When one thinks upon the classics of great literature, the story of the transformation of a young girl should come to mind. This is the story of Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden. Upon meeting Miss Lennox, we are faced with a disagreeable child. She is disagreeable both in appearance and in disposition. She is also quite used to being waited on by her Ayah. It comes to pass that her parents and nearly everyone else at the estate has died and she is found alone. She is sent first to the home of an English clergyman. She is quite unhappy with the situation she is put in. There are other children there and they are prone to teasing her. She is soon sent off to her uncle in England. Everyone she meets finds her plain and disagreeable. She takes a liking to going outdoors. Thus the transformation begins. Mary begins to grow and change inside and out. She discovers the secret garden and her cousin that has been kept in secret. She tends to both. By the end of the story, Mary has made friends with Dickon, a young boy who teaches her much about plants and animals in nature, and has essentially brought life to the household. She has a hand in bringing the garden to life, in helping Colin discover he is, in fact, a healthy boy, and in causing the reunion of the father and son. .
One of the most striking elements in The Secret Garden is the element of character. Character is simply one of the persons of a drama or novel. However, there are a few types of characters and they have a special relationship to the development of the plot. The types of characters include: dynamic, round, and static.
A dynamic character is a well-developed character with numerous traits that make her believable. The dynamic character must also change in some way. According to this definition, Mary, Colin, and Mr. Craven are all dynamic characters. The change in Mary is most described in the book, as she is the main character. She first feels a significant change after she has discovered the key to the secret garden.
