Plot Summary

In the middle of a stormy night, Margaret (Meg) Murry goes downstairs to make herself hot chocolate. Her younger brother, Charles Wallace is already in the kitchen because he predicted that Meg would come down. Mrs. Murry joins them and the three are interrupted when Mrs. Whatsit noisily enters Mrs. Murry's lab. Mrs. Whatsit, a neighbor, said she got lost in the storm and quickly leaves. Before she leaves, she tells Mrs. Murry that "there is such thing as a tesseract." Mrs. Murry is left shocked how the strange women could have known that. The next morning, Meg asks her mother what a tesseract and Mrs. Murry said she will explain later. Meg goes to school, but she is constantly getting into trouble and getting poor grades. After school, Charles Wallace and Meg walk to Mrs. Whatsit's house. The two children meet a teenage boy, Calvin O'Keefe, outside the house. Calvin said he sometimes gets "feelings" about what he is supposed to do and he came to this house for this reason. Inside the house the three are introduced to Mrs. Who, one of Mrs. Whatsit's friends. The two ladies tell the children to eat a big dinner and get a lot of rest and not to worry because the women won't leave without them. The children are confused, but the Murrys take Calvin back for dinner at their house.

During dinner, Meg clues Calvin in about where her father has been the last two years. Mr. Murry was working for a top-secret government project when he disappeared and no one has been in contact with him for a year. Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin go out into the garden and Mrs. Which appears. Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which tesseract, travel through the fifth dimension, with the children; Charles Wallace has a feeling that the objective of the mission is to find Mr. Murry. When the group arrives at their destination, a planet called Uriel, the three ladies explain that The Black Thing is a dark shadow being cast over Earth that causes bad things to happen. Mr. Murry and many other people in the galaxy have been fighting IT. The children are taken to a Medium that explains in more detail what The Black Thing is. The ladies do not give the children much information before they tesseract again to the dark planet of Camazotz where they believe Mr. Murry is being held prisoner.

On the planet of Camazotz the children are instructed to go into town. They see strange houses that look identical and children bouncing balls at exactly the same rhythm. Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin have a funny feeling about this place but continue walking toward downtown. They enter a large building where they are taken to a man with red eyes. The man tries to get inside the children's brain and brainwash them into believing that IT and Camazotz are happy things. Charles Wallace, who can read people's minds, allows the man to get into his brain because he thinks he will be able to find out where his father is hidden. Instead, Charles Wallace goes into a very deep trance-like state and becomes evil. Meg struggles to realize that Charles Wallace cannot come back to reality, but she and Calvin follow him to the cell where Mr. Murry is held. Meg frees Mr. Murry with the help of glasses that Mrs. Who gave her before departure and Mr. Murry leads Meg and Calvin to IT. Mr. Murry decided to leave Charles Wallace because he is already under IT's influence.

When the three reach IT, Meg sees that IT is just a brain that releases a rhythm that controls the town. Meg struggles to block IT's rhythm and Mr. Murry has to quickly tesseract the three off the planet and leaves Charles Wallace behind. Meg wakes up and is in severe pain; Mr. Murry, who is inexperienced at tessering, accidentally went to the wrong planet and Meg was hurt when they tessered through The Black Thing. The native aliens of the planet take care of Meg and nurse her back to health. Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which reappear and tell Meg that she is the only one that can free Charles Wallace from IT. Meg returns to Camazotz alone with only the clue that she has something IT does not. Once Meg reaches Charles Wallace she understands that the only way to release him from IT is to love him. IT is incapable of loving. Meg says over and over "I love you Charles Wallace." He comes out of his trance and Mrs. Whatsit quickly tesseracts the two children, Mr. Murry and Calvin back to Earth.

Character List

Meg Murry - A teenage misfit who gets in many fights at school and does not get very good grades. She has a deep connection with her younger brother Charles Wallace.

Charles Wallace Murry- Meg's younger brother. Everyone thinks he is dumb because he does not talk around strangers, but he is actually very brilliant and intelligent behind his years (5 years old). He can get into people's minds and sometimes read their thoughts or emotions.

Calvin O'Keefe- A athletic middle-school boy who is very popular. He gets "feelings" about things. Also smart like Meg and Charles Wallace.

IT- the brain that controls the dark planet of Camazotz.

The Black Thing- a shadow of evil that is currently cast over Earth. Many of Earth's scientists and other planets' scientists are trying to defeat the Black Thing and IT.

Mrs. Whatsit- a centaur-like animals that takes the three children on the journey to find Mr. Murry. She used to be a star but had to give it up to fight The Black Thing.

Mrs. Who- another one of the women who take the children on their journey. She usual speaks in quotations of famous sayings.

Mrs. Which- the last of the women who takes the children on their journey. She is a spirit with glasses that floats in mid-air.

Mr. Murry-The father of all the Murry children. He is a scientist who works for the government on a top-secret mission. He left two years ago, but has not been in communication with his family for a year. No one knows what has happened to him.

Aunt Beast- An alien who protects and heals Meg back to health after she is injured in the presence of IT.

Mrs. Murry- Meg's mother, a biologist, who was working on space-travel through the fifth dimension (a tesseract) with her husband before he disappeared.

Sandy and Dennys Murry- Meg's younger twin brothers who do not have any special intelligence or powers.

Adaptations

2003 - television movie adaptation made for the Disney Channel

*A Wrinkle in Time Wikipedia Article

Interesting Facts

Madeleine L'Engle uses the tesseract as an idea for travel through the fifth dimension. A tesseract is a mathematical concept that creates a hypercube of the fourth dimension. It has not actually been linked to time travel.

Analysis

It is easy to understand why A Wrinkle in Time has been such a popular children's book since its publication. From the first chapter to the last, L'Engle keeps the reader interested and wondering what will happen next. It is hard to put the book down because of all the unanswered questions and mysteries. Although it is based a lot around science and religious ideas, any child could enjoy the story. L'Engle uses the tesseract as a main theme of science fiction in the novel. Traveling in the fifth dimension is not unheard of and L'Engle uses this science to create a fantasy element and allow the characters to easily travel to other planets.

The dystopian society on Camazotz is another excellent example of science fiction themes in the story. The children describe the streets of Camazotz to be identical; all the houses look the same and the children of Camazotz even bounce the balls in the same rhythm. In this dystopian society, IT controls everyone and everyone's actions by entering the citizen's brains. These themes seem like they might frighten young children, but because the story is told from the perspective of children it does not seem nearly as scary. The characters develop throughout the novel and learn more about themselves and the world. A Wrinkle in Time could be considered a coming-of-age story because Meg Murry matures immensely and realizes that her weaknesses can be strengths.

A Wrinkle in Time ends happily, but is believable at the same time. L'Engle could have quickly concluded the story and left no lose ends, but instead she returns the Murry family and Calvin O'Keefe to Earth with the implication that IT and The Black Thing are not defeated. Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which return to their planet to continue fighting IT. Throughout the story there is a sense of magic and wonder that makes the story so wonderful. The main theme that love is better than hate is easy for children to understand but for adult readers can be taken more seriously. The religious analogies can also hold deeper meanings for older readers. A Wrinkle in Time is a classic children's science fiction story that will never outdated.