The Underlying Courage in “A Wrinkle in Time”
The Underlying Courage in “A Wrinkle in Time” Typically in novels there are many supporting themes to create the storyline in the novel; in “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeline L’Engle a major theme in the novel is courage. It shows in almost every chapter, through Margaret (Meg) Murry and Charles Wallace Murry. The quest the kids go through in the novel corresponds to Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s journey also the type of courage found within the Christian framework. Courage is having the strength to resist and endure fear, danger, and difficulty; it is the main thing that can keep the children together on the journey. In the very beginning, of the novel, Meg is the first to display courage. She does so by defending her little brother, Charles Wallace’s name, because “…one of the boys had said something about her “dumb baby brother” at this she’d thrown her books…and tackled him with every ounce of strength she had” (L’Engle 4). Even though all the characters portray some type of courage, Meg shows the most throughout the novel. Meg’s personality, in the beginning, was a little off, as she was still trying to find out who she was and how her quirks are her strengths and how it makes her who she is. Her parents, before her father left, have been trying to prepare her for the greater things she has to overcome in the future by giving her IQ tests and teaching her complicated mathematics which caused disruptive problems in her class. Even though she thought she was dumb, which is not true, and even having her classmates ridicule her, it helped her when she was on Camazotz. The journey strengthened her courage, because she was used to her classmates being rude and demeaning to her, so when she had to deal with the red eyed man she just thought of him as the same as other on Earth. Her courage is truly developed in chapter twelve after she realizes she is the only one that can save Charles Wallace from the huge exposed brain. “That is has to be me. It can’t be anyone else.
Cited: L 'Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1962. Print.