Wednesday, September 1, 2010

In A Wrinkle in Time, what does Mrs. Murry mean when she says, “. . . just because we don’t understand doesn’t mean that the explanation...

In this passage, Meg comes up to her mother, Mrs. Murry, and asks her if she is upset. Her mother replies yes. Mrs. Murry explains that she misses Meg's father and believes that the appearance of Mrs. Whatsit has something to do with his disappearance. Meg asks "but what?" Mrs. Murry replies that she doesn't know and explains that although she believes everything has a reason, sometimes our human limitations prevent us from understanding it. From there, she goes on to comment in the quote above that just because we don't understand something doesn't mean it can't be explained. We have to "suspend disbelief," which means to accept that things that appear incredible to our rational minds may be true. 


This is crucial to the Christian message at the heart of the novel. Science may be important, but mysteries exist that we humans are too limited to comprehend. Sometimes we simply have to accept what we can't understand, be it the existence of God or that "wrinkles in time" can take us to far away planets. 

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