payment page
She had Mrs. Whatsit’s love, and her father’s, and her mother’s, and the real Charles Wallace’s love, and the twins’, and Aunt Beast’s. And she had her love for them. But how could she use it? What was she meant to do? If she could give love to IT perhaps it would shrivel up and die, for she was sure that IT could not withstand love.
Meg’s most critical realization happens in this moment, when she discovers love is what she possesses that IT does not, as Mrs. Which previously foreshadowed. Meg realizes that love’s triumph rests in both being loved and loving in return. Ultimately, Meg’s capacity to love is the source of her victory over evil. When she relentlessly declares her love for Charles Wallace, it breaks him free from IT’s hypnotic grip, pulling him out from under the controlling force that kept him captive.
Calvin reached over and took off her glasses. Then he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped her tears. This gesture of tenderness undid her completely, and she put her head down on her knees and sobbed.
This moment reveals Calvin’s budding romantic interest in Meg, when he comes to visit the Murry house and stays for dinner. Calvin and Meg go on a walk, and when Calvin pulls off her glasses and extends his handkerchief, Meg feels seen and cared for in a way that overwhelms her. Later in the scene, Calvin compliments her eyes, and it’s clear that love even in its most innocent form has great power to bring confidence and goodness into one’s life. Calvin’s love for Meg is an important part of the triumph she experiences over her own insecurities.
As she pressed against her father, all was forgotten except joy. There was only the peace and comfort of leaning against him, the wonder of the protecting circle of his arms, the feeling of complete reassurance and safety that his presence always gave her.
Meg’s love for her father is one of the clearest illustrations of the triumphant power of familial love. Meg’s deep love for Mr. Murry and her belief that once he is rescued, all will be well, propels her through the dangerous quest to Camazotz. Though Meg will eventually have to reckon with her father’s human limitations, when she finally reaches him inside the prison cell, their embrace is a clear embodiment of Meg’s fierce love for him.
Then there was a whirring, and Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which were standing in front of them, and the joy and love were so tangible that Meg felt that if she only knew where to reach she could touch it with her bare hands.
At the novel’s end, love’s true triumph is signaled by the pervasive presence of joy and goodness as the characters reunite outside the Murry home. Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which join the celebration briefly, bringing a sense of peace and resolution. Mrs. Which’s instructions and Mrs. Whatsit’s declaration of love for Meg both significantly contributed to her victory over evil, and their arrival seems to confirm that love has truly won.
