Flashbacks
The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett

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The Secret Garden: Flashbacks 1 key example

Key Examples in The Secret Garden

Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—Mary's Indian Life:

Throughout the book, the narrative flashes back to memories Mary Lennox has of her childhood in India. The first part of The Secret Garden is set in British India, where Mary's parents are presumably part of the British colonial apparatus stationed there to rule over areas of occupied land. When Colin is acting imperiously toward a servant in Chapter 14, the narrator tells the reader that Mary sees him as a "Young Rajah," an honorary Indian title here denoting a prince-like figure:

 “Once in India I saw a boy who was a Rajah. He had rubies and emeralds and diamonds stuck all over him. He spoke to his people just as you spoke to Martha. Everybody had to do everything he told them—in a minute. I think they would have been killed if they hadn’t.”