A Wrinkle In Time

Charles Wallace is Meg’s youngest brother. His incredible intelligence and mental abilities allow his intellect to develop at a faster rate than most people. He began speaking late, but when he did, it was “with none of the usual baby preliminaries, using entire sentences” (10). Charles Wallace only speaks to members of his family until he meets Calvin. He and Calvin share some abilities (though Charles Wallace’s are stronger), and the two boys form a bond over their similar nature.

In the context of A Wrinkle in Time’s universe, Charles Wallace holds considerable power and is a being much like Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, or Mrs. Which. On Earth, he falls into the category of gifted (brilliant). He chooses to hide his gifts by only talking at home, reasoning that doing so creates less trouble than allowing people to know how intelligent he is. His silence causes its own set of problems, especially for Meg. People make fun of Charles Wallace, and Meg attacks (physically or verbally) anyone who does so. Charles Wallace is both Meg’s greatest ally and enemy. Together, they make an excellent team, but Meg harbors some resentment for Charles Wallace’s differences. His eccentricities lead Meg to see the same strangeness in herself. Thus, she partially blames Charles Wallace for her flaws.

Charles Wallace’s gifts also cause problems for him on Camazotz. His heightened mental strength allows IT to gain a stronger foothold in his mind. Charles Wallace’s tragic flaw is arrogance. Because of his gifted status on Earth, he believes he can enter IT without consequence and return to himself at any time. Mighty though he is, Charles Wallace cannot fight IT alone. He needs Meg’s love to counter his arrogance and free him from IT.

Calvin comes from a long line of siblings, from whom he feels removed. He defines himself as a sport, a biology term meaning a gene change “which is not present in the parents but which is potentially transmissible to its offspring” (32). He feels more at home with the odd assortment of Murrys than he does among his abusive mother and emotionally absent father. Calvin foils Meg. His home life leaves much to be desired, but Calvin keeps an unbreakable positive attitude. By contrast, Meg’s home offers everything she could wish for (except for her missing father), but Meg remains sullen and moody much of the time.

Calvin’s major role is as support to Meg and Charles Wallace. The search for Mr. Murry is not Calvin’s quest, but he gladly goes along, never complaining or having his spirits dampened. He picks up slack where Meg falls short, again acting as a foil. Meg’s strongest subject in school is math. As a result, she reasons better than Calvin. Calvin excels at English, and particularly on Camazotz, his way with words and communication proves invaluable. Twice, his words alone almost break through IT’s control of Charles Wallace, which gives Meg hope in the darkest moments that Charles can be saved.

For most of the book, Mrs. Whatsit takes the shape of “a very old woman” (20). On the planet Uriel, she shifts into the majestic four-legged being that populates the world, and later, the children learn she was once a star—the closest semblance to her actual form, a being of pure light and goodness. Each of the ladies silently assigns herself to one of the children, and Mrs. Whatsit takes responsibility for Meg. She comforts and helps Meg along. On Uriel, she soothes Meg when the Black Thing is too upsetting. When the children first arrive on Camazotz, Mrs. Whatsit offers only Meg an embrace. Mrs. Whatsit stands in for Mr. Murry and the comfort his presence afforded Meg before he disappeared. Once Mr. Murry is found, Mrs. Whatsit backs off on her comfort. She speaks harshly to Meg for the first time in Chapter 12. After Meg completes her character arc by realizing only she can rescue Charles Wallace, Mrs. Whatsit resumes her comforting persona. She offers the emotional response that will most help Meg to grow at any given point.

Like Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who appears as an old woman, and she wears enormous spectacles. Mrs. Who quotes others to make herself understood, because she “finds it so difficult to verbalize” (61). She assigns herself to Calvin, which is both fitting and ironic: Where Mrs. Who struggles to find words, Calvin’s communication is his greatest strength. Mrs. Who also acts as support for Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Which, much like Calvin supports Meg.

Mrs. Which rarely appears as “little more than a shimmer” (60). She is the oldest of the three ladies and finds fully materializing difficult. She assigns herself to Charles Wallace, which is appropriate given they are both vastly powerful. Both also struggle to convey emotion, wrapped up as they are in logic. When Meg returns to Camazotz for Charles Wallace, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Who offer clear ideas of love as gifts to Meg. Mrs. Which says only that Meg possesses something IT does not. Mrs. Which doesn’t communicate in terms of emotion, but in her wisdom, she also understands that Meg’s love is only hers if she finds it for herself.

Meg’s father, Mr. Murry, is Meg’s main source of motivation for most of the book. He is the small part Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace play in fighting the darkness. On his own, Mr. Murry represents mankind’s collective ignorance and the idea that one should not meddle in forces they do not understand. His arrival on Camazotz “was a complete accident” (165). The government project he worked on aimed to tesser to Mars. Without fully understanding how the tesseract works, the experiment went horribly awry. Mr. Murry’s rescue gives Earth a second chance. He can return, explain to his colleagues how much they don’t know, and help guide future experimentation with the tesseract.

IT governs Camazotz and is responsible for the Black Thing’s spread through the universe. IT knows only hatred and fear and instills these emotions in all the minds it controls. In Chapter 10 when Meg rages at her father, she does not understand she is “as much in the power of the Black Thing as Charles Wallace” (172). Though she is not within IT, the darkness controls her, showing how IT poisons its victims’ minds and hearts.

Meg’s mother, Mrs. Murry, is a pillar against which Meg compares herself. In the beginning, Meg envies her mother’s physical beauty and her ability to remain composed. Mrs. Murry’s seeming perfection brings Meg’s flaws into even starker relief. When Meg visits the Happy Medium, she sees her mother’s hidden sorrow at Mr. Murry’s absence. Here, Mrs. Murry becomes more than something for Meg to compare herself to. Meg finally understands her mother can’t always hide her feelings. The protective urge Meg always feels for Charles Wallace transfers to her mother, and Meg resolves to find her father to save her mother, too.

Aunt Beast cares for Meg on Ixchel after she’s almost taken by the darkness. Aunt Beast represents how beings can only think in terms of what they understand. In the case of humans, their perspective is limited by their lack of experience with the universe. Despite all the different cultures on Earth, the human mindset is stilted and nearly incomprehensible by those with a greater universal understanding (such as the people of Ixchel). Aunt Beast is not the creature’s real name. When Meg asks what to call her caretaker, the creature tells Meg to think of what she calls “different kinds of people” (184). The creature helps sort Meg’s words with the emotions they invoke and decides on “Aunt Beast” because it is the most fitting description that Meg’s limited view produces.

The man with red eyes is an extension of IT—one of IT’s lieutenants. He represents the dystopian society of Camazotz as one of the empowered few who controls the masses through fear. Charles Wallace first realizes he isn’t the most powerful person around when he encounters this man, which triggers Charles Wallace’s childhood arrogance.

The Happy Medium represents all the joy in the universe. In Chapter 2, Meg’s brothers tell her to find a happy medium. Meg literally does this, which is the turning point in her motivation. The Happy Medium shows Meg and the others how the darkness affects the Earth and that light can triumph. These images give Meg fear for her loved ones, hope for success, and drive to continue the fight.

Mr. Jenkins is Meg’s school principal. Meg gets sent to his office in Chapter 2, where she argues with him about her father. Mr. Jenkins is the first character to poke holes in Meg’s ideal of her father’s ability to fix everything. He foreshadows Meg growing up and learning that she has to solve her own problems.