How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
The most absorbing thing, however, was the preparations to be made before Colin could be transported with sufficient secrecy to the garden. No one must see the chair-carriage and Dickon and Mary after they turned a certain corner of the shrubbery and entered upon the walk outside the ivied walls. As each day passed, Colin had become more and more fixed in his feeling that the mystery surrounding the garden was one of its greatest charms. Nothing must spoil that. No one must ever suspect that they had a secret. People must think that he was simply going out with Mary and Dickon because he liked them and did not object to their looking at him. (20.3)
Given how few good experiences Mary and Colin have had with adults in their lives, it's not that surprising that they care so much about keeping things secret so that the adults can't spoil their plans. Even so, the level of Colin's investment in making sure that none of the servants know that he, Mary, and Dickon are going into the Secret Garden is like a top-secret military operation. He's surprisingly careful for a ten-year-old.
Quote #8
"I once heard an officer in India tell my mother that there were fakirs who said words over and over thousands of times," said Mary.
"I've heard Jem Fettleworth's wife say th' same thing over thousands o' times—callin' Jem a drunken brute," said Ben Weatherstaff dryly. "Summat allus come o' that, sure enough. He gave her a good hidin' an' went to th' Blue Lion an' got as drunk as a lord."
Colin drew his brows together and thought a few minutes. Then he cheered up. "Well," he said, "you see something did come of it. She used the wrong Magic until she made him beat her. If she'd used the right Magic and had said something nice perhaps he wouldn't have got as drunk as a lord and perhaps—perhaps he might have bought her a new bonnet." (23.45-47)
Here Colin is showing his total ignorance and naiveté about the world. He decides that the healing power of words is so powerful that it must be Mrs. Fettleworth's fault that she couldn't find the right things to say to make her husband stop drinking and hitting her. Which is seriously creepy: It shouldn't be a person's responsibility to find the right words to make someone not hurt them. Mr. Fettleworth shouldn't be beating her, period.
The book seems to be commenting on the fact that Colin is onto a good idea with this whole Magic thing, but he still has a lot to learn about the world around him.
Quote #9
"That's true," he said slowly. "I must only think of the Magic." It all seemed most majestic and mysterious when they sat down in their circle. […]Colin really looked quite beautiful, Mary thought. He held his head high as if he felt like a sort of priest and his strange eyes had a wonderful look in them. The light shone on him through the tree canopy. (23.59-61)
We know that Dickon can practically talk to animals, and Mary is the one who finds the Secret Garden in the first place. So why does Colin become the one to take the lead on Magic? What is Colin's role in the book, compared to Mary's or Dickon's?