In the following excerpt, Ward offers his interpretation of the symbolism of the garden in Wells's "The Door in the Wall," paying particular attention to the deceiving nature of time and happiness.

Turning to the Parables in The Country of the Blind, we find three stories that can be thus designated: "The Door in the Wall," "The Beautiful Suit," and "The Country of the Blind." The first describes how Lionel Wallace, when a little fellow between five and six years old, wandered through West Kensington streets one day, and came to a green door set in a white wall. The door attracted the child, as it were magnetically, so that he opened it and discovered a wonderful and beautiful garden stretching far and wide, with distant hills. He found delightful playmates there; and, afterwards, a grave and sombre woman who took him to a seat and showed...