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This is MJ, I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer.

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Find all my work at MJMunoz.com.

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Prepare yourself for some off-the-cuff book talk as I tackle another middle grade book chapter by chapter.

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As far as I can tell, The Secret Garden is not fantasy, it's literature.

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It's historical, well not historical, but it's fiction set in some time in history, so it's children's literature.

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And there is no real magic in it, as far as I can tell, but there is a mention of magic towards the end of chapter 8,

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and it comes right before this particularly strong gust of wind blows the ivy aside,

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maybe seemingly as if it was summoned by the Robin in order to reveal to Mary the location of the door into the secret garden.

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And I find it to be really interesting because it isn't magical, it isn't magic per se that's happening here,

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but in and of itself the world and nature is a little bit magical, isn't it?

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When we have the ability to appreciate it, when we have the presence of mind or the temperament or I guess the open heart

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to appreciate the magic of nature, it is quite magical, and that's something that Mary Lennox is seeing here.

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When she came from India, not that India is evil or unmagical or whatever, the book has made reference several times to how hot it was there,

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and how it was hot and languid, or she was languid in that heat, and that is probably multifactored.

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Obviously her Ayah and the other Indian servants there were not idle, and the British soldiers were not idle because they couldn't be.

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I'm sure they had downtime, but you understand what I'm saying.

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Being born to the home that she was and being in that position, and I think possibly being genetically not so used to or geared towards that kind of heat,

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it was probably more difficult for her than it would have been for an Indian child, but then again what was expected of her was pretty much nothing,

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and she stayed out of her mother's way. And then here at Mistletoe Manor, on the moor, she's expected to, she's taught to, she's encouraged to spend time out of doors as much as possible.

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She's gifted the jump rope, which is really cute, by Martha, Martha's mother, who I don't remember at this moment,

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and she's encouraged to skip rope or jump rope, whatever, outside as much as possible, even when it's raining a little bit, because it's going to be better for her.

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And even, what's his name, even the gardener, the groundskeeper, Ben Weatherstaff, sees her and goes on about how she doesn't have sour milk in her veins,

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she has child's blood, because he sees that she's smiling, she's happy, and she has color, her cheeks are flushed because of the exercise she's put herself through.

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And it's interesting, there's a kind of magic in the mundane and in the everyday, and it comes from being able to see the blessings and the good things around us, I think.

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And this book kind of communicates that. I wonder, I don't know the author's history, I don't know much about her, I didn't really look into her bio at all.

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I don't know if she's Christian, I don't know if she's trying to insert that sort of thing into here at all, but I definitely feel something earthy and possibly biblical in the,

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in the worldview of the book, in the worldview of the characters in the book, as Mary encounters them with her negativity and as they help her and try to correct her and guide her towards being a happier, healthier, more whole person.

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Even, even with Martha's comments about the blacks, which that's what she calls Indians, because she doesn't know any better, she's a very ignorant person. Even with her comments about the blacks, she's like, mystified by them, she is an exoticism to them, she doesn't hate them, she's curious about them, she's interested in them because they're an oddity.

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Which, yes, is that dehumanizing? It is, but for the context of the time, it isn't. At one point, Aboriginals were put in cages and looked at, at like, you know, fairs and things like that. Obviously that's awful.

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And even thinking about it being of the times doesn't make it okay. My worldview, my perspective on things would make it so that, you know, I would not be okay with that.

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I would not support that sort of thing. But at a time, that was how things were and, and that's how things looked and, I'm sorry, not how things looked, but that's just, that was the state of the world.

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And how does that relate to this potential, like, simple salt of the earth, biblical, possibly Christian kind of worldview that the author might have here? It goes like this.

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Even if that's the perspective Martha has in her ignorance, it is innocent ignorance and it's benign ignorance and she's curious about these people and she, I believe, would have treated them with care and love and respect and, you know, wouldn't have been okay with the caging.

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Because that's something that should chief at a person who appreciates freedom and appreciates and respects the value of life. If that's what I'm saying.

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I got a little far afield, but my point is that Mary Lennox is learning to appreciate and value life at all different levels. She went from being indolent and lazy and refusing to do things for herself and even refusing to go play and things like that outside because it was too hot or whatnot, to being in a place where she is.

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Taking accountability and responsibility for herself. She's getting herself dressed. She's feeding herself.

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Essentially, she's going out and exploring. She's appreciating the beauty of nature and animals, and she's learning to respect people who would otherwise be beneath her. She's learning equality.

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Because her exalted position has been taken away from her. She's been lowered. She's been humbled. She's no longer someone to be weighted on hand and foot.

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Instead, she's somebody who's been taught and encouraged to grow. She's being told to go outside, run around on the moor, move her blood to do these things to have this industry. Maybe I'm thinking of a puritanical concept of industry versus idleness.

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As she's become more physically active and she's become more proactive, the world is opening up to her. The garden is now opening up to her. Also, her interactions with people are opening.

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Not only did Martha and her mother show a kindness of giving her this gift of the skipping rope, but Mary acts with reciprocity. She wants to give her thanks. She wants to appreciate her. Show her her thanks because she realizes in hearing the story that Martha's mother took her money, her wages, and used them to buy some of her wages, not everything, and used that to buy the jump rope to give to Mary.

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She ends up thanking her for that. Martha makes a comment about how if it had been her little sister, her little sister would have kissed her. Mary asks if she wants her to kiss her. Martha basically says, no, if you were a different person, if that's who you were, then that'd be great. But that's not who you are. I don't want to force you to be that. I don't want to force you to be somebody else.

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So there's this interesting idea with these simple people that there's like this level of respect and this level of acceptance for who and what people are, but also this engagement in this conversation, this relationship is elevating at least Mary to being a better, more thoughtful, more interesting person.

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So somewhere along the way I lost the point of what I was saying, but I think I recovered. And anyway, maybe you can help me out and help me figure out exactly what I was trying to say, or just share your perspective on this chapter with me. Either way, I invite you to check out the rest of the episodes as I'm going through this book chapter by chapter.

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And I have a strong feeling that I'm going to really enjoy this book and that I will end up finishing it. Unlike a certain book, I quit as I went through it chapter by chapter. Currently I just finished chapter eight, and there are 27 chapters. So I think I'm feeling pretty good that I will keep going through the book because it's really good. It's really enjoyable. And again, I invite you to share your perspective with me.

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I hope you enjoyed that. Please remember to like, share, subscribe. I invite you to comment, ask questions and share your thoughts with me. It's always more fun when you're part of the conversation. Until next time, keep reading, be well, and do good things.

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