A Wrinkle in Time: Introduction of the Abstract Concepts

A Wrinkle in Time is a classic in the fantasy fiction genre. It has won numerous awards with the most prestigious being the john newberry medal award, won in 1963. Written by Madeleine L'Engle, it is the first in the Time Quintet series, which targets kids aged 12 and older. The book features deep themes, however, the author has been clever enough to simplify things for its relatively young audience. The book follows the story of Meg Murry, who is described as being a troublesome and stubborn student, however her family knows that despite her being emotionally immature, she is capable of doing great things. This would later be proven in the climax of the story. Other characters include Meg’s classmate, the well liked CalvinO'Keefe, Meg’s little brother Charles Wallace and the three mysterious astral travelers known as Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which. The story begins with the arrival of the first astral traveler, Mrs. Whatsit. Mrs. Whatsit proceeds to cause Meg’s mother to almost faint by confirming the existence of the tesseract. This tesseract is a ‘5th dimension’ of sorts, the wrinkle in space and time. This was the exact object that Meg’s father, a renowned scientist was researching before his mysterious disappearance the year before. The children soon learn from Mrs. Whatsit and her friends Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which that the universe is threatened by a great evil called the Dark Thing and taking the form of a giant cloud. Together, they set off on a treacherous journey traversing time and space in an attempt to scout out their lost father.

The general setting for A Wrinkle in Time takes place in outer space, where the three main characters spend most of their time in three planets. The planet Uriel, is a Utopian world filled with Centaur like beings who live in a state of light and love. The happy medium planet, located in orion’s belt. And the dark planet of Camazotz, which has succumbed to the Black Thing. Unfortunately, that happens to be the planet that Meg’s father is trapped on. They find that all the inhabitants behave in a robotic way and seem to be under the control of some being. At the planet's central headquarters, CENTRAL Central Intelligence, they discover a telepathic red-eyed man who can cast hypnotic spells and claims to know their father’s whereabouts. Despite still being very young, Charles wallace demonstrates courage by staring into the red-eyed man and allowing himself to be hypnotised in order to find his father. Under the evil man’s influence and not allowing himself to succumb to the hive mind, charles wallace leds Meg and Calvin to the place where Mr Murry is being held prisoner.

My favourite character in the book is Meg Murry, as I can relate to her. Like many children at her age, she is stubborn, defiant, and self-critical. At school, she always acts awkwardly and does not study very well. I admire her critical thinking skills and independence. She shows this when her brother succumbs to the power of ‘it’ becoming a robot-like creature mouthing the words with which IT infuses him. Meg realizes that she has to travel alone back to the ominous planet of Camazotz to rescue him. She does this without hesitation and manages to save the day, eventually reuniting the whole family back on earth. On the whole, I enjoyed the book for its ability to keep me hooked throughout the story by introducing multiple abstract concepts which gets my imagination going. For the most part, I am unable to relate to the journey through space and time that the characters go through, but relate to the characters needing to make tough choices and having a loving family. However, The novel is highly spiritualized, with notable influences of divine intervention and prominent undertones of religious messages. I feel that the book is too preachy in that sense and I would have enjoyed it better if it was toned down. I would recommend this book to my friends and family who enjoy books which are complex and requires a deeper level of thinking.