Although L'Engle is a Christian author, A Wrinkle in Time is never didactic and is largely free of explicit references to Christianity. Jesus is mentioned as one of Earth's greatest "fighters" against the evil represented by IT, but so too are Buddha, Gandhi, Einstein, and Michelangelo. L'Engle stresses that the most important virtue is the unselfish love of others—a basic tenet of nearly every world religion. Her characters are often faced with the choice between self-interest and the well-being of others; the most admirable learn to see the wisdom—and the joy—of thinking of others first.

In A Wrinkle in Time, L'Engle juxtaposes views of two different planets to explicate her themes and examine the nature of evil: Camazotz is a planet of darkness where IT rules; Earth, which is only "shadowed," still struggles against destruction. L'Engle is concerned with salvation...