44 pages • 1 hour read
Madeleine L'EngleA Wind In The Door
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1973A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary: “Proginoskes”
The next morning, Meg wakes an hour before her alarm. She remembers all of the strange events of the previous day, so she dresses and walks to the pasture. Meg finds Proginoskes where she left him, so she knows everything that happened yesterday was real. Meg and Proginoskes discuss what their first trial might be. She tells the cherubim about what happened with Mr. Jenkins the previous night. Proginoskes says what she’s describing sounds like Echthroi and must mean they need to find Mr. Jenkins as part of their first trial. Meg asks what an Echthros is, so Proginoskes warps Meg through his eye to a bare mountaintop. Meg hears a deafening sound as she stands there and sees a crack of nothingness in the sky where stars were previously. She realizes this is what her father is working on in Brookhaven. Proginoskes explains that the Echthroi have Xed—or extinguished—those stars.
Proginoskes then transports Meg to a previous conversation between her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Murry talk about Earth’s increased violence and how the events in the other galaxies are starting to happen in theirs. Mr. Murry then connects Mrs. Murry’s discoveries with mitochondria and farandolae to the phenomenon occurring in space. Mrs. Murry suddenly realizes there’s a horrible similarity between the sounds of the ailing farandolae and the ripping in space.
Meg asks Proginoskes how she remembered that entire conversation, and he says she is learning to kythe. Kything is how cherubim communicate without using words. Proginoskes returns Meg to the pasture. She tells him to meet her at the end of the road at 7 am to catch the bus to Charles Wallace’s school. Proginoskes agrees and dematerializes. On the way back to the house, Meg sees Louise waiting on the stone wall. Louise bows to Meg as if to wish her well and slithers away. After breakfast, Meg walks to the bus stop with Dennys and Sandy.
Chapter 5 Summary: “The First Test”
Meg and Proginoskes arrive at the school on the bus and see Mr. Jenkins walking from the parking lot toward them. He asks why Meg is there and then tells her he’s working on getting a tutor for Charles Wallace to help with his situation at school. A second Mr. Jenkins appears and tells the first that this idea is nonsense. Proginoskes tells Meg that naming the real Mr. Jenkins must be their first trial. A third Mr. Jenkins appears, and all three walk into the school.
Proginoskes teaches Meg more about kithing. He also explains that there is a war in space, and the Echthroi are spreading throughout the universe. Now they’re after Charles Wallace and want to destroy him. Proginoskes also reminds Meg that she must name the real Mr. Jenkins, and if she fails, Proginoskes will X himself.
Children begin filling the schoolyard, and Mr. Jenkins One comes back outside. He tells Meg that he’d thought he wouldn’t have to deal with her anymore now that he is the grade school principal instead of the high school principal. Mr. Jenkins Two appears and joins the conversation, asking Meg to let him handle the situation with Charles Wallace his way. Meg feels like both of these men could be the real Mr. Jenkins. Mr. Jenkins Three appears, and the three argue and try to convince Meg which of them is real. Suddenly, Charles Wallace exits the school and walks toward them carrying Louise the Larger.
Chapter 6 Summary: “The Real Mr. Jenkins”
Charles Wallace walks over to Meg and the Mr. Jenkinses and asks what’s going on. Louise rears and makes the same warning sound she did the previous night. Charles Wallace explains that he was to bring a pet from home to share with the class, but his teacher told him to take Louise home because she was a snake. Meg takes Louise to help her identify the real Mr. Jenkins. Meg asks how each Mr. Jenkins will help Charles Wallace in school. Mr. Jenkins Three says he will take tighter control of the school. Mr. Jenkins Two says he wants all the kids to be the same. Mr. Jenkins One says he doesn’t plan to do anything and looks at his watch.
Meg becomes frustrated, but Louise talks to her and reassures her. Louise also reminds her how important this trial is. The three Mr. Jenkinses drive Charles Wallace and Louise home. Meg and Proginoskes kythe about the real Mr. Jenkins’s good qualities. Proginoskes helps Meg remember when Mr. Jenkins bought Calvin shoes because Calvin’s family was too poor. They then discuss what it means to have feelings.
The Mr. Jenkinses return and begin bickering about which of them is real. Meg tells Mr. Jenkins Three that he is too powerful and that Mr. Jenkins Two wants everyone to be the same and to be happy. She then Names Mr. Jenkins One as the real Mr. Jenkins because he’s human enough to make mistakes. She then says she loves him for it and begins to cry in relief and exhaustion. The Echthroi shriek and rip the air in the schoolyard before vanishing. Proginoskes is so happy that Meg passed the test that he suddenly materializes, causing Mr. Jenkins to faint.
Chapters 4-6 Analysis
While the novel’s central conflict is saving Charles Wallace from the Echthroi, one of Meg’s main conflicts is overcoming her negative feelings for Mr. Jenkins. L’Engle deepens this conflict by describing what a weak character Mr. Jenkins is. His personality and behavior are not typical of a school principal, and Meg says she hates him because of the time she had to work with him at her high school. Her negative feelings for him deepen because he refuses to help Charles Wallace, whom Meg cares for deeply. This conflict is ironic because, despite Meg’s hatred of Mr. Jenkins, the only way to overcome her first trial is to learn to love him. She does this successfully but only after Proginoskes reminds her of his good qualities and shows her that his failings are not all of who he is. When Meg can accept Mr. Jenkins for who he is, including all of his faults, she expels the Echthroi and masters her first lesson.
Like Mr. Jenkins, Meg has insecurities and faults, yet she has a gift for building strong relationships. Her respect and love for Proginoskes develop quickly, illustrating that Meg is very caring and empathetic. While Meg struggles with who she is and how she can help save Charles Wallace from the Echthroi, she counters her hatred of Mr. Jenkins with her quick adoration of Proginoskes. However, Meg shows strength of character when she sees beyond Mr. Jenkins's rough exterior and understands the good man he is underneath. This moment foreshadows that Meg’s love will be pivotal to the novel’s conclusion and develops the theme the Power of Relationships.
This section also provides some pivotal information for the novel’s plot. During several of their conversations, Proginoskes and Meg discuss the Echthroi and how they relate to what’s happening in space. These conversations link the ripping in space to Charles Wallace’s deteriorating health. The Echthroi want to destroy what’s good and turn it into nothing, so Meg, Proginoskes, Calvin, and Charles Wallace must face trials to prevent this. Meg also learns about Xing, which makes something disappear and become nothingness. The Echthroi X stars and whatever else they wish to destroy, and Proginoskes knows he will have to X himself if they fail in their task. Meg’s fear of Proginoskes disappearing drives her to succeed in her trials, yet Proginoskes’s threat of Xing himself foreshadows what happens to him at the novel’s climax.
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By Madeleine L'Engle
