52 pages • 1-hour read
Tom's Midnight Garden
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Chapters 11-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 11 Summary: “The River to the Sea”
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, child abuse, bullying, and gender discrimination.
Hatty complains that her cousins never let her play outlaws with bows and arrows. Tom instructs Hatty how to make a bow, and she asks Abel, the gardener, to string it for her. Abel warns Hatty not to be led astray by whoever helped her make the bow. When Hatty accidentally shoots an arrow through the greenhouse, Abel quickly replaces the broken pane before her aunt Grace notices.
Hatty and Tom crawl through the gap in the hedge to a meadow by the river. She talks wistfully about how the river flows to places she has never been, like Castleford, Ely, and eventually the sea. Hatty is shocked when Tom suggests that she could paddle in the river or row downstream in a boat. She explains that she is not supposed to go as far as the river, as her aunt does not like her muddying her clothes.
Suddenly, Hatty is worried and insists that they return to the garden. A gaggle of geese watches as Hatty and Tom crawl back through the hedge.
Chapter 12 Summary: “The Geese”
When Tom next enters the garden, it is early morning, and he is surprised to see geese running amok on the lawn. The whole household comes outside, and Pincher chases the geese. Frightened, the geese trample through the flower beds and ruin the vegetables in the kitchen garden.
Abel states that the geese must have discovered the gap in the hedge and suggests that “the Devil himself taught them” (93). However, Edgar reveals that Hatty made the gap. Hatty looks petrified as Grace calls her a “charity-child” and “a thankless pauper” and states that she is a source of shame to the family (94). Horrified, Tom wonders how Hatty’s parents could leave their daughter in the care of such a cruel woman.
Tom falls asleep by a tree. When he wakes up, he sees a little girl wearing black and sobbing. Mistaking Tom for her cousin, the girl tells him that she is crying because she misses her parents and home. Tom realizes that he is seeing a younger Hatty, soon after she was orphaned. He tries to comfort her.
Tom does not see the younger version of Hatty again. In subsequent visits to the garden, he indulges Hatty’s story that she is an imprisoned princess.
Chapter 13 Summary: “The Late Mr Bartholomew”
As the time for him to go home draws nearer, Tom tells the Kitsons that he wants to stay longer. Gwen is delighted, declaring that she will take him on day trips now that he is no longer in quarantine. Tom cannot reveal that he would rather stay in the apartment and conserve his energy for his nightly trips to the garden. He is happy when he catches a cold, which allows him to rest in bed in the daytime and visit the garden at night, where his symptoms disappear.
Tom wonders whether Hatty is a ghost, as she clearly lived in the house a long time ago. He reasons that Mrs. Bartholemew’s late husband likely inherited the house and would have known its history. However, the Kitsons tell Tom that Mrs. Bartholomew bought the house after being widowed.
The next time Tom visits the garden, he and Hatty argue over which of them is a ghost. Tom drops the subject when Hatty cries at the prospect of being dead.
Chapter 14 Summary: “The Pursuit of Knowledge”
Tom consults the books in the Kitsons’ apartment, trying to work out what era Hatty is from. He reflects that the long skirts worn by the maid and Hatty’s aunt are “old-fashioned.” He also remembers Hatty referring to the monarch as a queen. His theory that Hatty is dead seems to be confirmed when he realizes that she lived during Queen Victoria’s reign, between 1837 and 1901.
Chapter 15 Summary: “The View From the Wall”
When Tom next sees Hatty, she reveals that Abel made her burn her bow and arrows, as he feared that they would get her into trouble. She shows Tom how she has carved her initials into the trunk of the Matterhorn. Tom rebukes Hatty for harming the tree but suggests that she could represent her first name by drawing a hat. He teaches Hatty how to “swarm” Tricksy.
When Hatty’s cousins come outside with a gun, Tom chases the birds off to save them from being shot. The gun pellets hit him, but he only feels a tickling sensation. Hatty tells Tom how James once walked along the top of the dangerously high wall by the sundial. Tom realizes that he can do the same; even if he falls, he will not be injured.
From the top of the wall, Tom can see the river stretching toward Ely and the sea. Hatty begs him to describe the view. Before Tom can answer, Abel runs toward Hatty and speaks to her urgently. Afterward, Hatty explains that Abel made her promise on the Bible that she would not climb the wall. She says that Abel appeared frightened rather than angry.
Chapters 11-15 Analysis
This section explores The Impact of History on the Present as Tom reflects on Hatty’s identity. His realization that his playmate is a Victorian corroborates earlier hints in the novel, such as the maid’s old-fashioned uniform and the presence of taxidermy in the hallway (a trend popular during Queen Victoria’s reign). Hatty’s status as a former occupant of the house from an earlier era highlights the continuity of human experience. Tom’s ability to travel between the 1950s and the Victorian period suggests that the past and present coexist rather than exist as separate entities. Tom and Hatty’s debate over which one of them is a ghost emphasizes the mysterious qualities of the midnight garden. Although probability suggests that Hatty is likely to be dead, she appears vividly alive in this setting, while Tom makes no physical impression on his surroundings. The narrative later explains these anomalies when readers learn that the garden is the product of Hatty’s memories.
Tom and Hatty’s adventure beyond the garden to the meadow introduces the river as a symbol of freedom. The difference between Tom’s and Hatty’s situations is emphasized by the declaration that “Hatty love[s] the river, but Tom [i]s not very much impressed by it: he had seen other, bigger rivers; Hatty had not” (86). Their diverging perceptions of the waterway highlight how Tom has seen more of the world and reinforce the fact that the restrictions on his freedom are temporary, due to quarantine. By contrast, Hatty suffers permanent confinement since her aunt forbids her from crossing the boundary of the house and garden. Hatty’s revelation that she is banned from going to the river in case she dirties her clothes emphasizes the gender restrictions that neither her cousins nor Tom experience. As a Victorian girl, she is expected to conform to notions of “ladylike” behavior. Hatty’s perception of the river as a portal to new experiences and places she has never been is emphasized in her eagerness for Tom to describe the view from the sundial wall.
These chapters further emphasize how Tom experiences the magical world of the garden more vividly and intensely than “reality,” while also highlighting how his visits to the garden positively affect his character’s development. Grace’s vicious verbal assault on Hatty horrifies the protagonist, giving him insight into the cruelty inflicted on his friend. His response, covering “his face with his hands, [and] crying out at his powerlessness” (94), conveys his distress at being unable to intervene and protect Hatty. Witnessing genuine abuse also highlights the foolishness of the protagonist’s earlier wish that his uncle Alan would mistreat him. Tom’s encounter with a younger, recently orphaned Hatty only adds to his growing compassion. No longer challenging Hatty’s story of being a princess, he realizes that his friend has created this fantasy as an escape from the harsh realities of her life. Tom’s decision to play along with her fantasy shows how he is maturing by becoming a more considerate companion and seeing beyond his own needs. His growth, which can be at least partly attributed to his developing relationship with Hattie, illustrates The Transformative Power of Friendship.
Abel’s character is also developed in this section, as he is established as Hatty’s only reliable ally in her time. His warning to Hatty not to get into trouble reflects his concern about the likely consequences rather than an authoritarian desire to control her behavior. The gardener’s swift mending of the greenhouse pane suggests that he knows Grace will harshly punish Hatty if she sees the damage. The author also hints that Tom is incorrect in his belief that Abel cannot see him. The gardener’s assertion that “the Devil himself” showed the geese how to access the garden alludes to his belief that Tom is an evil supernatural entity (93). Abel’s dramatic reaction when he fears that Hatty will climb the sundial wall further indicates that he can see Tom and assumes that he is leading her into danger. With Abel’s character, Pearce again highlights The Contrast Between Childhood and Adulthood, but in a much different way: She illustrates how adults can also be allies, using their power to offer support and understanding.
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