A Wrinkle in Time Book Summary

A Wrinkle in Time – War between Light and Darkness

Short Summary:

Created on the ideation of “Teleportation”, “A Wrinkle in Time” is a spectacular novel by Madeleine L’Engle. Explicating the brilliance of teleportation and science fantasy, the novel talks about three main characters – Meg, Charles, and Calvin traveling to different galaxies to rescue Meg’s father. Their task is not just to rescue, but to fight the evil intruder Black Thing who has invaded several other worlds. Indeed, it depicts a war between light and darkness that takes you through different galaxies. 

Detailed Summarization of Various Aspects:

Meet the Characters:

The novel “A Wrinkle in Time” discusses the bond between Charles, Meg, and Calvin. Meg and Charles are siblings, whereas Calvin is their friend who accompanies them on their journey to teleportation. These young characters attain maturity on their teleportation journey to find Meg’s father. On this journey, they are assisted by Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which. They are the supernatural beings who teleport them through the galaxy of Tesseract. Besides this, the young trio is informed about a possible danger “Black Thing” that has been attacking different universes and they are selected to fight it away. 

Initiating the Journey:

The journey of teleportation starts with Meg meeting Mrs. Whatsit in the neighborhood. From her, she gets to know about Tesseract. This made her remember that it was this scientific notion that her father was working on. In fact, she is accompanied by her brother Charles and school friend Calvin. While discussing various galaxies, they meet Mrs. Who and hear the voice of Mrs. Which. To their amazement, Mrs. Which talks of helping Meg in finding her father. Later on, they teleported the trio to the Universe of Teressat where their first stop was on the planet Uriel. On this planet, they met centaur-like beings who value love and light. 

Crossing the Orion Belt:

After visiting the Uriel planet, Meg and her accomplices are taken to the “Happy Medium” by crossing the Orion Belt. There, they get to know that Mrs. Whatsit is a star who broke and scattered in a fight against darkness. On reaching the Happy Medium, Meg is shown Earth from the medium’s crystal. They get to know that philosophers, religious figures, and scientists have been trying to fight the prevalence of darkness. From there, they travel to the dark planet Camazotz that succumbed to the powers of the Black Thing. Indeed, Mrs. Whatsit could not enter the place and the trio was on their own to find Meg’s father. 

Locating Meg’s Father and Rescuing:

While hunting for Meg’s father in Camazotz, the trio got to know that Alex Murry (Meg’s Father) was imprisoned in the nearby town. To reach her father, someone from the trio had to be mind-controlled by IT (Disembodied Brain with Excellent Telepathic Abilities). In this matter, Charles offers himself to be hypnotized and takes the other two toward Meg’s father. After meeting them, Alex teleports him, Meg, and Calvin to another planet named Ixchel before getting mind-controlled. But, Charles is left behind. On getting teleported, Meg is paralyzed because of her contact with the Black Thing, and Alex Murry gets broken ribs. The fierce residents of Ixchel proved to be gentle and cured Meg’s paralysis. Then, Mrs. Whatsit, Who, and Which arrives on the planet. They give the responsibility of Charles’s rescue to Meg alone. For this, she is teleported to Camazotz again.