This is an excerpt from a research essay I wrote in university about the secret garden. With talks between myself and one of my lovely PB friends I thought it would be something to add to the broader conversation on how the secret garden interacts with disabilities. My essay also talked about winnie the pooh but those sections have be removed asides from the introduction and conclusion. Apolgies if the formatting is weird/ off.

How The Secret Garden and Winnie-the-Pooh Interact With the Social Mode of Disability

Disability representation within children’s literature is important for a variety of reasons, ranging from disabled children to be able to see themselves represented in a piece of media, to children being able to understand their disabled parents, or other family members better, to children being able to understand their disabled peers and strangers. For anyone who is disabled, and especially for disabled children it is important to see different representation, from characters who are blatantly disabled, to characters who are stubtly disabled, hinted at being disabled, or even characters where disabled children can superimpose their own disabilities onto. Disabilities are represented in both The Secret Garden and Winnie-the-Pooh in both subtle and blatant ways. In both The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne the authors show how nature interreacts with the social mode of disability and allows the disabled characters in their respective novels to be themselves and valued as equals to their non-disabled or differently disabled peers. The Secret Garden has the additional element of Misselthwaite Manor acting as an area with a greater influence on the medical mode of disability and a negative notion of the social mode of disability. Within the respective novels the authors model how the different modes of disability affect the characters in the novels in different ways, as well as how people and the characters are affected by the social mode of disability.

Some minor background on the social mode of disability is needed first. Firstly of course disability is “a psychical or mental impairment…[with] adverse effect on… ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities” (quoted in Yenika-Agbaw 93-94). The social mode of disability “acknowledge[s] both the specific, individual realties of people with disabilities and also the role played by society in construing disability by imposing definitions of normativity and ability” (Quoted in Eyler 320), or to simplify it; The social mode of disability takes into account each individual needs and abilities but also how their society treats those needs, and abilities and how the society the person lives in accommodates those differences. In Winnie-the-Pooh we have a good example of a society that does not implement the social mode of disability due to how it is structed, none of the characters feel disabled in their world, as compared to The Secret Garden which has a heavy emphasis on the social mode of disability as other characters opinions cause characters to be more disabled than they are.

The Secret Garden has three disabled characters, Colin, Mary, and Archibald Craven. Archibald is described as having “a crooked back… that set him wrong” (Hodgson Burnett 18), Colin’s disability is unnamed and is left ambiguous is he actually is disabled or ill, but he is described as historical, and Mary is not described as disabled in the novel, but she suffers from similar ailments as Colin and his father. All three characters experiences with disabilities are different but all come to a sense of healing in the same way, from experiencing nature. All three are also greatly harmed by perceptions of most of the staff members at Misselthwaite Manor. The staff create a heavily socially disabling space with how they interact with Mary, Colin, and Archibald, and “Burnett Affirms that disability may be socially constructed” (Valint 263).The society of Misselthwaite Manor is one which prioritizes “normality, an inherently subjective category, [which] disables people who are living with impairments” (Eyler 320) such as Mary, Colin, and Archibald. There are three exceptions to the staff playing a heavy roll in the social mode of disability, those three being: Martha, Dickon, and Ben Weatherstaff. Those three see Mary, Colin, and Archibald more so for who they are rather than their disabilities, but we do not see as much insight into them as we do with Mary.

Archibald Craven is described throughout the novel as a hunchback, but when Mary meets him in his office, she describes him as “not so much a hunchback as a man with high, rather crooked shoulders…he was not ugly. His face would have been handsome if it had not been so miserable” (Hodgson Burnett 137), we see the other characters through Mary’s eyes, and Frances Hodson Burnett shows those characters in a better light then how they are described by others in Misselthwaite Manor. Her connection to them allows the other characters to be shown how they actually are without the added judgments. Mary does not see Archibald as disabled; she just sees him as an older man, despite how others and himself describe him, as Archibald describes himself to Mary as “too ill, and wretched and distracted” (Hodgson Burnett 141). Archibald implements the social mode of disability onto his son, which likely came from the “Victorian anxiety” (Price 4) of the time where “disability pointed not only backward to parental transgression and defect, but even more urgently forward to future generations” (Quoted in Price 4). Archibald is worried that Colin is going to become just like him, as his perspective of his self has been marred by the views of the staff of Misselthwaite Manor, If Archibald’s wife was still alive in the novel it would be safe to say neither he nor Colin would be disabled, due to her treating them as the people they are, not as lesser for their disabilities. As The Secret Garden was written and published during the Victorian era Frances Hodgson Burnett surely was aware of the stigma against disabilities and implement Archibald in this way.

Mary is described as sickly, yellow, extremely thin (Hodgson Burnett 1), and hysterical. Since leaving India after her family dies, she starts to improve in health by spending most of her time, weather permitting, outside of the Misselthwaite Manor. While in the gardens she meets Ben Weatherstaff, who has a similar disposition as she does. Ben’s understanding of Mary’s personality allows her to be more herself and not feel judged, an initial step in how Frances Hodgson Burnett allows the social mode of disability to be seen in the novel. When meeting Ben in nature, and Ben’s kindness and understanding to Mary makes her disgruntledness more acceptable in the natural environment compared to how those within the manor viewed her behavior. Martha as well, despite having no interactions with Mary in nature, does not judge her for her lack of knowledge nor her attitude. Both Martha and Ben allow Mary to be herself, differences and all. Which then allows Mary to aide with Colin and helping him with becoming less socially disabled. Mary and Colin are handled in a similar manor throughout the novel with their shared perceived brattiness, but as a reader seeing form Mary’s perspective, we get more insight into the characters and see that they are the way they are because of how their staff have treated them. In a way this this also mirrors how the social mode of disability affects disabled people as the disabling occurs by others, not usually by the person who is disabled. Mary’s treatment by others when she is in India mirrors Colin’s treatment in the Misselthwaite Manor due to both Mary and Colin being sickly children with bad temperaments who are ignored by the adults who should be caring for them. There are as I previously noted three of Misselthwaite Manor’s staff members who do not make Mary and Colin feel more disabled but instead treat them with respect and as equals. Martha is one of those staff members and is notably confused as to why Mary would not dress herself, as Mary should be able to do that at her age and ability. When Martha askes Mary would not dress herself Mary replies with “My Ayah did it… It was the custom” (Hodgson Burnett 34), again a notion of the people serving both Mary and Colin, with Martha being an exception, causing the two children to be impacted more by the social mode of disability. However, Martha does not play into this aspect as she does not judge Mary, she teaches her how to dress herself, meeting Mary where she was and not passing judgement or coddling her like Mary’s Ayah’s had, and how the other staff members treat Colin.

Colin describes himself initially as “ill and having to lie down…If I live I may be a hunchback, but I shan’t live. My father hates to think I may be like him.” (Hodgson Burnett152-153), and that “[i]t makes me ill to be angry. No one believes I shall live to grow up” (Hodgson Burnett 155) Mary presses Colin on why he believes that he is going to die and his answer is “[e]ver since I remember anything I have heard people say I shan’t” (Hodgson Burnett 157). Hodgson Burnett shows the negative effects of the social mode of disability by having most people at Misselthwaite Manor believing and telling Colin that he is going to die young, as that is all Colin has heard that is all he believes, his whole life surrounds the idea that he is going to die soon “thus his disability comes from his awareness of constructions of normality” (Eyler 325) which his staff member and Dr Craven place upon him. Even though Colin is an upper class citizen there is a “shift in power” (Yenika-Agbaw 100) due to his minority status of being disabled, the non-disabled staff are “located as the majority, they are intrinsically part of they dominant culture” (Yenika-Agbaw 100), while Colin is “the minority, [he is] excluded and [is] constantly reminded of [his] otherness” (Yenika-Agbaw 100). Dr Craven forces the both the social mode of disability and the medical mode of disability on to Colin by saying that “[h]e must not talk too much; he must not forget that he was ill; he must not forget that he was very easily tired” (Hodgson Burnett 180), he is the antithesis of how Mary behaves around Colin. Dr Craven only views Colin as his illness, not Colin himself, while Mary sees Colin as Colin, his illness is secondary. Colin on his own also previously subverts the expectation set on him by being disable that he is helpless, this is noted by the fact that he bit a woman at the seaside who was infantilizing him (Hodgson Burnett 184), those who often view disabled people as incapable, or less then like that woman do not see disabled people as equal and see them as defenseless. By Colin biting her he removed the expectation of disabled people being meek, something which Colin and Mary keep up throughout the novel. Neither Colin nor Mary are described as passive, but both children are fuel with a pent up anger that they do lash out on the staff around them, the same staff that imparts the social mode of disability onto them. The staff say Colin is a sickly, disabled boy who was likely to die at any moment and treated him as such, however his acts say otherwise, his constant outbursts show he has strength in him that the staff ignore. From his outbursts “Colin’s arms seem robust enough to operate a self-propelling wheelchair (he gives the pillows a vigorous pounding during a tantrum), but he instead uses a wheelchair that always requires a servant” (Valint 266) as we do not know if this is a wheelchair that Colin picked out for himself or if it is one which his doctor or staff picked out for him, either way it is still an aspect of the social mode of disability being pushed onto Colin by the choice of a wheelchair that he cannot push in when it seems that he is able to propel himself due to his arm strength.

Mary however allows Colin to be himself, and see himself as just Colin, not the ill boy who is going to die. Mary provides Colin when she first meets him with a part of her “woolen wrapper” (Hodgson Burnett 152) for Colin to stim/ground himself with, showing her lack of judgment towards him and her caring/sympathetic nature. She provides Colin with something soothing so that he could relax, while comparatively the nurses just allow Colin to worry and fret, Mary allows Colin to be less disabled by providing him with something to calm him. Mary and Dickon remove the expectations that the Misselthwaite Manor have put onto Colin while they are in the secret garden, they allow him to explore and grow as himself at his own pace. Similarly, to The Wizard of Oz, Mary and Dickon like Dorthey help their friend(s) “be reintegrated into normate society through the implementation of devices they believe will help them pierce the social stigmas” (Eyler 320), Mary and Dickon do so by helping Colin become sure of his own abilities and self-worth, which is similar to how Dorthey helps her friends. As Eyler argues for The Wizard of Oz that the lion, tin man, and scarecrow all have the abilities that they desire with in them (Eyler 323-326), so does Colin, it is the way that the societies surrounding Colin, and the trio from The Wizard of Oz that makes them feel more so disabled. Even if Colin’s health did not improve due to spending time in nature it is clear that Mary and Dickon would not think of or treat Colin any different than they already did. They saw Colin for Colin, and not his disability, unlike the staff of the manor. Valint argues that “Mary never pushes [Colin’s] chair or volunteers to do so. Although the text provides no concrete reason for this exclusion, it does simply that pushing the chair would be a servile task, one inappropriate for some one of Mary’s rank” (Valint 267), I would argue that Mary would push Colin’s chair if he needed her to do so, however as we see throughout the novel Mary does not enable Colin into being as disabled as the staff says he is, she knows he is capable of walking, and that he could likely push his own chair if he choose to, but since he does not Mary does not aid him with pushing his chair, “Colins relation to his wheelchair highlights the performative aspects of identity including (dis)ability” (Valint 264). While Mary and Colin are in the garden, they like the Light Princess from The Light Princess are “perfectly content. When out of it [they face] restrictions brought about… by [their] condition[s], just as the social model of disability lays out” (Price 12), Mary less so than Colin and the Light Princess, but both stories contain societies where the disabled lead characters are forced to be more disabled than they are/feel due to how others near them feel about their differences.

Disabilities are represented in different ways between Winnie-the-Pooh and The Secret Garden, both authors also provided interesting depictions on how the social mode of disability affects their disabled characters. The social mode of disability is the idea that a person can be more or less disabled based on how their society reacts towards their disability. Numerous characters from Winnie-the-Pooh can be argued to be disabled, and the characters can be representation for disabled children and readers reading the Novel. Owl struggles with spelling, which in our society is more disabling than it should be, however with in the Hundred-acre woods Owl is viewed no differently from the other animals, he in fact is the unofficial scribe after Christopher Robin. Eeyore is a gloomy character who easily represents depression and provides representation to children and readers who have mental illnesses. Due to how the other animals and Christopher Robin treat both Owl and Eeyore neither of them are disabled by their society. This is a stark contrast to The Secret Garden where Mary, Colin, and Archibald are more disabled due to the society that they live in, and the mind sets that have been put upon them. Mary, Dickon, Martha, and Ben Weatherstaff provide Colin, Archibald, and Mary with compassion and care that the others at Missselthwaite Manor do not. They allow the disabled characters to be seen as themselves, and not just for their disabilities. Children’s literature shows its reader different ways the disabilities are represented, as well as how to treat people with disabilities without further disabling them through the social mode of disability.

Works Cited Milne, A.A. Winnie-the-Pooh. Puffin Modern Classics. Ernest H. Shepard. New York: Puffin Books, 1954. Print. Hodgson Burnett, Frances. The Secret Garden. Ill. Tasha Tudor. New York: Harper Collins, 1990. Print. Baum, L. Frank. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Ottawa: East India Publishing Co., 2022. Print. MacDonald, George. The Light Princess. Valint, Alexandra. “‘Wheel Me Over There!’: Disability and Colin’s Wheelchair in The Secret Garden.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 3, 2016, pp. 263–80, https://doi.org/10.1353/chq.2016.0032. Accessed November 14, 2023. Eyler, Joshua. “Disability and Prosthesis in L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 3, 2013, pp. 319–34, https://doi.org/10.1353/chq.2013.0042. Accessed November 14, 2023 Price, Danielle E. “‘This Effect Defective Comes by Cause’: Disability and George MacDonald’s The Light Princess.” The Lion and the Unicorn (Brooklyn), vol. 43, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1–21, https://doi.org/10.1353/uni.2019.0001. Accessed November 14, 2023 Heineke, Amy J., et al. “Using Texts as Mirrors: The Power of Readers Seeing Themselves.” The Reading Teacher, vol. 76, no. 3, 2022, pp. 277–84, https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2139. Accessed November 28, 2023. Yenika-Agbaw, Vivian S. “Reading Disability in Children’s Literature: Hans Christian Andersen’s Tales.” Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, 2011, pp. 91–107. Accessed December 14, 2021