Flashcards for A Wrinkle in Time

Aunt Beast

Aunt Beast is a massive, tentacled being who lives on the planet Ixchel, a place shrouded in perpetual darkness where sight doesn’t exist.

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Calvin O'Keefe

Calvin O'Keefe is a tall, red-haired high school athlete who, despite his popularity and academic talents, feels deeply out of place in his neglectful family.

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Charles Wallace Murry

Charles Wallace Murry is Meg's five-year-old younger brother and one of the key figures in the novel.

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IT (the Black Brain)

IT is the main antagonist of A Wrinkle in Time — a disembodied, pulsating brain that acts as the malevolent intelligence controlling the dark planet Camazotz.

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Meg Murry

Meg Murry is the thirteen-year-old protagonist and emotional heart of A Wrinkle in Time.

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Mr. Murry

Mr. Murry is a brilliant physicist working on a secret government project, and his disappearance is the driving force behind the plot of A Wrinkle in Time.

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Mrs. Murry

Mrs. Murry is an exceptional scientist and the emotional heart of the Murry family in Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.

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Mrs. Whatsit

Mrs. Whatsit is one of three celestial guides—along with Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which—who lead Meg Murry, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe on their cosmic mission to rescue Mr. Murry from the darkness of Camazotz.

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Mrs. Which

Mrs. Which is the oldest and most powerful of the three celestial guides—Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and herself—who help Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin on their quest to rescue Mr. Murry from the dark planet Camazotz.

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Mrs. Who

Mrs. Who is one of three celestial guardians—along with Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Which—who help guide Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin on their journey through time and space to rescue Mr. Murry from the planet Camazotz.

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The Happy Medium

The Happy Medium is a small but memorable supporting character in A Wrinkle in Time.

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The Man with Red Eyes

The Man with Red Eyes is the main human-faced agent of IT on the planet Camazotz, acting as a menacing gatekeeper and enforcer of total conformity.

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“Maybe I don't like being different, but I don't want to be like everybody else, either.”

This line is delivered by Meg Murry, the young protagonist of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.

Meg Murry

“The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

This biblical quotation (1 Corinthians 1:25) is voiced by Mrs. Whatsit in Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time during an early scene where the three celestial guides — Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which — are getting Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin ready for their perilous journey through the universe to rescue Mr. Murry.

Mrs. Who · Chapter 5 – The Tesseract

“Like and equal are not the same thing at all.”

This line is spoken by Meg Murry in Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time during the children's encounter with the oppressive, conformist society of Camazotz.

Meg Murry · Chapter 9 – IT

“Love. That was what she had that IT did not have.”

This key moment happens at the climax of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time when Meg Murry goes back to Camazotz alone to save her younger brother, Charles Wallace, from the oppressive mental entity known as IT.

Meg Murry (narrative internal realization) · Chapter 12 – "The Foolish and the Weak"

“Nothing is hopeless; we must hope for everything.”

This line is delivered by Mrs. Whatsit to Meg Murry during a crucial moment in A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.

Mrs. Whatsit

“Meg, I give you your faults.”

This important line is delivered by Mrs. Whatsit to Meg Murry near the climax of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.

Mrs. Whatsit · Chapter 11 – Aunt Beast

“Wild nights are my glory.”

This lively declaration is made by Mrs. Whatsit early in the novel when she bursts into the Murry family's farmhouse on a stormy night, soaking wet and clearly enjoying the tumult of the weather.

Mrs. Whatsit · Chapter 1 – Mrs. Whatsit

“We do not know what things look like. We know what things are like.”

This line is spoken by Aunt Beast, one of the gentle, sightless beings on the planet Ixchel, likely directed at Meg Murry during the chapters when Meg is healing from her traumatic tesser through the dark shadow of Camazotz.

Aunt Beast · Chapter 11 – Aunt Beast

“A straight line is not the shortest distance between two points.”

This line is spoken by Mrs. Whatsit to Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin in Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time (1962), during the early chapters when the three mysterious celestial beings — Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which — start to explain the concept of the tesseract to the children.

Mrs. Whatsit · Chapter 5 – The Tesseract

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on.”

This quote is delivered by Mrs. Whatsit in Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time (1962) during an early scene where she surprises the Murry family—especially Mrs. Murry—by quoting it before she leaves into the night.

Mrs. Whatsit · Chapter 1 – Mrs. Whatsit

IT / The Central Intelligence

In Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, IT—the disembodied, pulsating brain on the planet Camazotz—represents the frightening extreme of conformity and collectivism, where individual identity is completely erased.

Light and Darkness

In A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, light and darkness are at the heart of the story's moral and spiritual conflict.

Mrs. Whatsit's Transformation

In A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, Mrs. Whatsit turns into a stunning centaur-like creature on the planet Uriel, showcasing the blend of beauty and sacrifice.

The Black Thing

In Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, the Black Thing serves as a key symbol of cosmic evil, representing darkness and the forces that threaten love, freedom, and light.

The Tesseract

In A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, the tesseract represents how love and faith can go beyond what we can rationally understand.

Symbolism

In A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle employs light and darkness as a consistent symbolic framework that aligns closely with the novel's moral landscape.

Paradox

In A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle centers her narrative on paradox — truths that may seem contradictory at first glance yet reveal deeper significance.

Allusion

In A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle skillfully incorporates allusions to ground her extraordinary story in familiar moral and intellectual traditions.

Allegory

In A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle weaves an allegory where the cosmic battle between light and darkness reflects the struggle between individuality and totalitarian conformity.

Metaphor

In A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle employs metaphor effectively, particularly through the concept of the "tesseract."

Motif

In A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle skillfully intertwines light and darkness as a central theme that underscores the novel's moral and emotional stakes throughout.

Extended Metaphor

In A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle uses the tesseract—the "wrinkle" referred to in the title—as an extended metaphor to connect the unseen structures of love and courage with the physics of space travel.

Imagery

In A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle uses vivid imagery to make the fantastical feel intensely real, grounding cosmic terror and wonder in physical sensations.

Juxtaposition

In A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle uses juxtaposition as both a structural and thematic tool, consistently contrasting radiant good with absolute darkness to heighten the stakes of Meg's journey.