The Chrysalids Character Analysis

This has led to David doing very little for himself as he knows it will be done for him. “Interpretive theories argue that the most important influence on individuals’ behaviour is the behaviour of others towards them” Marsh et al (2009) P.72. By being in an environment where David isn’t required to do anything he has learned not to bother and everything will still be done for him.

David's mother got worse and she began to think of new ways to torture David. David was one of a few brothers, but only he was targeted. The other brothers pretended he wasn't even there. There was only one person in the family that still loved David was his father. David’s father would fight for David and would protect him from the mother. But, he would always lose. Whenever David's father went to work, David would get beat. Dave became the scapegoat for his mother's mistakes. David became a slave of the house and did all the chores. If he did not finish his chores with an unreasonable time, he did not receive dinner. David was starved for three days at a time. Once, David got stabbed by his mother for not completing her dishes. Whenever David came back from school his mother forced him to throw up to see if he got any food at school. This happened every

David was always a type of person inclined to be melancholy. He was always a religious person. He made sure that he did everything right, because he was afraid of death. He performed all the duties of religion without a true conversion.2

Everyday, an individual changes in their perspective and personality in one way or another, and it impacts their character. John Wyndham, the author of The Chrysalids, demonstrates that every individual experiences something that changes them in such a way that it prevents them from being able to go back to the person they once were. A prominent character that displays such a change would be David, who is the protagonist of the novel and goes through significant adversities that carve out his character. David changes in the story because of his mutation and his own thoughts, which develop because of the challenges they bring upon him. Not only do these factors bring change upon him but his identity also transfigures throughout the

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,

David was known as the heroic underdog from when he was little to know a grown up adult he faced many difficult challenges growing up and managed to defeat his challenge. finishing high school and trying to make it big in the world spending most of his time working outside of school and spending time going to school David managed to pull through go to college attending University of Redlands and Yale University earning his degree in business and is working as a successful lawyer still achieving his goals till this

Everything David did that was courageous. Most importantly, he survived the Nazi’s horrible control, showing his mother had influenced him. Even though David had a difficult childhood, David’s mother helped him a great

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.

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. The people who conquer the challenges that life throws at them, they are the only one’s worthy enough of being called a warrior. In the novel, The Chrysalids by John Wyndham has his protagonist David go through some conflicts which he overcomes throughout the story.

Firstly, Aunt Harriet has a big influence on David, because David feels sorrow due to the situation that his aunt is going through. Aunt Harriet is talking to David’s father, "This is the third time. They'll take my baby away again like they took the others. I can't stand that - not again. Henry will turn me out, I think. He'll find another wife, who can give him proper children. There'll be nothing- nothing in the world for me - nothing. I came here hoping against hope for sympathy and help. Emily is the only person who can help me. I - I can see now how foolish I was to hope at all..." (Wyndham 71, 72) David thinks about his mother, and how she reacts to this situation, which had a negative impact on David. Later on David could not stop thinking about Aunt Harriet after the incidence, “For several nights I dreamed of Aunt Harriet lying

At the age of 5 years old, not only did he began to take showers with his father, but when they went to the beach club, his mother bathed him in the shower in the presence of other naked women. By the age of 6 years old, David noticed the power men had over women, “when a male entered the women’s side of the bathhouse, all the women shrieked”. (Gale Biography). At the age of 7 and 8 years old, he experienced a series of head accidents. First, he was hit by a car and suffered head injuries. A few months later he ran into a wall and again suffered head injuries. Then he was hit in the head with a pipe and received a four inch gash in the forehead. Believing his natural mother died while giving birth to him was the source of intense guilt, and anger inside David. His size and appearance did not help matters. He was larger than most kids his age and not particularly attractive, which he was teased by his classmates. His parents were not social people, and David followed in that path, developing a reputation for being a loner. At the age of 14 years old David became very depressed after his adoptive mother Pearl, died from breast cancer. He viewed his mother’s death as a monster plot designed to destroy him. (Gale Biography). He began to fail in school and began an infatuation with petty larceny and pyromania. He sets fires,

Early in the novel, David is faced with his first conflict whereby he is forced to change his perspective on the ideas he was brought up on. David is playing on the beach when he meets Sophie. He quickly realizes that Sophie is a blasphemy after she gets stuck in between some rocks. She is then forced to remove her shoes to escape, which revealed her extra toe. Growing up, society taught David that deviations were dangerous monsters and that they are sent from the Devil. However, after having a wonderful afternoon with Sophie, he realizes that just because someone is a deviant, it does not actually mean they are a monster or dangerous. This is evident when David thought to himself: “Surely having one very small toe extra - well, two very small toes, because supposed there would be on to match on the other foot - surely that couldn’t be enough to make her ‘hateful in the sight of God…’? The ways of the world were very puzzling….” (Wyndham, 14). This shows that David has matured and started questioning the beliefs of the society, and his family, after his first-hand experience with a deviation. He also chose not to tell anyone about Sophie. He knew that it will put her and her family in danger of persecution. With this in mind, David

his father and dead mother. David's father has an idealized vision of his son as

Throughout the novel, David, the protagonist is abused and tortured several times by his very own father, Joseph Strorm and his recently discovered Uncle, Gordon. David’s father is a strict believer in his religion and is unyielding on the subject of mutations and blasphemy’s. If anyone neglects to follow his beliefs and rules, he has serious consequences for them, like with David, once Joseph found out that David knows a blasphemy, he immediately subjected to abusing him for answers. David’s father continues to beat him until he receives the information he demands. David has been abused more than once by his father and this is evident when David says, “I knew well enough what that meant, but I knew well too, that with my father in his present mood, it would happened whether I told or not. I set my jaw,

(Hord Zinn). David is a telepathic boy living in a post apocalyptic nuclear wasteland, called the “Tribulation” in the book The Chrysalids. David manages to change the world and the vision of mutation and deviants. David would have never able to do that without the people around that changed him. This Essay will explore how Sophie, Uncle Axel and Gordon though minor characters have a major impact on David's development.