The Secret Garden - read the book, skip the movie.

A Hollyweird movie/book review.

The Secret Garden is a children’s book written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, (us.archive.org/pdf) who also wrote the popular children’s book called The Little Princess. Both books are historical fiction about little girls who were living as wealthy little girls with many servants, in India during British colonial era. Both girls became orphans due to issues of infection or violence that occurred in India or other colonies during that time to some of the wealthy ‘nabobs’.

What is a nabob?

nabob

/nā′bŏb″/

noun

1. An Indian ruler within the Mogul empire; a nawab.

2. (by extension) Someone of great wealth or importance.

3. (by extension) A person with a grandiose style or manner.

The books by Frances Hodgson Burnett both have subthemes of ‘magic’ and how our mental attitude and our actions can make good magic for us - but sometimes if it is just too cold and you are just too ill and overworked, then the magic can seem too far away (The Little Princess). What we learn from the books is that it is an active interest in other people and helping others that can help make magic in our lives - in addition to the need to ‘see’ the wonders of life - to see things as magical instead of as dreary and mundane - down to earth.

Feeling the world owes you can leave an entitled attitude and unhappiness because unlimited expectations can never be filled. Appreciating what is present is how we can have a positive attitude even when what is present is kind of difficult. Seeing it as a challenge to build character can help both meet the challenge and build character too.

“Much more surprising things can happen to anyone who, when a disagreeable or discouraged thought comes into his mind, just has the sense to remember in time and push it out by putting in an agreeable determinedly courageous one. Two things cannot be in one place:

“Where you tend a rose, my lad, A thistle cannot grow.””

The Secret Garden is about cousins - both spoiled or neglected little rich children who weren’t very healthy. Both children were ‘nabobs’ in the sense of the third definition “A person with a grandiose style or manner.” Other orphans teased Mary during the ship journey as they traveled back from India singing the rhyme “Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?” Later Mary called her cousin a ‘rajah’ for his imperious attitude towards staff and herself - he had been a sickly child allowed to run the house ragged from his temper tantrums.

The ‘Magic’ of The Secret Garden is in sunshine and play with other children instead of being totally isolated and restoring health through exercise from digging and weeding and coaxing flowers to life - exercise leads to a better appetite, and eating more good food leads to better health.

This book is about biohacking one’s own health and the ‘scientific principles’ of calisthenics are also incorporated in the boy’s self-healing journey. He had been laying in bed with ten years of hearing that he was an invalid near death (born premature, mother was lost, father devastated…). With the help of his cousin’s rude wake-up-call about his own bad attitude (she had learned about her own bad attitude first), he decided that he was going to be an athlete and a scientist - and ‘good magic’ of nature and the positive mindset were the tools.

The Secret Garden was published in 1910/1911 - that would have been at a time when British colonial rule in India was at a peak, just prior to an increase in protest by the Indian people.

Brave AI:

• 1850s: The British East India Company’s rule over India began to transition to direct British rule after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (also known as the Sepoy Mutiny). The Government of India Act of 1858 established the British Raj, with the British Crown exercising sovereignty over India.

• 1860s-1880s: The British consolidated their control over India, expanding their territories and establishing a system of administration, including the Indian Civil Service (ICS).

• 1890s-1910s: This period saw significant economic and administrative reforms, including the introduction of railways, telegraphs, and modern education systems. The British also exploited India’s natural resources, leading to widespread poverty and famine.

• 1920s-1930s: The Indian independence movement gained momentum, with leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress demanding greater autonomy and eventually independence. The British responded with reforms, such as the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1917 and the Government of India Act of 1935, which granted more powers to Indian princes and politicians.

• 1940s: World War II weakened Britain’s grip on India, and the Indian independence movement intensified. In 1947, India and Pakistan gained independence from British rule, marking the end of the British Raj.

More info (bbc.co.uk)

The word nabob meant an Indian ruler and use of it was extended to refer to the Englishmen who were becoming enormously wealthy from trade in foreign goods - or a diamond mine in the case of The Little Princess’s father.

Frances Hodgson Burnett shows us how wealthy parents can leave a spoiled child with too many things and too little nurturing attention in the story of The Secret Garden, an orphaned youth coming of age/independence story. Or with love, she shows us that even owning many splendid things can’t spoil a loving child - or the loss of the things in the story of The Little Princess - a riches to rags to riches story of an orphan who was lost but then found. Both stories have a woman as a negative antagonist, in the housekeeper of The Secret Garden or the head mistress at a Boarding school where The Little Princess had been a star pupil, and then became an abused tutor/scullery maid.

I recommend both books. I do not recommend the movie The Secret Garden was made into. (I haven’t seen if there is a Little Princess one.)

I watched The Secret Garden with my mother recently, after not having seen it as a new release, and I was so disturbed at the ‘magick’ style subtheme that I had to reread the book to see if a scene in the movie had been in the book - no. The movie takes what is clearly even discussed in the book as ‘good magic’ of nature, and turns it into a roaring fire, dark night, chanting in a ritual style by the boy to ‘bring back’ the father. And it worked. The book did have magical elements but it was in a dream reinforced with a physical letter mailed to the father by a caring neighbor ~ ‘Come home, good news awaits’. The father had never been able to love the boy well after being in a dark depression at the death of his wife when the boy was born prematurely. The story has more detail, but the main point is one of dwelling on hopelessness and sorrow versus seeing the beauty in blue forget-me-not flowers blooming in a far-away city.

Nature can help remind us that there is beauty, even when there is also pain or sorrow. Nature reminds us in the spring that rebirth is part of nature’s cycle. Nature is good magic and the original biohack for restoring health is to spend more time in the sun doing some physical work so a good appetite is ready for dinner and sleep will come easily at night.

I highly recommend these books and would avoid the movie. It takes the magic of growing things and blooming flowers into overdrive - too many flowers that don’t even bloom at the same time are arranged in a pretty display, but not realistic. The books show us in slower closer detail the beauty of spring turning what looks like dead branches into a blooming jungle.

Photo by Jan Canty on Unsplash

*The good news, I watched the movie with my mother. She has been more functional and gets bored. She may not understand all of it, but there was interest. Wow!

Addition:

There was a subtheme I forgot to mention about The Secret Garden movie: child romance and jealousy was added to the movie which wasn’t in the book. Ten-year-old cousin planning to wed his female cousin is not only too young, but also incestuous - his jealousy of the healthier but poor Cockney boy was not in the book.

The book focused on children gaining friendship, interest in life and nature, and growing in health - not romance at an age when it really isn’t normal. I noticed that on rewatching the movie ET - there was an adolescent kiss that just seemed inappropriate for the developmental age. Ten is around Fifth grade, maybe interest is beginning around then but it seems early to put in a movie as a subtheme.

Disclaimer: This information is being shared for educational purposes within the guidelines of Fair Use and is not intended to provide individual health care purposes.