As the winged creatures sing, Charles Wallace tries to interpret for the others. Mrs. Whatsit translates for them. What feeling do Meg and Calvin experience as they listen to the music? Why do you think the author chose to use the biblical passage from Isaiah 42:10-12 as the translation of the creatures' songs? What kind of tone does this set for the passage?
More and more, it seems that she's attempting to have children think for themselves and make their own conclusions as to what constitutes reality. And yet, L’Engle does not ignore the spiritual side of her story either. She readily uses creation myths pulled from a Christian framework to create the world of Uriel. As the children fly over the world, L’Engle introduces a garden, meant to represent the Garden of Eden, and the song that the creatures there sing is taken from the book of Isaiah. It is a hymn that the angels in heaven sing. L’Engle uses the world of Uriel to represent purity and new creation, something akin to heaven, though this world is not divorced from science and reason.
