Wrinkle in Time Review

Which statement is a theme that Madeleine L’Engle conveys in A Wrinkle in Time?

• Trust no one.

• Keep things as simple as possible.

• Love can overcome evil.

• It is foolish to take risks.

In Chapters 10 and 11, Meg is rather mean to her father. She repeatedly blames him for leaving Charles Wallace behind. At last, Aunt Beast explains that the evil of the Black Thing has affected Meg’s mind.   

How does the behavior of Aunt Beast and others in these chapters develop the theme that love can overcome evil?

• Aunt Beast and the others ask Meg about life on Earth, about light, and about telescopes and stars. They do this to remind her of the place that she loves and so that she can clear her mind of the evil that has taken hold of it.

• Mr. Murry gets very upset when Meg is mean to him, and Aunt Beast tells Meg that she will have to leave Ixchel if she does not change. Hearing this from one she cares about makes Meg treat her dad with more kindness.

• By treating Meg as if she was a little baby—clothing her and feeding her and rocking her to sleep—the beasts of Ixchel keep the Dark Thing from overtaking their planet and enslaving their minds. They save the day.

• Rather than treat Meg poorly because she is mean to her father, everyone treats her with tenderness. The love they show Meg finally makes the coldness leave her mind just as it left her body. She becomes herself again.

Which quotation from the novel best conveys the theme that love can overcome evil?

• “She’d want me to do this. You know she would. Tell her—” she started, choked, then held up her head and said, “No. Never mind. I’ll tell her myself.”

• “But I wanted to do it for you,” Mr Murry said. “That’s what every parent wants.” He looked into her dark, frightened eyes. “I won’t let you go, Meg. I am going.”

• But she, in all her weakness and foolishness and baseness and nothingness, was incapable of loving IT. Perhaps it was not too much to ask of her, but she could not do it.

• She knew! Love. That was what she had that IT did not have.

How are Meg and Charles Wallace alike?

• They are both ashamed of the fact that they are different from others. This is what makes Meg feel so sad in the opening chapters of the novel, when she describes herself as "a catastrophe." It is also what makes Charles Wallace secretly want to be like everyone else on Camazotz.

• They are both great at communicating with others. Meg uses her ability to understand her father's imprisonment. Charles Wallace can grasp what the beasts on Uriel are saying in their song.

• They are both misunderstood by people outside their family. The teachers at school think Meg is disrespectful and not very bright. Calvin states that he thought Charles Wallace was “supposed to be [a] moron” when they first meet. 

• They are both overly proud and confident in themselves. Meg thinks she can tesser all by herself back to Camazotz. Charles Wallace submits to IT thinking he can "hold some part of himself back."

In Chapter 6, the children watch the Darkness through the Happy Medium’s crystal ball. L'Engle writes that they watched as a star’s “light spread out and where it touched the Darkness the Darkness disappeared.”  

Which direct quotation from this chapter helps explain what the children witness in this moment?

• Charles Wallace went up to Mrs. Whatsit. “I see. Now I understand. You were a star, once, weren’t you?”

• Mrs. Whatsit sighed, a sigh so sad that Meg wanted to put her arms around her and comfort her.

• “And you did—you did what that star just did?”

• “It was a star,” Mrs. Whatsit said sadly. “A star giving up its life in battle with the Thing. It won, oh, yes, my children, it won. But it lost its life in the winning.”

How is Camazotz different from Earth in A Wrinkle in Time?

• Camazotz is home to people who are happy, while the people on Earth are miserable.

• Camazotz is filled with amazing creatures who look nothing like the beasts on Earth.

• Camazotz is under the control of IT, while Earth is still fighting the Darkness in the universe.

• Camazotz has no towns or houses or life on it aside from the Happy Medium.

In Chapter 2, Meg gets in trouble because of the way she behaves in the classroom. She makes things worse for herself by refusing to take responsibility for her own actions and blaming others. 

How does this develop a theme that repeats throughout the story?

• It proves that those who create the most problems receive the most attention. 

• It shows the importance of expressing one’s feelings no matter the consequences.

• It shows that people cannot expect others to solve their problems for them.

• It explains that one can avoid punishment by finding fault in others. 

What theme is emphasized by Meg's actions in Chapter 12?  

• Anger is a powerful tool to use to control the behavior of others.

• Children learn more quickly when their parents solve problems for them.

• It is better to rush into a scary situation without thinking than to plan a safe approach.

• People have the ability solve their own problems once they stop blaming others. 

What is the difference between theme and topic?

• Theme is the main idea of the story. Topic is the message.

• Theme is the summary of the story. Topic is the main idea.

• Theme is the moral or message of a story. Topic is the main idea.

• They are both the same thing.

A Wrinkle in Time is written with a third-person narrator. Which answer choice best describes how the narrator influences the novel?

• This narrator lets readers know the private thoughts and emotions of all characters, as well as how experiences affect them. Readers can easily see how what characters say and do relates to their inner feelings and thoughts.

• The narrator allows readers to know Meg’s private thoughts and emotions, as well as how experiences affect her. Readers know less about the inner thoughts and feelings of other characters.

• This narrator tells readers nothing about the inner thoughts and feelings of any characters. In order to understand what characters are thinking or feeling, readers must examine their words and actions.

• This narrator forces readers to guess about Meg’s unspoken feelings and thoughts. One way to figure out what Meg is thinking and what emotions she experiences is to look at her behavior and how others react to it.