Camp Hain

004 The Secret Garden: Chapters 11-15 Summary and Insights

• Tia Hain • Season 1 • Episode 4

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The Secret Garden: Chapters 11-15 Summary and Insights

In this episode of Camp Hain, Tia Hain reviews chapters 11 through 15 of 'The Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The discussion follows Mary Lennox's adventures as she explores her secret garden with the help of Dickon and uncovers the mystery of Colin Craven. Highlights include gardening tips from Dickon, Mary's request for her own piece of earth, and Mary's discovery of her cousin Colin, who has been bedridden and believed to be ailing. The episode also touches on various themes of hidden secrets and personal growth, setting the stage for the next summaries in subsequent episodes.

Internet Grandpa
Chapter 11 - https://youtu.be/vrbBSRCUQbA?si=sejXBu8urki9k-f0
Chapter 12 - https://youtu.be/Inm0UCmi55o?si=SHxkIIaCRx1QK86O
Chapter 13 - https://youtu.be/LggI6ZD6Mao?si=yA0tfFjc9u4-G4cN
Chapter 14 - https://youtu.be/feBBYC0iTfE?si=jMOZ2dkX2oguPghM
Chapter 15 - https://youtu.be/K3xptYlZuHs?si=LzC3fovk5susS47a

00:00 Introduction and Overview
01:07 Summary of The Secret Garden Chapters 11-15
02:26 Chapter 11: The Nest of the Missel Thrush
04:30 Chapter 12: Might I Have a Bit of Earth?
07:18 Chapter 13: I am Colin
10:48 Chapter 14: A Young Rajah
13:55 Chapter 15: Nest Building
16:27 Conclusion and Next Steps

004 The Secret Garden Summary - Chapters 11-15
[00:00:00] What would you do if you heard crying down the hall and everybody was telling you that it was nothing and everything was fine? Would you be determined to figure out where it was coming from?

[00:00:13] This is the dilemma of the main character in The Secret Garden, Mary Lennox. The Classical Conversation Challenge A Novel. We will be summarizing chapters 11 through 15 today. But first, welcome to Camp Hain, the adventures of a Catholic family that homeschools public schools, online schools, and has one super obsessed with Baseball Kid.

[00:00:38] Currently, I, Tia Hain, am a Classical Conversations Challenge A Director. So a lot of this podcast is related to that, for now. But I also post videos about math, mostly algebra, since I tutor that. and our life. We love our adventures so come along for the ride and click the subscribe button if you are a homeschooler or are thinking about homeschooling or even if this content just interests you.

[00:01:02] There, I've said the obligatory thing, so now let's move on into the content. As I said before, today we are summarizing the Secret Garden chapters 11 through 15. The next three episodes are going to finish summarizing the rest of the book, and I am not reading the book, I am just summarizing. If you would like someone to read it, you can check out Internet Grandpa.

[00:01:23] I will put links in the description for him reading all of chapters 11 through 15. And also, the last episode, where I'm just doing chapters 26 and 27, I will be going over some ideas for issues and for an ANI chart if you are doing the Lost Tools of Writing curriculum. 

[00:01:45] As I've talked about in previous episodes, Lost Tools of Writing is a great writing program to learn persuasive writing. And part of what they do is, after you've read a novel, you go through and find issues for certain characters, things that they should have done, decisions that they made. And then you create a chart with affirmative, negative, and interesting facts about that to decide which way you want to argue your point.

[00:02:12] I will go over that more in that last episode and I will have a whole review of Lost Tools of Writing coming up for you because I do think it's a very good writing program. But for now, we are just going through The Secret Garden. So let's start with chapter 11, The Nest of the Missel Thrush.

[00:02:29] So as we learned before, Mary just met Dickon and she showed him her secret garden. So Dickon looks around the garden and then Mary asks, If he had known about it, he tells her that Martha had said that there was a shut up garden that no one ever went inside. So as they're looking around, Mary asks if the roses are dead and Dickon says not all of them.

[00:02:54] He shows Mary how to look for the greenish wood to know if they are still alive. Dickon spots an [00:03:00] area that Mary had already cleared and is impressed with her gardening work. And then they talk about Dickon coming every day to help her clear other areas of the garden. But they don't want it to be tidy.

[00:03:12] They want it to have some more naturalness to it, because a secret garden wouldn't be perfect and tidy. Then Mary talks about Basil, which was the boy at her stopping point between India and England who would sing the mistress Mary quite contrary She asked Dickon if anything would be like bells in the garden because that's how it goes mistress Mary quite contrary How does your garden grow?

[00:03:41] With silver bells and cockleshells and pretty maids all in a row. She asks if anything would look like bells. Then she tells him that he is the fifth person that she likes. She likes Mother, his mother. She likes Martha, she likes the Robin, and she likes Ben Weatherstaff and him. Then [00:04:00] she asks if he likes her, and he says yes.

[00:04:03] So now she has two who like her. She has Dickon and the Robin. There is a big courtyard clock that strikes to signal her midday dinner, what we call lunch, and then Dickon has his midday dinner with him. So he tells her to go get her dinner, and then she asks him to keep the secret. He calls her a Missel thrush and says he won't reveal where her nest is.

[00:04:26] Now we are on to Chapter 12, Might I Have a Bit of Earth? 

[00:04:31] Martha notices that Mary is late for her lunch, and Mary is excited and tells her all about seeing Dickon. They talk about the tools that she got and the seeds. Martha knew that Dickon would bring them because he is such a trusty lad, so everybody trusts Dickon.

[00:04:47] Mary asks Martha a bunch of questions about gardening. And then Martha tells her to talk to Ben Weatherstaff, that he's the one that knows about it. Then Martha tells her that Mr. Craven came back this morning and wants to see her. Mary goes pale. Martha thinks that it's because Mother had talked to him that's why Mr. Craven wants to see her. And he's going away tomorrow. So he's only going to be there for the one day. He'll be gone for a long time until autumn or even winter. Just then, Mrs. Medlock comes into the room. She tells Martha to help Mary get dressed and brush her hair because she's going to go see Mr. Craven right now. Mrs. Medlock takes her to a place in the house she hasn't been before. She takes Mary in to see Mr. Craven, and Mr. Craven sends Mrs. Medlock away. So he wants to talk to Mary all by himself, and then he talks to her for a bit. He mentions about getting a nurse or a governess, but Mary says she doesn't want any.

[00:05:44] She said she wants to play outdoors. She's really liking playing outdoors. Mary asked if she could have a bit of earth to plant and make some things grow. Mr. Craven tells her, that she can and she can have as much earth as she wants. He says she reminds her of someone else who loved earth. He says that she can have a bit of earth from anywhere on the grounds.

[00:06:07] So Mr. Craven calls Mrs. Medlock back in. He tells her to have Mary run around and not look after her too much. He also says Susan Sowerby, that's Martha and Dickon's mother, Will come looking on her from time to time and she can also go visit the cottage and Mrs. Medlock agrees that's a good idea. Mrs. Medlock loves Susan Sowerby like everybody loves Susan Sowerby Everybody loves Dickon like these are people that everybody in the whole area loves. 

[00:06:35] After the meeting, Mary runs into her room and excitedly tells Martha that she gets to have her garden. Then Mary runs back out to her garden, but Dickon isn't there anymore. But then she sees a note on a piece of paper from the letter that she had written saying, I will come back. And the, there's a hand drawn picture of a nest on it.

[00:06:56] So the note that Mary had first written to Dickon asking for the tools and the seeds. He had with him when he came back. And so he wrote on there saying that he'll come back and then he drew a nice picture of a nest on it. Now we're at chapter 13. I am Colin. So when Mary shows the picture to Martha, she said it was a picture of a Missel thrush on her nest.

[00:07:22] And Mary knew that meant Dickon would keep her secret. Cause he had just talked about how he would keep the secret of the Missel thrush. Like, where the nest was. So during that night, another storm came and it kept Mary awake. After an hour of tossing and turning, Mary realized she was hearing the crying again.

[00:07:40] Mary was determined to find out where the crying was coming from.

[00:07:43] She found the corridor that Mrs. Medlock had come from before and there was a light on in a doorway. And it was a big room with lots of old furniture, including a big four poster bed. And on the bed was a boy crying. The [00:08:00] boy was thin and delicate, and Mary walked closer when he turned his head and looked at her. He introduced himself as Colin Craven, Mary introduced herself as Mary Lennox, and said Mr. Craven was her uncle, and he said Mr. Craven was his father. Colin said that he was always ill, and he never leaves the room. And Colin doesn't leave the room because he doesn't like people to see him. So Mary asked if he wants her to go away right now, and he says no, that he doesn't. He says his father never comes to see him because his mom died when he was born, and his father almost hates him.

[00:08:36] So now we know the real reason why Mrs. Craven passed away. Mary says his father also hates the garden that his mom used to like, but then quickly changes the subject. He asks Mary all kinds of questions about herself. He also says that he overheard people saying he shall never live to grow up. 

[00:08:55] Colin asked Mary how old she is, and she says that she's ten, and that he is too. And he asks how she knows that and she said that's because the garden door was locked up 10 years ago. Then Colin starts asking her all kinds of questions about the garden. He says he will make the servants take him to the garden and Mary gets very nervous.

[00:09:18] She thinks everything will be ruined then. She tells him that if he makes the servants take him into the garden, it won't be a secret anymore. She tells him that they have to find it themselves, so it will be secret for just them. She starts telling him about spring, and he doesn't even know what spring is, because he's always shut up in his room.

[00:09:38] She convinces him to let her find the secret garden. She tells him what she thinks the garden will be like, which of course is just telling him what the garden is actually like. Then she tells him about the robin. Colin then tells her about the silk curtain hanging over the mantelpiece and has her draw the cord to open it.

[00:09:58] And it's a painting of his mother behind it. Mary notices that Colin and his mother's eyes are very similar. Colin decides that Mary is going to be a secret too for now. He says Martha is sleeping in the next room and Mary tells him that Martha waits on her. So he said that when he wants Mary to visit, he will send Martha to get her.

[00:10:21] Colin gets sleepy and Mary pats his hand and strokes it and sings something quietly to him as he falls asleep. It's something that her Ayah used to sing to her back when she was in India and it would help her fall asleep.

[00:10:36] Now we're at chapter 14, A Young Rajah. The next morning, it was still raining, so Mary couldn't go outside. Mary tells Martha about finding Colin, and Martha gets really worried that she's going to lose her place, and Mary assures her that she won't. Mary tells Martha all about what happened the night before, and how it's going to stay a secret.

[00:10:57] So Colin will have Martha get Mary whenever he wants her to visit. Martha goes away to check on Colin and comes back in about 10 minutes saying that Colin wants to see her now and has sent the nurse away. So Mary goes down to see Colin. Mary tells Colin how frightened Martha is and he sends Mary to get her.

[00:11:18] Colin reassures Martha that if Mrs. Medlock tries to send her away, he will not let her. Mary looks at Colin and tells him that he reminds her of a Rajah back in India. Then she tells him how different he is from Dickon. Mary tells Colin how Dickon is Martha's brother and describes Dickon and how he charms animals.
[00:11:37] She tells Colin about the moor and how Dickon loves it and loves to explore. Colin knows for sure he will die if he goes out on the moor and Mary tells him that he wouldn't. He knows he's going to die because he overhears people talking about it. He secretly thinks that everybody wishes he would die.

[00:11:56] Mary doesn't believe it, and Colin talks about the grand doctor from  London who took him out of the iron lung. So at some point he was in an iron lung, everybody was so worried. And he overheard him say that he would be fine if he would make it his mind to be fine and put him in the humor. And that's in quotes, because that's what it says in the book.

[00:12:15] Mary then tells him that she thinks Dickon would help put him in the humor. Dickon always talks about live things and never talks about dead things or things that are ill. So they make up their mind to talk about Dickon and live things, which made them talk about the cottage and the moor. It made Colin so lively that he was actually sitting up and forgot about his weak back.

[00:12:39] Then, in the middle of their talking, Dr. Craven and Mrs. Medlock walk in. Dr. Craven is Colin's regular doctor, as opposed to the Grand Doctor from London, and also happens to be Colin's father's cousin. Dr. Craven will inherit the manor if anything happens to Colin. Dr. Craven and Mrs. Medlock try to send Mary away, but Colin says he wants her to stay, and that she makes him better, and he wants to have his tea with her.

[00:13:07] When Dr. Craven left, he sent the nurse in, and she told him that he must not forget that he is ill, and he must not forget that he tires very easily, and he must not talk too much. Mary thought that there were an awful lot of uncomfortable things that he must not forget. Then Colin says he wants to forget all those things, and that Mary makes him forget, and that's why he wants her there.

[00:13:30] They decide to eat, and Colin asks Mary to tell him all about the Rajahs.
 
[00:13:35] Okay, now we're on to chapter 15, which is called Nest Building. It had rained for another week, and that although Mary couldn't see Dickon or the garden, she actually enjoyed herself by hanging out with Colin in his room for hours every day.

[00:13:51] Mary kept thinking that going outdoors would be good for Colin, because it was good for her. The Grand Doctor from London had also said so. Since Colin hated people looking at him, Mary wondered why he didn't scream at her when she came in. Colin told her that's because he thought she was a ghost at first.

[00:14:08] Then Mary asked him if he would be upset if a boy looked at him. He says that he doesn't think he would be upset if it was Dickon that looked at him. When the rain finally stopped, Mary was excited because it was warm and that meant more green things would be popping out of the ground. She got up early to get herself dressed and ran outside.

[00:14:30] She soaked in all the things that were growing and sprouting and she went to her garden. As she got to her garden, she heard a loud call of a crow. She was worried and hoped he wouldn't stay as she opened the door to the garden, but then realized he was there with Dickon along with a fox. Mary's so surprised because the sun had only just come up and he lives five miles away.

[00:14:56] He said he was up long before the sun and how could he not be in a world where everything is sprouting and he's enjoying it. Dickon introduced his animal friends. The fox is Captain. I think I mentioned that in a previous episode. And the crow is Soot. I also mentioned that one in a previous episode.

[00:15:12] They ran all around the garden looking at everything that was popping up. Then they noticed that the robin was building a nest. Dickon said they must not watch him too closely though. Then Mary asked Dickon if he knows about Colin. Dickon is glad that she finally knows about him so he doesn't have to keep a secret because he doesn't like keeping secrets.

[00:15:33] Mary said something about keeping the garden a secret and he says it's different. He told his mother that he had a secret to keep but that it wasn't a bad secret, it was like keeping the secret of where a bird's nest is hidden. Dickon said that everybody knows about the son Mr. Craven has and that everybody thinks he's a quote unquote cripple.

[00:15:54] That's what they said in the book. Mary tells Dickon all about going and finding Colin. Then Mary and Dickon talk together about getting Colin out to the garden and how it would be good for him. And that's it. That is chapters 11 through 15, and we will go over the other chapters in an episode coming up.
[00:16:13] So if you like this episode, give it a thumbs up, let the algorithm do its work, and I can make more. And subscribe if you want more. Until next time!
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