Chapter 10: Absolute Zero

Essay by kelvinc2A+, April 2006

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Summary

As Meg regains consciousness, she feels icy coldness all around her and finds herself unable to move her body or speak. She hears the voices of Calvin and her father discussing her condition, but she has no way of communicating with them.

Meg hears Calvin ask her father about his journey to Camazotz. Mr. Murry explains that he never intended to go to this planet; he was part of a team of scientists trying to tesser to Mars. Mr. Murry says that he knows he could not have been on Camazotz for longer than two years, but time seems to flow differently on this planet. He tells Calvin that he was about to give up all hope and surrender to IT when the children arrived to rescue him.

Meg desperately tries to make a sound to let her father and Calvin know that she can hear them. She finally succeeds in making a small croaking noise, slowly regaining the ability to speak.

She demands to know where Charles Wallace is, and she is furious to learn that they left Camazotz without him. She yells at her father for his inability to solve their difficulties and deliver them all to safety. Mr. Murry tells his daughter that he is only a fallible human being, and no miracle-worker; however, he expresses the belief that "all things work together for good for them that love God."

Mr. Murry massages Meg's fingers, and she cries out in pain. He tells her that the pain is a good sign; it means she is regaining sensation. Suddenly, Calvin tells them to look ahead of them. Three strange upright creatures advance toward them, each with four arms; they have tentacles in place of hair, and soft indentations where their eyes would be were they human.