Student Question
How would you describe Dickon in The Secret Garden?
Quick answer:
Dickon, in The Secret Garden, is a 12-year-old boy characterized by his caring and gentle nature, which attracts animals to him. He is likened to the Greek god Pan, symbolizing his connection to nature, and is depicted as having "curly, rust-colored" hair and playing a pipe. Dickon is compassionate towards both animals and people, becoming a pivotal friend to Mary and Colin, helping them find inner peace and overcome insecurities.
In Frances Hodgson Burnett's children's novel The Secret Garden,
the character Dickon is the 12-year-old brother of Martha, a
maid in the manor protagonist Mary has come to stay in. The story progresses
quite a bit before Mary gets to meet Dickon in person, but Martha is very
talkative. The more Mary hears about Dickon from Martha, the more she admires
Dickon and wants to meet him.
One thing that stands out about Dickon is he is an extremely caring and
gentle person . He is so caring and gentle that animals flock to him. Examples are seen in the fact that he adopted a wild pony foal he found on the moor. He also goes out onto the moor to care for sheep and other animals. As Martha phrases it, "[B]irds as comes an' eats out of his hand." Plus, even though Martha's family is poor, Dickon...
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always saves bits of what he has to eat to share with the animals. Beyond caring for animals, he cares for everything having to do with nature. He is even described as knowing how to make all things grow.
When Mary finally does get to meet Dickon, we see that he very closely
symbolically represents the Ancient Greek god Pan, who was the
caretaker of all animals and nature. Dickon is described as having "curly,
rust-colored" hair, and when Mary first sees him, he is sitting beneath a tree
playing a pipe, just as Pan was known to play a pipe he used to charm
animals. As Dickon plays, a squirrel clings to the tree and watches him;
a pheasant watches him from a bush; and two rabbits stand near him on their
hind feet, sniffing and watching.
Dickon proves to be just as kind and caring towards people as he is towards
nature as he becomes the very first friend that Mary and later
Colin have ever had. Furthermore, he becomes a central character in helping
both Mary and Colin overcome their insecurities and become at peace with
themselves, just as Dickon is at peace.