The Chrysalids
Fear is one of the most powerful and destructive forces in society and has been a forefront motivator throughout history because of it. But what makes fear so powerful? It can change a person entirely or cause them to perform incredible tasks such as in The Chrysalids. Nevertheless, John Wyndham explores what you can do once you overcome that fear and what happens when that fear overcomes you. In The Chrysalids, the cyclic nature of fear within people in power and those they oppress manifests as the fears of the unknown, being different, new ideas and beliefs, getting caught, and the fear of what you don’t understand.
Throughout history, the fear of the unknown has been a driving force behind many fearful leaders. As said
…show more content…
As with the fear of the unknown, the fear of differences has influenced the decisions made by many leaders, especially extremists. It has led to prejudice, bias, bigotry, and discrimination. In the book specifically, discriminations are faced by Blasphemies such as Sophie and Joseph’s older brother Gordon (colloquially known as the Spider Man) and Offences which is deviance in animal. according to Jacob and old farmer “They should be burnt like they used to. But what happened? The sentimentalists in Rigo who never have to deal with them themselves said: Even though they aren’t human, they look nearly human, therefore extermination looks like murder, or execution and that troubles people’s minds” (88), his views are shared throughout Waknuk and it is hard not to believe it if you are normal because Waknuk is isolated and there is hardly any outside influence. This leads to the recurring theme of True Image and purification in the form of slaughtering deviant animals, burning entire crops of deviant plants, and banishing Blasphemies to the Fringes. When David first learns of Sophie’s extra toes he starts iterating in his head the quote “And God created man in his own image. And God decreed that man should have one body, one head, two arms, and two legs: that each arm should be jointed in two places and end in one hand: that each hand should have four fingers and one thumb: that each finger should bear a flat fingernail…” (10-11) he tells us that he knows the quote word for word proving that the community goes by the Bible word for word is obsessed with everything being perfect. The new information of telepaths cause further discrimination, as mentioned above, for it shows that mutations are no longer just physical. Just as it is in the real world, discrimination that is faced by the people with lesser power causes isolation, anger and
Everyone is in control of their actions. One must be held accountable for . Sometimes though, fear can infiltrate one’s mind and block their ability to make rational decisions. In John Connolly’s “The Book of Lost Things”, it is evident that fear plays a large role in how David, Beauty and Beast find love and how the King and wicked Queen in Snow-white rule their kingdoms. Some overcome their fears while others allow it to consume them and cloud their judgement.
Fear a powerful emotion, once it is born it is merely impossible for it to perish. Fear corrupts, tortures, and haunts all. Humans have a horror encrypted into their core. With the power of holding one's fear forms the feeling of paranoia leading to the most holiest power of all, control. Throughout history paranoia has been used to control mass populations and indoctrinate their mind. A common example of this, is the reign of Joseph Stalin; dictator of the Soviet Union who used the paranoia of death and being sent to concentration camp to control his citizens and sustain power. George Orwell, a man who recognized this demoralizing form of dictatorship and was terrified, of what might come if no one rebelled against this. Furthermore he
Even if the fear of impending doom was to be set aside, there would still be the fear of being accused as a
Being different is okay. But do our societies accept these differences? Not only does the rejection of differences happen today, but has for the past many years. As we all know, in Waknuk, people are devoted to the True Image of Man, which isolates David from not just his community but also his family. The Waknukians consider mutants a threat, as they represent the devil in humans. As the Inspector had stated, “The Devil sends Deviations among us to weaken us and tempt us away from Purity. Sometimes he is clever enough to make a near-perfect imitation, so we have to always be on the look-out for the mistake he has made” (55). Furthermore, David has to hide his true self and he must live in fear, first for himself and Sophie, and then for Petra and the rest of the group. Besides his mutation being a challenge of his it also becomes dangerous
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. Blind acceptance also stunts economic growth and hinders the lives of others. The community of Waknuk in John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids demonstrates that blind acceptance and strict social conformity leads to the abolishment of human beings. This is displayed by the constant reminder of the barrier keeping them from their utopia, the cruelty towards deviations and the cruelty towards non-deviants.
Fear can come anytime in the silence of the night or in the bright glare of the day. Fear cannot be conquered. We
Numerous individuals face threatening situations in their lifetime, however, there are different reactions and solutions to counter them, such as the “fight or flight” response. When an individual is placed in a situation to endanger themselves to save their companion, most individuals would rather protect themselves in despite of fear. In the novel Chrysalids John Wyndham explores a civilization that obsessively focuses on religious precepts and the importance of purity. Individuals with uncommon qualities and deviations such as would not meet this society’s ideals and are banished. Characters such as David, Rosalind, and Michael, who have unique telepathic powers and are part of a telepathic group, successfully keep their abilities hidden for a period of time. When they are discovered,
Adversities are hard to avoid in one’s life; everyone has to face them at one point in their life. The effect it has on a person’s life can change their perspective towards the world. When problems arise individuals traditionally become stunned to such difficult situations that they face. The adversity becomes a brick wall that is challenging to break down. An individual's true character in addition to their nature is revealed when they face a conflict in their life or a challenge. In the novel, The Chrysalids by John Wyndham has his protagonist David go through some conflicts, which he overcomes throughout the story. David struggles to find a life where people would appreciate his uniqueness, not sameness which has an impact on who he thinks
“What if contemporary people are less interested in seeing depictions of their unconscious fears and more attracted to allegories of how their day-to-day existence feels?” (Klosterman 1).
John Wyndham presented the themes the dangers of the nuclear war, the acceptance of others who are different than the “norm”, the negative effects of religious fanaticism, and the evolution of the human species throughout The Chrysalids. These themes, specifically the acceptance of others who are different than the “norm”, make The Chrysalids a futuristic and memorable novel. Accepting others who are different than the norm is a common theme in both The Chrysalids and our society today. This was demonstrated by presenting a town with no imperfections and contrasting it with a town full of imperfections, Wyndham displays a great progression from our reality. After the tribulation anything other than the “norm” is not acceptable in the town of
Have you ever been intimidated by fear? Fear is in our everyday lives. We tend to let fear control us and how we live our lives. For example, The Salem Witch Trials, which caused over hundreds of people to lose their lives just because they were accused of being witches, along with the Nazi Party and Hitler, who had control over millions of people and killed thousands because they were jewish.
Throughout time, readers have learned many different lessons from their favourite books. In The Chrysalids, John Wyndam used his story to teach his readers valuable, lifelong lessons. He makes it evident to his readers that prejudging certain people is not right. Also, he relates how change is possible, but hard to achieve. More specifically, religion often influences one’s point of view. John Wyndam’s, The Chrysalids was written with a purpose that teaches his readers about discrimination, about how change is possible, and how religion often influences one’s point of view.
Amidst all the pain in John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids, there is love. This powerful human emotion has survived in the oppressing society of Waknuk. Wyndham portrays love among hardships to remind us that there is always hope for humanity, despite obstacles it may encounter. Through the Wenders’ sacrificial, unresentful devotion to their mutant daughter, through David’s discovery of reassurance and affection in his uncle amidst fear and uncertainty, and through the telepaths’ undying love for one another despite persecution, The Chrysalids shows us that while Tribulation erased many of society’s aspects, it was unable to extinguish the human quality called love.
Change, the essential of life, it can be tranquility or turbulence, change has no set goal, it occurs all around us without us knowing. In the novel, The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham, change is the major problem in the society even though it is hidden in different aspects of life. To the society, change is their enemy, but it is themselves who are their enemies without knowing it. A society that fails to realize the inevitability of change will indubitably agonize.
only known the receiving end of fear now wanted to be the one delivering it. We see