In A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, Meg Murray is presented as a somewhat normal twelve-year-old girl. However, she is plagued by growing pangs and insecurity: "She looked at herself in the wardrobe mirror and made a horrible face, baring a mouthful of teeth covered with braces" (1.20). The fact that her mother is beautiful makes her appearance even more painful for her.

In addition to her physical appearance, which in reality is not that unattractive, she is just at an awkward age; she also believes she does not fit in well at school. She is good in math and science, even though her grades do not reflect that ability. Meg likes to solve problems in her own way and that illustrates her stubbornness. Yet, at the end of the work, when Meg finally learns to stand on her own two feet and realize her strengths, she is able to save her brother, Charles Wallace, from IT. Meg's ability to love her brother becomes one of her strongest qualities and helps her realize her own individuality.

In many ways, Meg is typical of any adolescent at the brink of adulthood and undergoes a rite of passage in order to realize her potential.

Meg seems like a normal young person in many ways…though some of them are highlighted by her situation. By that I mean, she loves her parents, but misses her father, and then is angry at him for having been gone. This seems perfectly normal, for a young person or anyone. She's alienated—she feels alone, and she finds ways to be alone. She doesn't realize how smart she is, she's hard on herself, and she is surprised by her own emotions, especially when she's intense. All of these seem very common.