Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- The Secret Garden was published in 1911—over a hundred years ago—and even then, it probably seemed pretty old-fashioned. Today, part of its appeal is its old-timey quality. How do you think The Secret Garden would work in a twenty-first-century setting? What changes would you make to update this book for today's audiences? (For one potential answer to this question, you can always check out the classic Community episode "Aerodynamics of Gender" which includes a subplot about Troy and Jeff's own, special Secret Garden. Good times.)
- Would it make any difference to the plot of this novel if Mary Lennox were the spoiled kid at home in Yorkshire and Colin Craven was the orphaned brat from British India? Where do you see gender assumptions at work in this novel? How might these assumptions shift and change if Mary and Colin switched roles?
- How might Burnett's message about the health-giving properties of nature be different if Colin did have a congenital problem with his back? Do you think Burnett's story of Colin's emotional development would follow the same path if he had to struggle with physical differences as well as emotional ones?
- What if there was no Colin in The Secret Garden? What if this book stayed entirely focused on Mary all the way through? What would you like to know about Mary's new life in England that the novel doesn't explore?
- What if there was no Sowerby family in this book? How might Mary and Colin get along if they didn't have Martha and (more importantly) Dickon to introduce them to the Secret Garden? Would they still become friends on their own, or would they destroy each other through the sheer power of their spoiled selfishness?