Imagine living in total peace, but being mind-controlled every minute of your life. The book A Wrinkle in Time describes such life in Camazotz; being controlled by IT, which is a brain that tries to drag you in, absorb your life force, and control you. Honestly, I don’t think that is a fair trade for peace and order. I think that, while there might be advantages to Camazotz, it is still, overall, a bad place to live in. First of all, what are the advantages of Camazotz? You get peace and order. There are no conflicts, for a simple reason: no one has any opinions, because they are all controlled by one brain. Opinion is the root of war. For example, the trade war started because Trump thought that other countries were making too much money importing to America, but China thinks the tariffs are unjust. The keyword here is “think.” Conflicts start because two sides, in this case, America and China, have different opinions, thoughts, on a certain subject, which in this case, is tariffs. However, in Camazotz, everyone is controlled by one thing, thus everyone has the same thoughts and opinions. Nevertheless, there are still many disadvantages. While you may be tempted by the good things Camazotz has to offer, keep in mind that there are many bad things about it too. First of all, you have no freedom. You are possessed every day, sometimes involuntarily, by IT. In other words, you are brain-dead, a zombie. Also, you can’t experience the fun of life, because, technically speaking, your life is not yours; it’s IT’s. This means that you are basically slaves. Even though IT isn’t doing anything bad with the people on Camazotz right now if IT wanted to wage war, I could just use the people of Camazotz for soldiers. Personally, I think that is one of the most inhumane and wrong things that could ever be done. All in all, three words: Camazotz is bad. I mean, look at how willingly people are willing to rebel for freedom. The American Revolution. The Civil War (of America). The Yellow Scarf Rebellion (in China). Humans strain and strive to be free; it’s in their nature. Yet IT is taking this freedom away and turning humans into playthings, puppets.Is it really ideal to live under a “leader” like this? To have your own body, your own legs, your own feet, your own head…but not your own brain? Even the bad things that happen in the world are human will. We get to control our own life here. But on Camazotz, you have no control over anything, even your own life. What kind of world is that? However, as much as I am firm in my saying that Camazotz is not a good place to live, it is still my own opinion. What about you? After hearing this, would you still like to live on Camazotz? Perhaps, just like Madeleine L’Engle envisioned the bizarre world in A Wrinkle in Time when many stunning scientific breakthroughs that relate to the book were not made yet, you can envision the good in Camazotz. After all, there is a good side and a bad side to everything; the world is a delicate balance between right and wrong. As Angelina Jolie said, “[Everything] has two sides, a good side, and a bad side…We must embrace both.”
a wrinkle in time
Madeleine L’Engle Talks about Letting the Book Write Itself
Author of “A Wrinkle in Time”. . Madeleine l’Engle. Many authors talk about the precision with which they plot out their books, taking pride in being in full control of the process. Other authors, Madeleine L’Engle included, acknowledge and even embrace a less conscious level of control. In this except from a longer talk by Madeleine L’Engle, she talks about writing as a mystical process in which she, the author has a relationship with her story that is rather mystical. She talks about the story as having a life of its own — with its own needs — and herself, the author, as a servant of the story. A practical way of helping students understand what Madeleine L’Engle is saying is that once you start writing you may find that the story you have created takes on a life of its own and that you need to follow where it (your imagination) is taking you even if this may not be the original direction you had planned out for your story. • Let your story tell itself. • Let your heart speak, too, don’t just write a story from your mind.
