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A Wrinkle In Time

 It was probably some kind of mistake to teach A Wrinkle in Time to my ninth graders. It was originally written at a middle school level. On the other hand, Meg is in the 9th grade. Calvin is an advanced junior.

We could lament the decline of the modern student, since I taught early high school, and L’Engle imagined some sixth graders—perhaps reaching a bit, even in 1960–taking it on.

On the other hand, the allusions are so rich that literally any person can be enriched by it. I know I always am.

Funny thing about the controversies around the book: I am inclined to think that a certain kind of ideology-motivated teacher loves “banned books” because it allows them to take shots at organized traditional religions, public school skeptics, and other politically “bad” people. This is literally the land of the free; you let me know, if any level of government moves to actually ban or prohibit a book.

And no, offending your community on purpose isn’t a blow for freedom, Bob. We used to call people who did that juveniles, irrespective of biological age.

Anyway, as an educator, I can easily accommodate “I don’t think my child should interact with this,” even if I think the reasons are silly. I taught Language Arts; I am not a philosopher. If a kid can write a good English sentence or 10, and has a decent shot at reading comprehension, I win. That’s all I want. More generally, I wanted my students to have empathy, to perhaps find the voice to express themselves in our great literature, but I won’t know about that until I have one foot in the grave, most likely.

I don’t think “None of our kids should read this” is per se inappropriate, either. But that’s a bigger conversation that involves everyone with a stake. Motivated by religion isn’t per se out of bounds, either, as long as we’re not binding a free conscience. Most religions share values; most good ethical systems share values. You’d think watching or reading the news that Americans have nothing in common, but it isn’t so.

It’s a little bit amusing that A Wrinkle in Time offended many sensitive consciences from a religious perspective, because I was afraid that it would be flagged as Christian propaganda (which it totally is). It came from a time when mainline Protestantism mattered. Was that out loud? My bad.

I didn’t share my opinions with my students on our readings; I just wanted them to understand it, and to interact with it. I try not to even have private opinions, until I know a piece of literature well.

But Lolita is trash.

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