Dori has taught college and high school English courses, and has Masters degrees in both literature and education.
Meg Murry, her younger brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O'Keefe have travelled through time and space to the cave of the Happy Medium. They are trying to find Mr. Murry, Meg and Charles Wallace's father. He's been missing for years, off on secret work for the government. In the previous chapter, Meg and the others learn that he's currently on a planet controlled by the Black Thing, a cloud of concentrated evil that is taking over the Universe. It is their job to save Mr. Murry and defeat the Black Thing.
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The children lean in closer, and the crystal ball shows a great burst of light that makes some of the Black Thing disappear. Mrs. Whatsit tells them what has just happened… a star has sacrificed itself to fight the Black Thing. The children learn that Mrs. Whatsit used to be a star, but she sacrificed herself. In fact, all the Mrs. Ws (Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which, who brought the kids through space to fight the Black Thing) were once stars.
The group begins to leave, and the Happy Medium offers them some food. Meg is hungry, but Mrs. Whatsit refuses. Charles Wallace says maybe the women need to be reminded that humans need to eat. The Happy Medium offers to show the children their mothers.
They see Calvin's mother first, who is hitting one of his younger siblings with a wooden spoon. Meg holds Calvin's hand to comfort him. Then they see Mrs. Murry, Meg and Charles Wallace's mother. She is writing a letter to their father. Then she hides her face in sadness. Meg says that the Black Thing has already hurt her mother, so they need to get on with fighting it.
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Mrs. Whatsit tells the kids they are heading to a planet called Camazotz, and the group tessers there. Mrs. Whatsit tells Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin that she and Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which cannot come with them, but they will stay near. Mrs. Whatsit tells them that Mr. Murry is on Camazotz, but nothing more.
The perceptive Charles Wallace asks her why she is scared. She was a star, and she wasn't afraid then. Mrs. Whatsit tells Charles Wallace that she was very scared when she sacrificed herself. Then she gives each kid a talisman. Meg is given her own faults, Charles Wallace is given the ability to bounce back, and Calvin is given the gift of communication.
Mrs. Who has a gift for each kid, too. She gives Meg her glasses, but tells her not to put them on until she needs them. She gives Calvin the warning that it (though we don't know what it is just yet) is a quotation from a Shakespeare play and reminds Charles Wallace that he doesn't know everything.
Mrs. Which gives advice to the group. She tells them to go into town, stay together, and remain strong.
Mrs. Whatsit has some final advice for Charles Wallace. She tells him to take care of Meg, and that he is in the most danger of them all. She warns him about his pride and arrogance. He's annoyed by her warnings.
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Then the kids head down the hill toward the town in the distance. It's a strange place. All the houses are exactly the same. In front of each house, children play with balls or jump ropes, but they are all bouncing and jumping to the same rhythm. A mother comes to the door of each house, dressed exactly alike, and all the children go inside at the same moment.
Except for one boy, who is playing to his own rhythm. His mother pulls him inside, and he drops the ball he's been bouncing. Charles Wallace picks up the ball and tries to bring it to the child, but the mother insists her son never dropped it, and won't let them inside unless they have papers. The kid grabs the ball and the mother slams the door in their faces.
They walk further, and the identical houses are replaced by identical apartment buildings. A teenager delivers newspapers, and each one lands exactly the same. The boy stops and talks to them. He mentions CENTRAL Central Intelligence, where IT lives, and then he quotes the Manual.
Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin are completely confused. They see more people, and they walk stiffly like robots. Everyone ignores the three of them.
At the center of the town is a big building, which Charles Wallace says must be CENTRAL Central Intelligence (CCI). He wants to go in, and Meg doesn't. Charles Wallace says these people are definitely people and not robots. Many of the people are heading into CCI, and Charles Wallace suddenly stops. He's worried he won't recognize Mr. Murry after not seeing him for such a long time.
Meg tells him that he will recognize their father. Calvin interrupts them to say he has a really bad feeling about going into the CCI building.
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Though the Happy Medium tries to leave the kids with a happy memory by showing them their mothers, it fails. Calvin watches his mother beat one of his siblings, and Meg and Charles Wallace see the despair their mother has been hiding. This angers Meg enough to throw herself wholeheartedly into the quest to save her father. And so the children arrive on Camazotz, but not before being graced with gifts and advice from the three Mrs. Ws.
Right away, Camazotz, which we know is controlled by the Black Thing, is a strange place. The creepy children who play in unison, the repeated references to CCI and IT, and the terror they see on the faces of the people at any deviation is a warning about what they are up against. Charles Wallace wants to go into the CCI building; but Calvin, who has kept mostly quiet this whole time, cannot bear the tension any more. He blurts out that going into the CCI building is a really bad idea.
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