The action in the novel is driven by three children, and children in a sense embody the nature of the protagonist in most dystopian novels be it Montag, Winston Smith, D-503, or any others. That is the concept of innocence is a common one throughout the use of dystopia. This generally takes the form of the protagonist doing what they think is best for the society, until they realize that they are part of the problem and in this way also the source of all of their own unhappiness and either the unhappiness of others or their ignorant bliss. This is not so much the case for A Wrinkle in Time, but more so because it is a group of children that are the protagonists (and children are the best examples of innocence) who have not yet had the society impose all of its rigid rules on them before they decide how to act. As a child the underlying message was maybe mostly lost on me, but a re-reading of this as an adult gave me a better insight on the dystopian nature of this book. As an aspect of dystopian writing therefore the concept of innocence is inherent to the sub-genre, although not absolutely necessary.
Log in to comment