unfamiliarity with these new environments encourages them to keep secret their personal histories. While they are both secretive about their pasts, Anne uses her past as motivation to take responsibility for her family’s future whereas Mary’s pursuit of the secrets of the garden turns a selfish girl into a kinder young girl. Moreover, Matthew, Marilla and Mr. Craven share a similarity in that their secrets are all about their hidden love and emotions, while the difference is that Mr. Craven recognizes his love for Colin with Mary’s help after Mary causes the rebirth of the garden. In both
The attitudes towards life is an important way to Anne and Mary handle secrets reveal; at the beginnings of each story, Anne is willing to confront her past bravely and looks forward to her new life whereas Mary is insular and lonely and believes no one will care about her. Anne and Mary are close in age, and have had poor childhood experiences before their new families adopt them. There may be some very small differences between them but the similarities are far greater. The secrets of Anne and Mary are about their pasts. In the beginning, Marilla asks about Anne’s past when they are on the way back to Mrs. Spencer’s orphanage. Anne says that she would prefer to talk about “what I imagine about myself you’ll think it