What happens in Chapter 19 of The Secret Garden?
Chapter 19 begins with Mary waking in the night to the sound of rain and wind—and then, unmistakably, to Colin's wailing cries echoing through the halls of Misselthwaite Manor. Angry and scared, she follows the sound to his room and confronts him mid-tantrum, bluntly telling him that she is just as disagreeable as he is and that his hysterics are unbearable. Colin, taken aback by her lack of sympathy, starts to calm down. He insists he can feel a lump growing on his back, proof that he is becoming a hunchback and will die young. Mary, unimpressed, orders him to let her check his spine; she finds nothing but normal vertebrae and tells him so with brisk certainty. The two kids argue, then gradually settle into a warmer dynamic—a tentative, honest companionship. Mary shares stories about Dickon and the animals, as well as the secret garden itself, painting such a vivid picture that Colin declares he must see it. He has never wanted anything so urgently before. The chapter closes on that charged note of longing and new possibility, with Colin's world—once confined to his sickroom—suddenly opened up.
Analysis
Frances Hodgson Burnett shifts the tone in this chapter: the gothic atmosphere of the manor—rain, darkness, wailing—is pierced not by adult intervention but by a child's impatience. Mary's entrance into Colin's room is reminiscent of her earlier entry into the garden; both spaces are locked away, overgrown with fear, and both yield to her relentless curiosity. Burnett's skill shines through in the symmetry she creates between Mary and Colin: two neglected, self-absorbed children who see themselves in each other, with their recognition acting as the first step toward healing.
The spine-tingling episode is a striking example of psychological realism. Colin's hypochondria isn't ridiculed but explored—Burnett illustrates how isolation and adult anxiety have conditioned him to interpret his own body as a sign of impending doom. Mary's straightforward denial ("There's not a lump as big as a pin") resonates because it carries no pity, just facts. This chapter also marks a change in narrative momentum: for the first time, Colin yearns for something beyond himself. The secret garden, depicted through Mary's descriptions, serves as pure imaginative space—it exists for Colin only as words, yet it is already starting to change him. Burnett employs the motif of sound (rain, crying, Mary's voice, stories of Dickon) to indicate that Colin's senses, which have long been focused inward, are beginning to turn outward. The chapter title—"It Has Come!"—appears to refer to spring, but Burnett infuses it with the profound weight of awakening itself.
Key quotes from Chapter 19
“'You are a selfish thing,' said Mary.”
Mary's blunt rebuke to Colin mid-tantrum—the first time anyone in the manor has spoken to him without deference or fear.
“'There's not a lump as big as a pin,' said Mary.”
After physically examining Colin's spine, Mary dismisses his conviction that he is growing a hunchback, deflating his hypochondria with plain fact.
“'I want to see it,' he said. 'I shall make them take me there.'”
Colin's declaration upon hearing Mary describe the secret garden—the first outward desire he has expressed, marking the chapter's emotional turning point.
Check your understanding
Ask about this work
The reader has this chapter in front of it — the summary, the analysis, the key quotes and the vocabulary — along with the rest of the book’s chapters. Ask what happens and why it matters, or push back on a reading.
It cites the chapter or the line it is working from, and it says so plainly when the guide doesn’t cover something. It’s instructed never to write an essay, a paragraph or an answer for you to hand in, and never to grade anything — it will show you how to approach the question instead.
Sign in to ask the reader about this work — 1 credit covers three messages.
Create an accountSign in