Hidden away from everything and everyone, one can begin to experience little more than the feeling of neglect. This situation is seen throughout The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, which discusses the idea of ​​being alone preventing the feeling of being rejected by those around us. Neglected since birth, Mary engages her environment defensively to avoid rejection, as shown in the bungalow in India, the empty rooms of the Misselthwaite mansion, and the secret garden. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay There are many instances where Mary uses her surroundings to protect herself from the neglect she has endured since birth. Isolated from the outside world, the bungalow in India was all Mary knew for the first nine years of her life. One morning, when Mary wakes up and sees someone other than her Ayah, she immediately becomes defensive and says, "'Why did you come?' she said to the strange woman. "I won't let you stay." Send me my Ayah.' » (2) This line demonstrates Mary's assertiveness and how she refuses to let anyone in emotionally. She is also very quick to question and demand the woman in a very forceful tone, almost as if she is proclaiming a form of domination. Since Mary has become accustomed to isolation, when someone attempts to cross these boundaries, Mary is quick to deflect them to avoid the feelings she has faced her entire life. Furthermore, when the epidemic breaks out, Mary refuses to let herself be pushed aside again and therefore uses the nursery as a sense of security to avoid rejection. “During the confusion and perplexity of the second day, Mary hid in the manger and was forgotten by everyone.” (5) When something goes wrong, Marie's first instinct is to hide and isolate herself. No one wanted her or thought about her; by hiding in the nursery, it is a way for Mary to protect herself from this situation. When Mary arrives at Misselthwaite Manor, she quickly discovers how much it resembles her home in India. Confined to a room again, “At first, every day that passed for Mary Lennox was just like any other. Every morning she woke up in her carpeted room; every morning she had breakfast in the nursery which was nothing fun. (49) Although the Manor is very large, Mary fears giving up her normalcy. Even though the nursery is described as "nothing fun", Mary still stays, because she is afraid to leave this feeling of security, a place where she is in control. However, when Martha suggests Mary go to the library, Mary decides to explore the mansion because “she didn't care much for the library itself, as she had read very few books; but hearing it reminded him of the hundred rooms with closed doors.” (61) This quote shows how Mary only experienced isolation throughout her life. Therefore, Mary is quick to reject the idea of ​​the library. The author mentions that the rooms have "closed doors", which alludes to the idea that Mary prefers to be somewhere in the Manor where no one can find her, in a sense closing herself off from everyone inside. interior of the Manor. As Mary begins to venture more and more each day through the Manor, she soon discovers a garden closed off from the world. This new knowledge of the Secret Garden calms Mary, because she imagines it as a place where she could be alone and without someone could find her. When she first discovers the hidden key to the garden, she begins to think about what she could do inside. “If she liked it, she could enter all, 2015.