Thus, though she must perform a "masculine" role in order to be successful, she must perform it in a "feminine" way, and thus disrupt the idea of gender.
This also ties in quite nicely with Cullen's assertion that the modern individual is defined by love and connection with their family, rather than by their place in society. The very fact that meg is the one to save Charles Wallace is a further affirmation of the willingness -- on the part of both Meg and L'Engle -- to buck the societal roles that have been laid out for women and instead to embrace their own identity based on their love for others, and to a greater or lesser degree the love that others bear them. Of course, the romance that is still blossoming between Meg and Calvin still entrenches this novel somewhat in the old mentality of romance and love, but...
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