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Alice in Wonderland vs Secret Garden: Alice vs Mary

The story “Alice in Wonderland” written by Lewis Carol centers on Alice, a young girl who falls asleep in a meadow and dreams that she follows the White Rabbit down a rabbit hole. She often  has many wondrous and bizarre adventures containing very strange creatures which can change size. She encounters the hookah-smoking Caterpillar, the Duchess, and the Cheshire Cat, and she attends a strange endless tea party with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. She plays a game of croquet with an unmanageable flamingo and some uncooperative hedgehogs. She later has a conflict with the queen and realizes that the characters are only a pack of cards; she then awakens from her dream. The Secret Garden written by Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett, talks about a 10-year-old British-Indian girl named Mary, whose parents are very wealthy but unfortunately died. She is soon sent to England to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven. She is first angry but later starts to make friends with others and discovers the secret garden. She finally meets Colin, a boy who can’t walk. They have some arguments but Colin was gradually cured. In the end, Colin stands up again and his father is more caring. In my opinion, I like Mary for several reasons. 

Firstly, Mary changed herself and her family, she improved herself to be better in her temper and characteristics. This means that at the start, Mary had some disadvantages, she realized the problem and gradually started to change herself. There are many ways to self- improve, we can change our manners, our characteristics, and our hobbies; we could change to what we think is the best for ourselves. In the story, Mary was furious and miserable at the start as she moved from “home sweet home” to a disliking place; she was rude and hasty to people. But she gradually started to make friends with others when she discovered the Secret Garden owned by Lilias Craven. She finally became caring, generous, and inclusive in the end. On the other hand, Alice always lives in her dreams and she is always nice to people. She doesn’t really need to upgrade herself. Mary evolved herself into a person who is welcomed; she discovered her disadvantages and have self-awareness to change them. 

Secondly, Mary wants to grow up and live in adulthood; she has great ambition to walk up to the top of her life. The time of life when one is expected to take responsibility for one's own actions and well-being. On the contrary, Alice from Alice in Wonderland likes childhood, which is The time during someone is a child, from between infancy (being a baby) and puberty (period from 13 to 18 years old). Mary likes adulthood because she wants to develop more skills. For example, the golden age for learning is 7 to 20 years old. We should try to learn many things and talents before starting to work. Alice likes childhood as we can be cared cautiously when being a child. We can do many things we want and we can have more time to play with our friends and relax. However, always staying in childhood’s disadvantage is that we can’t face the community  and meet new people or working partners. In my opinion, I like adulthood as adults can communicate more and they are more powerful. 

Lastly, Mary’s effort changing the less caring and loving world is more hopeful and she is trying harder. Mary’s life was much harder than Alices as she suffered many heart-breaking pains; there are many examples. For example, she was having a peaceful life and her parents died. She was sent to an unknown place to live where she disliked it. She was also was tired of the life at there. But discovery of the secret garden made her being more inclusive so she could make more friends and have better characteristics. She was having the goal of changing this dark world into a lovely one. Unlike Mary, Alice doesn’t really need to do anything to change her world. The adventures she made were all wonderous and fantastical. She lives in a caring and friendly world where she is joyful every day. This means that even though Mary lives in a bad habitat, she kept working to change her life. 

In conclusion, Alice in Wonderland is about how a girl named Alice followed a rabbit into a brand-new world. She met many creatures including the hookah smoking caterpillar, white rabbit, Mad hatter, Cheshire cat, Dormouse, and the queen of the hearts. At the end, she realized that the characters are a pack of cards and she is awakened from her dream. The Secret Garden talks about how the garden healed Mary as well as other people. In my opinion, I think Mary is better than Alice in three reasons. Firstly, Mary transformed herself into an entirely different person; she made herself better. Secondly, she has great dreams to achieve as she wants to grow up. Lastly, she made great effort in making the world a wonderful place.


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