‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett

“At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done – then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago.”

‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett, though belongs to children’s literature, is an interesting read even for adults. Mary Lennox, a sick looking girl, goes to Yorkshire after her uncle takes her custody due to the death of her parents in India. Having brought up without any motherly love and having got her way in everything from her childhood, Mary finds Yorkshire a new world. Her caretaker Martha, being a young girl herself, isn’t subservient to Mary and this is all new to Mary who has always got her own way. Mary learns about Yorkshire from Martha and also learns about the Secret garden in her uncle’s manor. The door to that garden was locked ten years ago and the key has also been buried, whose whereabouts no one knows. Intrigued by this, Mary tries to find the secret garden. The book progresses to show whether Mary finds the secret garden and what she finds in there and what effect it has on her.

Colin, who is also of the same age as Mary, is introduced as a sick and bed ridden boy. As the story progresses, we can also see that he imagines an illness which he doesn’t have and expects to die soon. In simple words, Colin suffers from hypochondria. So, what happens when Mary and Colin meet? What changes do they bring to each other? How will Mary assure Colin that he won’t die? All these are answered as the plot unfolds.

One character that everyone has to look out for in the novel is Dickon. Just as how he is loved by everyone in the novel, he is loved by every reader. Who doesn’t love a person who is friends with every animal, bird and plant. Being elder to Mary and Colin by two years, Dickon acts as a good friend and as an agent of positive influence on them.

This novel is a healing novel. It has the best lines which teaches the reader on how living with nature heals the soul and makes one to grow positive and healthy. When we see things budding and thriving to come out of the earth, it makes us believe we can grow too.

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”

Another lesson we learn from the book is about magic. Now, you don’t need to relate magic to flying castles and extraordinary power. Magic is found in everything even within us. That which makes things come true is magic. That which fills us with goodness and makes us move forward is magic. Magic is in everything.

“Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing. Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden – in all the places.”

The novel is an amazing read except for the racism and stereotypes it contains against India. Thus, ‘The Secret Garden’ is a book you would love to read and recommend.

‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

This is the opening line of the book ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens. Set in the time of French Revolution, this historical novel gives an insight of the cause and outcome of the revolution. The revolution, which was expected to be the kickstart of the new era and new hopes, turned out to be a bloody massacre. Dickens has intricately woven his plot to align with the timeline of the real events.

A fiction which is set in the past is Historical fiction. Such a genre mingles the fact, events as in the recorded history, and fiction, the author’s imagination. As the novel is set in the past, the characters, the places, the language, the conflict should all accord to those of that period. The plot doesn’t completely depart from the records. All these characteristics are observed in the novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’.

The novel features two cities London and Paris and which in turn bridges two countries England and France. The French Revolution which occurs in France also casts its shadow on England. The novel traces the causes of French Revolution. Though a part of it may be fictional as in the part of St. Marquis Evremonde, the novelist brings out the cruelty of the aristocrats in the embodiment of Evremonde. It brings out the horror of the age and how inhumanely the third estates were treated.

“The mill which had worked them down, was the mill that grinds young people old; the children had ancient faces and grave voices; and upon them, and upon the grown faces, and ploughed into every furrow of age and coming up afresh, was the sigh, Hunger. It was prevalent everywhere.”

The conduct of the characters is also in congruence to the period. The time period and the cruelty of the age justifies the actions of the Defarges and the other revolutionaries. The conflict in the novel is also a parallel to the period of the revolutions. The novelist foreshadows from the very beginning of the impending terror in the novel.

“The time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there.”

But the conflict is not only between the aristocrats and revolutionaries but also between the innocent whose lives were claimed by the revolutionaries. This is portrayed through the misfortunes of Darnay and his family. Though they were innocent, they were pulled into the political storm of France. By providing many sides of the history, the author makes us think to which degree the revolution was successful and to which degree it was a failure.

The novel doesn’t just bring out the themes of revolution, class division, poverty but also the themes of love, hatred, self-hatred, mental health and other complex themes. The character which makes the most impact in the reader is Sydney Carton. He doesn’t fail to move the readers to tears and a character with a lot of inner conflicts which is worth analyzing. No other words can give such a powerful ending as these.

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

Thus, by going beyond the expectations of readers and by enchanting them with a descriptive language, Dickens has produced a timeless classic – ‘A Tale of Two Cities’.

Read more about Historical fiction at https://awriterofhistory.com/2015/03/24/7-elements-of-historical-fiction/

Read the novel at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/98/old/2city12p.pdf

DYSTOPIAN LITERATURE

You may have heard about ‘The Hunger Games’, ‘Divergent’, ‘The Maze Runner’ but have you noticed the elements they have in common? All represent a wretched state of society characterized by oppression, unhappiness, and rebellion. They all belong to the genre of dystopian literature.

In the 16th century, Thomas More dreamed of Utopia – an ideal state of things, people and society are happy and peaceful deprived of sadness and destruction. The following centuries proved it impossible for such a state to prevail. There were endless wars, revolts and rebellion,exploitation,unprecedented scientific discoveries, and disruption. All these provided endless materials for the new form of literature – the Dystopian literature.

Dystopia is contrary to Utopia. Dystopia characterizes a complete havoc and a wrecked state which is beyond repair. It portrays an imperfect world. The main themes of such a literature are extreme divisions in society, rebellion, environmental destruction, disaster and dehumanization.

As seen in the above mentioned fictions, there is an organization or a character with a propaganda to dictate people of the state. In such a state, there is a difference of power leading the citizens to an unfair treatment and are left to live in poor conditions. President Snow in The Hunger Games has complete control over the people and people lead their life adhering to his regulations. And so, there is a clear difference in the standards of living between the people of Panem and other districts.

There is no independence, free access to information and all are expected to be uniform leaving no place for individuality. People of the state idolize an authoritarian or an idea. The characters or the people live in an illusion that their society is an utopia. In the Divergent series by Veronica Roth, the state, which is set in Chicago, is divided into five factions namely Abnegation, Erudite, Amity, Dauntless and Candor. It is expected of all people to fall into either one of the factions. But we see that the protagonists Beatrice and Tobias, who don’t belong to any of these factions, are ostracized. In the beginning, the characters in the story believe such a division in society as ideal and necessary for an order in the state.

The characters are often monitored by some authority and nothing misses their watch. Being confined to their own little world, characters fear entering the outside world. They are ignorant of what lies outside their state. The outside world is either banished or not allowed to interact. In The Maze Runner series by James Dashner, the Gladers are constantly watched by some mysterious authority which is later found out to be WICKED. Being shut in the Glade, the characters don’t know what lies outside the maze for none has reached it and came back alive. They accept the challenge and make it out of the maze. They later notice that the outside state is in a state of ruin with a dangerous virus called Flare affecting people. So, the immune Gladers are not allowed to interact with the outside world.

Dystopian literature is also speculative literature. They hypothesize of a future which present conditions may lead to and warns of the imminent dangers. It also criticizes those aspects of society which may cause the downfall in the near future. Now look around and ask yourself if you are living in dystopia.

Also watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a6kbU88wu0

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