A Swiftly Tilting Planet — Chapter 1

About This Passage

This is one of the most quietly powerful passages in the chapter, and it is worth slow study because of how Madeleine L'Engle uses simple sentences to do enormous work. Notice the rhythm: four short statements, each one adding a small piece of hope to the last. The first sentence ('It hasn't happened yet') is almost flat, almost stubborn — Charles Wallace is just refusing the doom in the room. The second sentence is even shorter ('Nuclear war') and lands like a stone. The third corrects the doom slightly ('No missiles have been sent'). The fourth turns the whole thing into a principle ('As long as it hasn't happened, there's a chance that it may not happen'). The whole passage is a small lesson in how to argue against despair without lying about how bad things are.

Narration Prompt

Retell the chapter in your own words, paying special attention to the moment the room goes silent after the President's call. What changes in the room before anyone has even said anything?

Discussion Questions

1. Charles Wallace is described as being 'small for his 15 years' and yet his eyes are 'mature and highly intelligent.' He stays silent for most of the chapter and then speaks up at exactly the right moment to give the family hope. What kind of person stays silent and watches before speaking? Is Charles Wallace shy, or is he doing something more powerful by waiting?
2. Look at how Madeleine L'Engle moves the camera in this chapter. First we are inside the warm kitchen with the cooking. Then we are at the phone with Mr. Murry's face. Then we are with each family member as they hear the news. Then we are at the table singing. Why does the author keep moving from the small details (a wooden spoon, a pile of plates) to the huge ones (war, the end of the world)? What does this back-and-forth do to the way we feel about what is happening?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide