A Wrinkle in Time’s Utopias by Matthew Jue
1: Introduction
2: The Murry family
3: Camazotz
4: Uriel
5: Conclusion
A Wrinkle in Time, written in 1962 by the now famous author Madeleine L’Engle, was a select book that defined 21st century literature. It was the first children’s science fiction book, and the story itself was so revolutional that L’Engle had to deal with countless rejections from publishers until she was finally able to find one that would sell the novel. The plot consists of Meg and Charles Wallace Murry trying to save their father from the clutches of the evil IT. With the help of Calvin O’Keefe and three magical ladies named Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which, the children travel across the universe, discovering things about themselves that they never knew existed. During their encounters on other planets, L’Engle portrays many different societies, most of which have some relation to the idea of utopia.
In A Wrinkle in Time, two important but different societies are presented: there are worlds that have characteristics of a utopia, and there are worlds that have characteristics of a dystopia. A dystopia is, of course, the opposite of a utopia, which is a word used to describe a perfect world. In describing one world as a utopia or dystopia, remember to acknowledge point of view – one person’s perfect world may be hell to another. For A Wrinkle in Time, the discussion will mostly be focused around the reader’s point of view, since this is the way the author wanted the book to be shown as.
The first notion of any utopia in A Wrinkle in Time is the description of the Murry family. Mrs. Murry is the ideal mother figure – she loves her children and takes wonderful care of them, while still being able to work as a scientist and maintain her beautiful looks. When Mrs. Whatsit, a complete stranger to everyone but Charles Wallace, visits the house during a nasty storm, Mrs. Murry shows incredible hospitality – she offers food, clothes, and a refuge from the harsh weather. Nowhere in the story is there any mention of flaws in Mrs. Murry’s character – she is the perfect mother. Likewise, Sandy and Dennys, two male twins that are the youngest of the Murry family, are also shown in an idyllic light without many flaws. They are exceptional at sports, get decent grades, and have more common sense that usual for ten year olds. Even the family dog, Fortinbras, is the ‘perfect’ suburban canine – he follows the children around, is not a hassle, and is potty trained (I think).
Despite these utopian characteristics, the Murry family does have some obvious imperfections. The most noticeable void in the family is the lack of a father figure – Mr. Murry is missing, but not much is said of his whereabouts during the first four chapters, except that he has been gone for a very long time, and that only his father believes he is coming back. The reader later learns that Mr. Murry, while doing governmental scientific experiments, was able to “tesseract” through the universe. However, he was unable to control what planet he landed on, and so he ended up on Camazotz, where he is being held captive (for reasons never explained). The Murry family is able to function without Mr. Murry, but without him there is always an innate sadness and longing for him back. Next, both Meg and Charles Wallace Murry do not fit into the utopian picture of the family. Meg has far too many flaws – she is stubborn, single-minded, and unchanging. One definite characteristic of a utopia is the ability to conform and fit in – both Meg and Charles Wallace are unable to do this. Meg’s physical appearance is a direct representation of her character – she has freckles, wears glasses, and has frizzy hair. In short, Meg Murry is too unique in order to be considered in any type of utopia. Charles Wallace is almost the same way, but for different reasons. He is extraordinarily smart, and, simply put, different from other humans. The Murry family utopia outlook is not the place for Charles Wallace, even though all the family members love and accept him.
Altogether, the Murry family is split between characters of being a utopian family and not being one. Since there are so many factors that have to be correct in order to define something as a utopia, the Murry family cannot be unquestionably called one. Meg, Charles Wallace, and the fact that Mr. Murry is missing are all reasons why this cannot be true.
The planet Camazotz is the heart of all the evil in A Wrinkle in Time’s universe. IT, a giant, scheming brain, resides at CENTRAL Central Intelligence, and IT is able to rule the whole world through nefarious, mind controlling techniques. In the eyes of the reader, the inhabitants of Camazotz create a dystopia with their singular, absent-minded lifestyles. Their society is similar to extreme communism – the government (or in this case Central Intelligence) controls everything, including jobs, mating, house decorating, and everyday actions such as eating, exercising, and entertainment. The people live and act as a singular unit – the children bounce the ball at the same rate, and adults go about their daily business much like ants in an anthill. However, the people still have some sort of individuality, as shown by the schoolteacher who reports the children and the boy who is unable to bounce his ball like the others, but as a whole they function as one unit. L’Engle’s tone in these chapters is dark and menacing, thus showing her negative attitude towards worlds that act like this.
If the simplified definition of a utopia is a perfect society, and a dystopia is the opposite of utopia, then Camazotz is a perfect example of a dystopia. To IT, the planet may be ‘perfect’ and exactly how IT wants the world to be, but to Meg, Charles, and everyone else, Camazotz is a horrible, enslaving place that is the reverse of a perfect Western civilization society (I say Western civilization because other countries, such as Russia, may have a different view on what really is the ideal culture). The ideas of communism and dystopia are proportionally related to each other – communism is the government’s attempt to better society by making everyone equal, while dystopia is a failed or flawed attempt at a utopia. In A Wrinkle in Time, the civilization of Camazotz seems to be working together flawlessly, or at least on the surface to Meg it looks this way. Nevertheless, in the view of Meg, this society is horrible since there is no free will or individuality, two traits that are essential to a utopia, according to an American definition of it.
To me, the most intriguing aspect of Camazotz is the ability of IT to rule the planet by just using mental strength. IT is able to create what IT considers the best society without the use of physical violence or wars but rather through some sort of massive, persuasive brain control – this sort of thing has never been accomplished on Earth, even with the use of force. The Romans were unable to control the whole world for a sustained period of time, and the Nazis could not even conquer all of Europe using extreme force and death. I understand that A Wrinkle in Time is science fiction (children’s sci-fi at that), but I am still interested in how exactly IT is able to exert such force on people who seem to have at least some sort of free will and individual thinking (The people are able to hold unique conversations with Meg and Charles Wallace, for example). Of course, the book is a little vague on the details of Camazotz, and there could be some sort of internal war going on but with no mention of it, but the way Madeleine L’Engle described the planet, it seemed as if IT was able to control all of the inhabitants without much effort. Even Mr. Murry explains that himself, Meg, and Calvin, can fight IT because IT is not used to having to deal with resistance.
Next, the planet Uriel is introduced to Meg and company as a place of rest during their long tesser from the Earth to Camazotz. It also could be the home world of Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which, since Mrs. Whatsit is able to transform into the native inhabitants of Uriel (I say ‘could’ since the three ladies are able to transform into humanoid creatures, but they are not from Earth, so the same could be happening on this world. Even the book acknowledges the fact that the ladies are beyond human comprehension in terms of who they really are, so any character trait of them is merely speculation, no matter how obvious the idea might be). Meg sees Uriel as complete serenity – everything there is at peace, and the four-legged flying beasts are all singing praises to a higher deity while sitting in the grass and relaxing. The planet is one of the few who are not under the control of the Black Thing – this fact allows for more freedom in defining it is a utopia, since any planet vigorously fighting the Black Thing is more susceptible to becoming a sort of dystopia.
To the beasts on Uriel, the planet is a complete utopia. They seem utterly content on singing praises all day, and they have free will to do otherwise if they so wanted to. There seems to be no government present that controls their life, and so it seems as if L’Engle is making some sort of social commentary on government as a whole – it creates some sort of misleading dystopia, such as on the planet Camazotz. She is saying that without government, the creatures are able to create their own perfect, utopian world, which they can call home. However, this world is not the perfect place for everyone, as shown with the humans.
Even though Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin enjoy their stay on Uriel, it is in no means a utopia for them. First, they are not suited for that environment – the weather is far too cold for them. Next, none of their family or friends lives on the planet, so they would unhappy living there. Even though the world may be a utopia for others, it is not a utopia for everyone – point of view is very important when describing anything. Charles Wallace would think of his life wasted if he spent all of his time singing, but the beasts that do just that most likely are content in living their life out this way.
While reading A Wrinkle in Time, I did not enjoy the children’s stay on Uriel at all. The world seemed, to me at least, boring and uneventful. I know that to the beasts living there, Uriel must have been heaven, whether it is because they simply enjoyed singing or knew no other life. But to me, I thought everything there was a stretch – even the flowers that the children breathed in for oxygen was unoriginal and more of the ‘same old, same old’ science fiction material. I know that this was one of the first sci-fi novels, and so all of the others might be copying this idea from the book, but to me the whole world seemed cliché and, to be blunt, dull.
Many different ideas are presented in A Wrinkle in Time, and all are interesting to tear apart and examine. The idea of different worlds being utopias or dystopias is an arguable notion, since every argument is related to what point of view is being taken. For example, the mother on Camazotz might be completely content and think her world is perfect since that is all she knows, while the reader understands the falseness in this statement, since she is basically a slave drone to IT. This same philosophy can be applied to our society – most likely I have a very different view on what a utopian society should be like than you do. In conclusion, the term utopia is used to describe a perfect world, but the definition of what really is a perfect world is different for each person.
