Student Question
What details reveal Mary's excitement while exploring the garden in "The Secret Garden"?
Quick answer:
Mary's excitement in the garden is evident through her sense of wonder and enchantment at being in a place untouched for ten years. She describes it as the "sweetest, most mysterious-looking place" and is captivated by its silence, calling it "fairylike." Mary's thrill grows as she discovers signs of life, such as "sharp, pale green points," indicating late winter flowers. Her happiness and eagerness to return highlight her delight in finding a secret, private world.
In chapter 9, Mary finally gets into the secret garden. Details that help the reader understand why she is excited include her sense of wonder to be in a place no one has entered for ten years. Further, Mary thinks of the garden as the
sweetest, most mysterious-looking place anyone could imagine.
She is also enchanted by the silence, saying,
“How still it is!” she whispered. “How still!”
She finds the gray arches between the trees "fairylike," and she is thrilled that, now that she knows how, she can visit the garden anytime she wants. She feels as if she has found her own, private world that nobody else knows about. We learn, too, that Mary grows excited as she realizes there is plant life in the garden, even in winter, for she sees "sharp, pale green points" that she thinks might be late winter flowers, like snowdrops or crocuses.
When she finally leaves the garden, we're told she had been "happy" her entire time there, busy weeding and clearing to reveal more "green points" growing. She is excited to have found a space that can be all hers.
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