The Secret Garden: Chapter 17 Summary & Analysis

Mary spends all of the next day in the garden and vows to see Colin the next day. However, she wakes in the middle of the night to a terrifying sound. She hears people walking around and knows that this must be Colin throwing a tantrum. Mary covers her ears, but it does little to block out Colin's screams. The screams start to make her angry and soon, she feels as upset as she thinks he sounds. Suddenly, the nurse bursts in, pale and scared-looking, and begs Mary to come and try to calm him down. The nurse is thrilled to see that Mary isn't afraid and encourages her to scold Colin.

Mary feels angrier and angrier the closer she gets to Colin's room. She burst in and shouts that everyone hates him and will let him scream himself to death. Nobody has ever said this to Colin and it surprises him. Mary threatens to scream if he screams. Through his sobs, Colin says he can't stop screaming, to which Mary replies that this is all just hysterics. Colin insists he can feel the lump and he'll die, but Mary insists that this isn't true and asks for the nurse to come and show her Colin's back. Colin wants Mary to look so that she'll sympathize with him.

The nurse pulls up Colin's shirt to expose his thin back. She tries not to laugh at the sour and serious look on Mary's face as Mary carefully inspects Colin's back. After a minute, Mary exclaims that there are no errant lumps and threatens to laugh at him if he says he has lumps again. The narrator notes that if Colin had ever thought to ask questions, or had ever lived somewhere where people weren't afraid of him, he'd know that all his maladies were the work of his scared mind. He begins to wonder if Mary is right.

The nurse says that she had no idea that Colin thought he had a lump on his back, and says that his back is just weak because he refuses to sit up. This shocks Colin, and he cries in secret relief for a minute. Then, he asks the nurse if he could live. The nurse, remembering the London doctor's words, says that if Colin goes outside and doesn't act so horrible, he might. Colin reaches out a hand towards Mary and she takes it. He says he'd like to go outside and meet Dickon and his creatures. The nurse makes Colin's bed, gives the children tea, and then tells Mary to go to sleep. Mary offers to sing Colin her Ayah's song and sends the nurse to bed.

Once they're alone, Colin asks if Mary found the garden. Mary says that she has, but she'll tell him everything tomorrow. Colin says that if he can get into the secret garden, he's sure he'll grow up. He asks her to softly tell him what the garden might look like to help him fall asleep and Mary complies. She talks about roses, the spring, and crocuses.