The Secret Garden — Chapter 14

About This Passage

The moral turning point of the chapter in miniature: the doctor goes through the motions of medicine (‘felt his pulse’) while realizing he has lost his hold on the patient. Burnett lets the authority figure be the one who cannot oppose — a quiet reversal of the entire Victorian sickroom economy. Worth slowing down to hear who is actually in charge by the final line.

Narration Prompt

Retell Chapter 14 in your own words. Begin with Martha’s terror when Mary admits she has found Colin, and trace the chapter through Colin’s tyrannical command of Martha, Mary’s tales of Rajahs and Dickon, and the decisive scene when Dr. Craven and Mrs. Medlock discover the two children laughing.

Discussion Questions

1. Martha reaches for the word ‘bewitched’ to explain Colin’s change, while Mary corrects her: ‘Do you mean Magic? I’ve heard about Magic in India, but I can’t make it.’ What is the difference between supernatural ‘magic’ and what actually happened between these two children, and why is that distinction important to the novel’s theory of healing?
2. Colin narrates his own death to Mary with a detachment that borders on pride — ‘I am going to die’ — and Mary responds quite obstinately, ‘I don’t believe he does.’ How does Burnett characterize Mary’s bluntness as a form of friendship rather than cruelty, and what does Mary’s refusal reveal about her moral development since Chapter 2?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide