Appreciation

The books that we like are the books that we can relate to.  Where, a character faces the problems we face.  And from knowing that, that these characters face the problems we face, we feel a little better about our problems knowing that we're not alone, and we don't have to be as afraid to face these problems.  It's the "real" characters that make an impact on us, not the fake ones.  The fake ones are the ones that are too perfect, or the ones that are too bad.  It's the real characters that make a book.  Like Holden Caulfield (from Catcher in the Rye) always liked to stress, no one likes a phony, and the world is full of them.

The book, A Wrinkle in Time, is a prime example of just that.  A Wrinkle in Time is a book about three children (Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin) and these three witches they meet and their ultimate battle against evil and darkness.  They constantly fight for their lives, and their minds against the eeeevillll IT.  Throughout this battle though, Meg finds other things, she finds love, excitement, and somebody outside her family who loves her and accepts her for who she is.

Meg is a character with many faults.  At first, she seems like just another one of those phony characters, but as you read further, you find out that she isn't at all.  Underneath all of those faults, you find a real person.  A person that has things other than faults, and you find out that those faults are REAL faults, and not some corny book faults.  Meg is a real person, a person we can all relate too.

Charles Wallace is Meg's younger brother, who is four years old.  On the surface he looks like just another 4 year old kid, but on the inside he is completely different.  On the inside he is a TOTAL genius.  He is extremely smart and almost knows everything.  Along with him being a genius, there's something else that's different and strange about him.  He can read minds.  In the story, whenever Meg and their mother is having a problem, he already knows without them telling him.  He always knows what they're thinking.  Now even with all of his smarts and skills, Charles Wallace still makes dumb mistakes,  and this is what makes him a real character, and a character people can relate to.

Calvin, on the surface, is the picture perfect teenage guy.  He's a hunk (a.k.a HAWT), he's an amazing athlete, and gets really good grades.  Everyone wants to be his friend.  You would think that he's just one of those picture perfect phony high school jocks that all movies and all books have.  But, in the story you find out there's more to him, more under the surface.  His family life is terrible, he lives in a negligent abusive family.  And that's what sets him aside from all the phonies.


A Wrinkle in A Time is truly a great story, a story that we can all value.  And although we may not all like stories of heroes and heroines conquering evil ITs, we all have issues, and we all have problems and we all want to know we aren't alone.  And this why A Wrinkle in Time is an amazing story.