A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L‘Engle
About the Author,
Madeleine L‘Engle (pronounced Lengle)
• Born Madeleine L’Engle Camp on November
29, 1918
• Mother-pianist
• Father-journalist & writer-fought in WWI
– Since his lungs were damaged by mustard gas
during war, family moved where air was dry,
easy to breath
• L’Engle was lonely as an only child and
wished for a larger family, which is why the
characters in her novels had large families
– Her parents were busy with their many writer,
artist, and musician friends, so L’Engle
entertained herself by writing stories
– She also grew up in a house full of books—her
parents read aloud often
More About Madeleine L’Engle
• At age 12, L’Engle was sent to a
boarding school, which she hated, in
the Swiss Alps
• At age 14, she moved back to the U.S.,
and sent to Ashley Boarding School in
South Carolina, which she loved
– Her father died when she was 17
• Spent 4 years at Smith College,
graduating with honors in 1941
• After college, she moved to Greenwich
Village in NYC with 3 female friends
• She still wanted to write but worked in
theater to pay her bills
• She died September 6, 2007, in
Litchfield, CT
Essential Questions
• What does it mean to love?
• How can love overpower fear?
• How can children become empowered and
demonstrate strong leadership?
• What can the imaginative characters who
travel beyond the real world tell us about
ourselves and the future?
• What is one’s place in the universe? How
can one find it and fit in there?
• Is time travel possible--why or why not?
• How do writers make readers believe in the
worlds they create with their imaginations?
• How can writers describe settings so
readers can easily imagine them?
•What is the difference between science
fiction and fantasy?
Genres
• Science Fiction and Fantasy
• Science is one of L’Engle’s favorite subjects—loves
reading science books and using scientific ideas in
her writing
• In A Wrinkle in Time, “tesseracts” are used to travel
through time and space--she has several scientist
friends who confirm “tesseracts” are real
Differences Between Sci-Fi and Fantasy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7CAvR7aSc
Sci-Fi
• Explores what is possible
• Draws on from what we
know from reality and
science
• Advanced technology,
usually set in the future
• Relatively recent genre,
dating back a century
• Expands our world
Fantasy
• Explores the impossible
• Invents
• Supernatural and magical
occurrences that have no
basis in science
• One of the oldest genres,
found in ancient Greek
myths, stories of
monsters, magic, and
gods
• Transcends our world
Time Period Influences:
The Space Race
• The book was written in the early 1960s, when the
idea of space exploration was new and exciting
• In the late 1950s, the first artificial satellite was sent
into space by the Soviet Union, which launched a
“space race” competition with the U.S.
• In 1961, the year the book was published, both
nations sent manned rockets into space
Political Themes of the Time
• Life on the planet Camazotz is similar to what Americans
thought life in the former Soviet Union was like at the time
• The U.S. and Soviet Union were in a Cold War—a long period
of hostility without actual war
• The U.S. was a democratic country in which the individual
rights of every citizen was protected by the Constitution
• In the Soviet Union, many aspects of life were controlled by
the government
• Soviets did not have freedom of speech or freedom of religion
Book Jacket (Plot)
It is a dark and stormy
Meg Murray,
her small brother,
Plotnight.
(Book
Jacket)
Charles Wallace, and their mother are in the kitchen for a
midnight snack when a most disturbing visitor arrives.
“Wild nights are my glory,” the unearthly stranger tells
them. “I just got caught in a downdrift and blown off course.
Let me sit down for a moment, and then I’ll be on my way.
Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a
tesseract.”
Meg’s father had been experimenting with this fifth
dimension of time travel when he mysteriously disappeared.
Now the time has come for Meg, her friend Calvin, and
Charles Wallace to rescue him. But can they outwit the forces
of evil they will encounter on their heart-stopping journey
through space?
Setting
• Meg’s town—her old-fashioned house/vacation
home in a comfortable and quiet community in
Anywhere, America
• Uriel, the 3rd planet of the star Malak
• A 2-dimension planet where the children can’t
breathe
• Orion’s Belt
• Camazotz—a planet taken over by the Dark Thing,
domelike building that houses IT
Characters
Protagonist—Meg Murray
• 12-year-old girl, loyal and protective over her family
• Loving sister to Charles Wallace and loyal friend to
Calvin
• Wears glasses and loves math
• Familiar with her faults: impatience, anger,
stubbornness
• Loner—doesn’t fit into school
Friends and Family
Charles Wallace
• Meg’s 5-year-old brother
• Understands things no normal 5year-old would
• Large vocabulary, enunciates clearly
• He is a genius, but people think he is
dumb because he doesn’t speak
often
• Committed to loving his big sister
and letting her know
• His faults include pride, arrogance,
and too much trust in his abilities
Mrs. Murry
• Meg’s mother
• Beautiful and
intelligent—Ph.Ds in
biology and bacteriology
• Calm and capable with
her children
• Honest with Meg that
she is upset over their
father’s disappearance
• Defends her children no
matter what and knows
they are smart
Mr. Murray
• Meg’s father
• A physicist who has been
working for the
government and missing
for a long time
• No one knows where he
is, but his family believes
he is on a dangerous and
secret mission
Sandy and Dennys Murray
• Meg’s 10-year-old twin brothers
• Independent and self-sufficient
• Ordinary kids who contrast with Meg and
Charles Wallace
• Fit in at school and are popular
• Protective over Meg and Charles Wallace
Calvin O’Keefe
• Poorly dressed 14-year-old boy
from a large, poor family
• Tall and skinny but athletic and
popular
• Unhappiness is from home life,
not school life
• Very close to Meg and Charles
Wallace
• He isn’t afraid of Meg’s tears or
doubts—he protects her
Magical Helpers
Mrs. Whatsit
• Strange neighbor who appears at
the Murray house looking like a
smallish tramp bundled in clothes
• The youngest of 3 ladies whom
Calvin calls “guardian angels”
• The “angel” most closest to the
children
• Her real form is a beautiful horselike creature from the planet
Uriel
Mrs. Who
• A plump little woman
with enormous
eyeglasses
• One of the 3 “guardian
angels”
• She loves to use quotes
to make her point
Mrs. Which
•
•
•
•
•
The oldest and leader of the “guardian angels”
Also the wisest and most powerful
Not as friendly as her other sisters
Escorts the children to the unknown realm
She is a shadow—rarely seen, but very much
there
Aunt Beast
• A very tall, gray being with 4
arms and many waving
tentacles
• Has only indentations where
a human would have features
like a nose, mouth, and eyes
• Body covered with soft fur,
which gives a beautiful smell
• She talks through her
tentacles, and heals Meg
Villains
• IT/the Dark Thing: A
disembodied alien brain who is
an evil shadow that takes over
planets and people and
deadens everything he touches
• The Man with the Red
Eyes/Prime Coordinator: Taken
over by IT—speaks for IT
– Has gentle voice, but his eyes are
horrible fiery red
– He tries to hypnotize Meg,
Charles Wallace, and Calvin and
take over their minds
– His lies and is not trustworthy
Conflicts
•
•
•
•
Meg’s problems fitting in at school
Meg’s father has been missing for a long time
Meg’s scary trip through outer space to find her father
The Dark Thing that Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Which, and Mrs.
Who are fighting
• The Man with Red Eyes, IT, and other evils Meg and her
friends find the courage to fight to try to rescue her father
Themes—Author’s Message
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Moral Responsibility
The Power of Love, Especially Family Love
The Responsible Use of Science and Technology
The Conflict Between Good and Evil
Coming of Age/Search for Identity
Choices
Love, Faith, Trust
Daring to be Different
Using Our Faults
Literary Techniques We Will Look At
• Allusions—references to a mythological,
historical, or literary person, place, or thing
– For example, Mrs. Who quotes, or alludes to many
famous writers and texts throughout the book,
including Shakespeare and the Bible
• Symbolism--the use of any object, person, place,
or action that has a meaning in itself while
standing for something larger than itself, such as
a quality, attitude, belief, or value.
– For example, the light and darkness are symbols