44 pages • 1 hour read
Madeleine L'EngleA Wind In The Door
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1973A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary: “Metron Ariston”
Blajeny appears and congratulates Meg for passing her first ordeal. He wakes Mr. Jenkins, who is confused and says what he sees can’t be real. Blajeny sees Louise slithering toward him, so he talks to her. Louise tells Blajeny that the Echthroi are enraged and have worsened Charles Wallace’s condition. He shares this with the group, and Meg begs Blajeny to take her home so she can be with Charles Wallace. Blajeny says they must go to Metron Ariston. Because Meg Named him, Mr. Jenkins decides to go with them.
Meg, Mr. Jenkins, Calvin, Blajeny, Proginoskes, and Louise appear on a rock in Meg’s pasture. The air is warm and feels like a summer night instead of an autumn morning. Meg realizes she doesn’t recognize the stars or constellations, and Blajeny says they’re in his home galaxy of Veganuel. He also explains that Metron Ariston is an idea, not a place, which allows them to talk to a farandola. Here size is relative, making this possible. Blajeny just made the appearance of Metron Ariston look familiar to Meg to make her more comfortable.
As they sit on the rock, Blajeny speaks with Mr. Jenkins to help him understand what is happening because of the Echthroi. Meg and Proginoskes kythe so Meg can see how sick Charles Wallace is. When he finishes speaking to Mr. Jenkins, Blajeny tells the group to practice believing by turning the night into day in their minds. Blajeny then introduces them to a farandola named Sporos. Meg thinks Sporos looks like a giant shrimp with large ears and whiskers. His fur is silver-blue and moves as if he were underwater, and his eyes are milky but bright. Sporos is unhappy to be assigned to this class of earthlings, as he feels superior to them. Regardless, Blajeny assigns Sporos to work with Calvin, making the farandola even more upset.
Meg then explains to Mr. Jenkins what is happening to Charles Wallace’s mitochondria. The farandolae in his mitochondria are dying, causing the mitochondria to lose oxygen and energy. If Charles Wallace’s mitochondria die, he will die, too. Blajeny then kythes that they are going to one of Charles Wallace’s mitochondria for their next trial.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Journey into the Interior”
Blajeny tells the group that they will travel to Yadah, the mitochondria where Sporos was born. Sporos is furious to learn that he was born in a human host. Louise kythes with Meg, sending her an image of Charles Wallace’s declining health and Dr. Colubra’s suggestion that they call for Mr. Murry. Meg explains to Mr. Jenkins that everything rests on Charles Wallace getting better. Suddenly, an Echthros-Mr. Jenkins flies toward them. Blajeny gathers everyone and takes them away.
When Meg opens her eyes, she only sees blackness. Proginoskes kythes that they’re in Yadah. Meg realizes she can’t see or move but can feel a rhythm similar to a heartbeat. Proginoskes tells her Blajeny isn’t with them, but the others are. They’ll be able to kythe with them soon, but they need to figure out what their second test is. Proginoskes helps Meg practice her kything so she can help Mr. Jenkins. He struggles with kything because it’s been so long since he’s known his real self and because adults have a more challenging time accepting new ideas.
Proginoskes then says Sporos must Deepen and become a fara, a plant that looks like an underwater tree. Sporos must kythe with Calvin to Deepen; if he doesn’t, the Echthroi will X him. Meg kythes with Calvin to see how he is, and she learns that Sporos refuses to kythe with Calvin. Meg continues reaching for Mr. Jenkins while also kything with Calvin and Proginoskes. Suddenly, Meg feels a sharp pain and knows she’s being Xed.
Chapter 9 Summary: “Farandolae and Mitochondria”
Meg realizes that because she can think, she still exists. She kythes to Calvin and Proginoskes for help. Calvin sends her the numbers of the first trigonometry problems they worked on together to help focus her mind. Proginoskes explains that when she kythed to Mr. Jenkins, she reached out to an Echthros-Mr. Jenkins that followed them into Yadah instead. Proginoskes urges Meg to kythe with Mr. Jenkins again and remind him of who he is. Meg kythes to Mr. Jenkins, telling him he is unique and gave Calvin new shoes when his family couldn’t afford them. She reminds Mr. Jenkins that he chose to come with them and that she loves him. Then, Meg kythes that she reaches out for his hand and holds it.
Chapters 7-9 Analysis
One of the most critical events in the novel occurs when Meg finally overcomes her hate for Mr. Jenkins and turns those negative feelings into genuine love. Meg and Mr. Jenkins have a long history together and have a mutual dislike for each other. This is likely why Meg’s first trial requires her to Name—or love—her former principal. At first, she struggles to identify which of the Mr. Jenkinses is real, yet once she does, Meg forgets her bad feelings toward him and develops a sense of love and empathy for him. This shows the depth of Meg’s character, and that Meg is a dynamic character capable of changing and learning from her experiences and mistakes. Not only does Meg overcome her hate for Mr. Jenkins, but she’s also able to develop so much as a character that she can help Mr. Jenkins overcome his insecurities and remember who he truly is. This idea develops further in the final section as well.
Blajeny introduces the characters to an actual farandola for the first time in this section. Sporos is a farandola born in one of Charles Wallace’s mitochondria, which is significant because Sporos detests earthlings and sees them as inferior to himself. He says twice in this section that he hopes he did not come from a human host. While the fact that he came from Charles Wallace adds irony to the plot, the idea angers Sporos and makes him prideful and unwilling to work with Calvin. Further, Sporos’s pride in himself and dislike of humans draws an Echthros into Yadah and leads to Meg almost getting Xed. This illustrates that where hate exists, the Echthroi have power. Similar to Meg needing to Name Mr. Jenkins to overcome her hatred of him, Meg must now help Sporos kythe with Calvin. Without his willingness to kythe with Calvin, Sporos will fail to Deepen, and Charles Wallace will die. The consequence of Sporos not overcoming his pride shows how damaging hate and pride are and that the universe won’t survive the Echthroi unless the characters unite despite their differences.
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By Madeleine L'Engle
