GOOD vs. eeevil

In the story of A Wrinkle in Time, I believe that the "good" is the allowence of happiness, and that the "evil" is the blocking of happiness and beauty (not literally "beauty," but beauty in the eye of the beholder). I am not quite finished with the story, actually, I am about to start chapter 7: the man with the red eyes, and am very anxious in finishing it and seeing what happens. As I said, from what I have read so far, it seems that there are a few different types of "good" such as the people (Meg, Charles, Calvin, the mother, the Ms. W's, and Happy Medium), who can see good in things and have a more broad outlook in life, who can see the beauty in life. And then there are the different types of "evil," such as the dark thing, the greyness on Medium's planet, and the people on the Camazotz planet, who try to cover up the beauty and make things either dark or the same as everything else (not real).

"Mr. Murray was running across the lawn, Mrs. Murray running toward him, and they were in each other's arms, and then there was a tremendous happy jumble of arms and legs and hugging, the older Murrays and Meg and Charles Wallace and the twins, and Calvin grinning by them until Meg reached out and pulled him in and Mrs. Murray gave him a special hug all of his own. They were talking and laughing all at once, when they were startled by a crash, and Fortinbras, who could bear being left out of the happiness not one second longer, catapulted his sleek black body right through the screened door to the kitchen. He dashed across the lawn to join in the joy, and almost knocked them all over with the exuberance of his greeting" (201-202).

- I think that L'Engle uses her conception of good in this passage by showing that in the end, the family (blood-related or not) is all you need to be happy. Calvin became part of the Murray's family, and seemed to fit in to this family much more than his own. Even the dog, Fort, is part of this loving family and knows when he wants to be surrounded by them and when they need each other the most. This is the epitamy of happiness and "good" in this story, and in my opinion, in life. As long as you fight for the people you love, and keep them close to you and in your heart through out all of lifes journey's, then you will find happniess.

""I hate it!" Charles Wallace cried passionately. "I hate the Dark Thing!" Mrs. Whatsit nodded. "Yes, Charles dear. We all do. That's another reason we wanted to prepare you on Uriel. We thought it would be too frightening for you to see it first of all about your own, beloved world." "But what is it?" Calvin demanded. "We know that it's evil, but what is it?" "Yyouu hhave ssaidd iit!" Mrs. Which's voice rang out. "Itt iss Eevill. Itt iss thee Ppowers of Ddarrkknesss!"" (85).

- I think that this is a clear example of L'Engle is trying to say of what she considers "evil." It is dark and we hate it, but we are not sure exactly what it is, but it seems to always be there. I think that this is more of a concept that has multiple meanings, because I think she is trying to say what is considered "evil" in this story, but also saying that since it can not be described, it is completely in the eye of the beholder to what evil actually is. To me, evil is saddness and unhappiness to those who do not deserve it, but it means something different to every one.

Basically, when it comes to a conclusion... I honestly believe that this story is just trying to get the basics of the fact that good and evil are every where, in every world, all the time. Good and evil are however different to every one individually... and yet the same to everyone in some context also, as to say that there is always good and evil. The "us" in this story is the main characters (Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace), the "them" is the three ladies, Ms. Which, Ms. Whatsit, and Ms. Who, and the "it" is the Dark Thing (or evil thing).