Mary Lennox and Ben Weatherstaff (friends)

The friendship between Mary Lennox and Ben Weatherstaff is one of the most unlikely and quietly transformative relationships in The Secret Garden. It begins in mutual suspicion and sourness, with Ben, the elderly, crabbed gardener, and Mary, the newly arrived, disagreeable child from India, each recognizing in the other a reflection of their own isolation and ill temper. Yet through the mediation of a robin redbreast and the shared secret of the garden, this unpromising start gives way to a bond of genuine, if gruff, affection and mutual respect, mirroring the larger themes of renewal and connection that define the novel.

First Encounters and Mutual Recognition

Mary first meets Ben Weatherstaff in the kitchen-gardens, where he is digging with a spade over his shoulder. He is surly and does not seem at all pleased to see her, and she, wearing her "quite contrary" expression, is equally displeased with his garden. Their initial exchange is blunt and unadorned. When Mary asks his name, he answers, "Ben Weatherstaff," and then adds with a surly chuckle, "I'm lonely mysel' except when he's with me," jerking his thumb toward the robin. "He's th' only friend I've got." Mary responds with startling honesty: "I have no friends at all. I never had. My Ayah didn't like me and I never played with any one." Ben, speaking with the blunt frankness of a Yorkshire moor man, tells her, "Tha' an' me are a good bit alike. We was wove out of th' same cloth. We're neither of us good lookin' an' we're both of us as sour as we look. We've got the same nasty tempers, both of us, I'll warrant." This is the first time Mary has ever heard the truth about herself, and it makes her feel uncomfortable, but it also plants the seed of a strange, grudging kinship.

The Robin as Mediator and Catalyst

The robin redbreast is the crucial link between Mary and Ben. Ben has known the robin since it was a fledgling, having befriended it when it was too weak to fly back over the wall after leaving its nest in the locked garden. The bird is, as Ben says, "th' only friend I've got." When the robin takes a fancy to Mary, hopping close to her and singing, Ben is astonished. He tells her, "He's made up his mind to make friends with thee. Dang me if he hasn't took a fancy to thee." Mary, in turn, speaks to the robin in a tone so soft and coaxing that Ben cries out, "Why, tha' said that as nice an' human as if tha' was a real child instead of a sharp old woman. Tha' said it almost like Dickon talks to his wild things on th' moor." This moment marks a turning point: the robin's acceptance of Mary begins to soften Ben's attitude toward her, and Mary's own capacity for gentleness is awakened.

Deepening Bond and Shared Work

As Mary spends more time in the gardens, she becomes increasingly drawn to Ben, despite his crossness. She thinks him over and says to herself that, queer as it was, here was another person whom she liked in spite of his crossness. She always wanted to try to make him talk to her. She also begins to believe that he knows everything in the world about flowers. Ben, for his part, notices the changes in Mary. He tells her she is "beginnin' to do Misselthwaite credit," that she is fatter and not so yellow, and that when she first came she looked "like a young plucked crow." Mary is not vain and is not greatly disturbed by this blunt assessment. Their conversations become more frequent and more revealing. Ben tells her about the roses in the locked garden, which he had tended in secret for years after Mrs. Craven's death, climbing over the wall to prune them because "she was so fond of it." This secret work, which he has never revealed to anyone, becomes a point of connection when Mary and Dickon later bring the garden back to life.

The Climax of the Friendship: Confrontation and Revelation

The most dramatic moment in their friendship occurs when Ben Weatherstaff, from the top of a ladder, discovers Mary, Dickon, and Colin inside the secret garden. He is furious, shaking his fist at Mary and calling her a "young bad 'un." But Colin, standing upright for the first time, confronts him, and Ben's anger dissolves into a rush of tears and wonder. He sees in Colin the face of his dead mother, Lilias Craven, and realizes the boy is not a cripple. "Eh!" he bursts forth, "th' lies folk tells! Tha'rt as thin as a lath an' as white as a wraith, but there's not a knob on thee. Tha'lt make a mon yet. God bless thee!" From that moment, Ben becomes a loyal keeper of the secret, accepting Colin as his master and working alongside the children in the garden. His gruff exterior remains, but it now covers a deep, protective affection. He joins their "Magic" ceremonies, even singing the Doxology with them, and his leathery old cheeks are wet with tears. The friendship that began with a shared recognition of sourness ends with a shared participation in joy and renewal.

Thematic Significance

The friendship between Mary and Ben Weatherstaff is a microcosm of the novel's central theme: that connection to nature, to others, and to one's own capacity for care can transform even the most hardened and isolated souls. Ben, like Mary and Colin, is "coming alive" through the garden. His secret, years-long tending of the roses, his bond with the robin, and his eventual acceptance into the children's circle all demonstrate that no one is beyond the reach of renewal. Their relationship also illustrates the Yorkshire habit of saying what you think with blunt frankness, a quality that, while initially off-putting, becomes the foundation of an honest and enduring bond.