blog




  • Essay / The theme of insecurity and the main character in A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

    In the story "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle, Meg Murray is a 13-year-old child who experiences many insecurities about her personality and intelligence. Meg starts off as the “ugly duckling” of the family, you might say. She's not smart, average, pretty and doesn't fit in anywhere. Meg and her youngest brother, Charles Wallace, are the two exceptions in this story and are the ones who embark on a rather interesting long journey. At school, Meg has a lot of trouble doing her homework, and the teachers always bully her and treat her less than the others because of the way she reacted to her father's disappearance. As Meg never took her father's disappearance very well, she, along with Charles Wallace, her brother and their friend Calvin, went in search of her father and had to face the greatest mastermind in the universe known as the name of computing. Meanwhile, Charles had to submit to computers in order to find out where their father was and how to reach him. Unfortunately, during this submission under IT, Charles got lost and it is only when she undergoes her brother's release that we finally see Meg show her true personality and maturity. The decision in which we see Meg fully develop her character is when she returns to confront him to save her brother, for love. The factors and experiences that made Meg make this choice were: the love for her brother, the maturity she gained throughout the journey, and his overall understanding of her being special in many ways. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay Meg realized that it was still her responsibility as an older sister to protect her little brother, and she l feeling like you haven't done your job because of your insecurities. We see throughout the story that Meg has a very strong bond with Charles because of their "differences." Charles also always had empathy for Meg and her mother and could always identify when they were in trouble and when they needed him. This kind of bond had made them closer and stronger, because not only did Meg and Charles love each other immensely, but they also suffered criticism from people for being different. During their journey, Meg finds herself constantly dependent on her brother and his intelligence to overcome obstacles. From the beginning of the story, we see that Meg was always holding his hand to do something. And while they were on their journey, we can also see that Meg was relying on Charles a little too much. L'Engle says: “They saw nothing but floating whiteness, and the moisture clung to them and condensed into icy droplets. As Meg shivered, Calvin's grip tightened. Before her, Charles Wallace sat quietly. Once, he turned around, just long enough to give her a quick look of tenderness and concern” (L’Engle 50). We can quickly see here that Meg relies heavily on Charles' warmth and leadership to guide and protect her. And it was only when she realized that her brother was being held under IT control that Meg finally took her position as an older sister. Her love and appreciation for her brother was the cause of Meg finally taking courage and facing her greatest fear: her brother. insecurities. If Charles had not been taken back, it would have taken Meg much longer to finally make her own choices and face a bold leadership role, but because of her love for him, she accepted this role without any doubt. With this.