The Secret Garden

“The Secret Garden” written by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a fantastic children’s Literature book. There are several critics on what is the real metaphoric meaning behind the novel. There are several themes that exists amongst which is the theme of “Utopia”, which can be defined as a perfect society, a place of perfection and happiness, and the opposite to that happiness, “Dystopia”. As a reader who has read the book I couldn’t agree less on the ideal idea of the secret garden in the novel that is of similar significance to the Biblical Garden of Eden before the fall. For the purpose of the assignment the following paragraphs will be based on the ideal concept of utopia and dystopia in the novel. And the similarities of the secret garden to the biblical Garden of Eden, taking into consideration the different themes that exist throughout the novel. From the first chapters, before the story builds up and leads the main character to the secret garden, Mary Lennox, ten years old, as the main character begins her journey in a place that is supposed to be categorising as a utopian society. A home is supposed to be the safest and happiest perfect setting for a child’s happiness, perfect growth and welfare. Instead the first chapter in the novel lead us to see briefly how her home life was like a dystopian home. She was not loved and adored by her parents and she was always kept out of sight. Her parents ensured that everything is provided for the child in order to silence the child and as best as possible make her as invisible as possible while her parent enjoyed life and go out partying. This is because, for the parents their child (Mary) was thought to be ugly and too sickly. They were not proud of their child and pay servants to take care of her and attend to her needs and whatever she needs to keep her quiet.
As a result of an imperfect home or society that lacks a parents conditional love for a child, Mary turned out to be a sickly, ugly and mean child who was