The story is about Meg, her teacher, Mr. Jenkins, and her friend Calvin who tried to stop creatures called Echthroi from destroying all creation including her brother, Charles Wallace.
Meg and her companions also teamed up with a cherubim, Proginoskes, and Blajeny, their guide. They all ended up having to travel to a distant galaxy and even inside of Charles Wallace.
The story began when Meg came home from school and her brother, Charles Wallace, said that he saw dragons in his garden. Meg and her friend went to investigate the garden. They discovered that it was not dragons that were in the garden, it was a cherubim. With the cherubim was Blajeny, whom they called the Teacher because he became their guide.
Blajeny explained to Meg and Calvin that there were creatures called Echthroi that were trying to destroy all creation. Also, he told them that Charles Wallace was being attacked by them. The cherubim, Proginoskes, joined Meg and Calvin. They were informed by Blajeny that they must complete their first test, even though they were never told what the test was. They figured out that they must name, or love, Mr. Jenkins, Meg's teacher. They had trouble naming Mr. Jenkins because there were Echthroi that were like Mr. Jenkins, who mimicked him. Eventually Meg named the real Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Jenkins joined their group.
Meg and her companions went into Charles Wallace's mitochondria to stop the Echthroi from killing Charles Wallace. Meg and Proginoskes found out that their second test was to make a creature in the mitochondria mature. After the creature matured then they would be able to save Charles Wallace.
However, the creature joined the Echthroi because the Echthroi misled him. Meg was able to convince the creature to mature although the Echthroi captured Mr. Jenkins. Their third test was to free Mr. Jenkins from the Echthroi. The way Meg did it was that she named the Echthroi in order to make them part of creation. Therefore, she thwarted the Echthroi's plans and the Echthroi were no longer a threat.
Charles Wallace displayed his uniqueness or difference from other people in this story. His difference from other people was his weakness. First, he had a knowledge that was extremely early for his age. Charles Wallace knew about “farandolae and mitochondria” which not even the teacher knew. Then the teacher scolded him and told him to “stop making silly things up, and next time I call on you, don't show off”. Charles Wallace unique knowledge made him get scolded which he saw as a weakness.
Charles Wallace also had a unique sickness. He suffered from “mitochondritis - the destruction of farandolae.” This sickness or disease caused him to become physically vulnerable. Charles Wallace had “his fresh wounds band-aided, his small nose looking puffy and red.” This physical vulnerability led to him to be bullied.
These instances of his uniqueness led people to think that he was mentally ill. Therefore, people treated him differently, which made it hard for him. Charles Wallace “had always been thought of by the villagers as peculiar, and probably not quite all there.” They thought “that littlest Murry kid is weird.”
Charles Wallace's weakness made him have a better chance of living because it made him believe in Meg. Meg was trying to save Charles Wallace and if he believed in her then he thought he was going to live. Most of the time, if you had the will to live you will live.
The setting in this story was dark. All the main events took place in darkness. For example, Meg met Proginoskes and Blajeny at night after “the twins looked through the darkness at the slashing rain.” The chapter was also called “The Man in the Night.”
The nothingness in the setting of the story is related to blackness or darkness. When there was a “rip in the sky” there was a spot of nothingness. Also, the rip in the sky “became a rent, emptiness, a slash of nothingness.” When Meg traveled to a dark distant planet “nothing is anywhere” so we see a relation of everywhere nothingness or darkness.
This nothingness meant that the Echthroi were in control because they are nothingness. Meg must stop them or the Echthroi's plan will be accomplished. Meg named the Echthroi so that they would become something and the nothingness would go away.
In conclusion, this story was similar to what will happen in the second coming. The Echthroi (our culture) is dark and sinful and is destroying what God created and what his plan was. Then Meg (Jesus) came and destroyed the Echthroi (sin) and saved the world.
