Discovering Mary Lennox...

Mary Lennox

To start describing Mary Lennox, I thought it was necessary to review 4 chapters because in those chapters we had the opportunity to discover how Mary Lennox lives on a daily basis and why she has developed a hateful behavior.

Personally, I feel terribly sorry for what happened to Mary. Imagine knowing that you are an unwanted daughter; it must be terrible. Further, I do not blame Mary for absolutely anything because she is just a reflection of how she was raised and educated. Mary never received affection from her parents. On the contrary, she was witness to the cruelty and perversity of her parents. Consequently, she tends to be cold-hearted and deadly in action.

One of the phrases that caught my attention was this one:

Mary had never possessed an animal pet of her own and had always thought she should like no one. So she began to feel a slight interest in Dickon, and she had never before been interested in any one but she, it was the dawning of a healthy sentiment.

Here is where everything that Mary went through was clarified. Marry, being a girl, has never had any pet and without knowing any she already had the concept that would like no one.

Another quote that I would like to share is this one:

"A bird with a red breast was sitting on one of them and he sang."

To her surprise the surly old weather-beaten face actually changed its expression. A slow smile spread over it and the gardener looked quite different. It made her think that it was curious how much nicer a person looked when he smiled. She had not thought of it before.

This is an interesting quote because one can perceived that Mary has never been loved. It even emplies that she has never seen someone smile and that is why she was living that moment like no other.

However, Mary’s personality began to improve as the story developed. She played in the moor, wandered in the old manor with hundred rooms, explored gardens and searched the buried key to the secret garden that was locked up for ten years.

From now on, we can observe a Mary Lennox with a renewed mind...

Mary and Dickon in the garden. Illustration by Inga Moore.

The first appreciation of a smile. Illustration by Inga Moore.