The Chrysalids Comparison

Does the Genetic YA formula really a formula to determine if a book success or not? There are many books that follows the genetic YA formula and it is a good book. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham is a popular book for young adults. The Chrysalids were written not long after World War II and in the midst of the Cold War. The story's background is related to the real world when the author write this book. Most of the book follows The Generic YA Fiction Formula,which is a formula for a success book, but not for every novel. How does this novel fit The Generic YA Fiction Formula, and what is the actual formula for The Chrysalids?

Waknuk is David’s hometown in the story “The Chrysalids”. The village is located in central Labrador. It is a small agricultural community which lies in the west of Labrador. They have a maritime climate, being remotely tropical, without extreme heat. There tend to be a vast amount of forest cover with many fields making up most of the landscape. The people of Newf and Labrador are the only humans who retained the pre-Tribulation phenotype. The only other known civilizations are vague and coloured by religious dogma. The Theocracy run government follows the Bible and the Repentances as a means of guidelines. Run off of the fear of God Himself, the people survive by keeping their race in the True Image. They do this by having inspectors which

the idea of isolating others due to their telepathic abilities and deviations is deeply rooted in John Wyndham's novel The Chrysalids. Therefore, this idea effects the plot of The Chrysalids. For example, humanity and equality are considered first, unfortunately for people with deviations it is not same. A person with deviations always faces constant hardship which is shown through David's and Petra's life. Additionally, isolation is an act of separating someone to be alone due to their beliefs, this is shown through David, Petra and Rosalind defending people with deviations.

Pratish- Betrayal was also the result when aunt Harriet asks to borrow her sisters’ baby to receive a certificate for normality, the sister refuses furiously showing no empathy or kindness. This is seen when Aunt Harriet enters David’s moms’ room and begs to borrow Petra in exchange for some days. David’s mom cold heartedly replies “In all my life. I have never heard anything so outrageous… To think that I should led you my own child” This quote is important because it shows that Aunt Harriet’s sister is so hateful towards deviants and blasphemies that she would not even bother helping her own sister. It also shows that Aunt Harriet and her sister don’t have a strong family relationship. This develops the thesis because it shows poor relationships are the results of heart breaking betrayals.

Humans seem to have this urge to dominate others and have everybody think they are right. This sense of entitlement has led to many conflicts both in the Chrysalids and in real life. In the novel the religion (a morphed version of Christianity) believes in different ideas than the Fringes. This leads to a conflict between the two groups. The Fringes live in a place with scarce arable land and it is the place where deviants are dumped off because they do not abide by or coincide with the Waknuk people’s beliefs.

Obstacles are unavoidable parts of our lives. Obstacles constantly come in the way and slow us down. However, these obstacles should not be viewed as being harmful. They are essential factors in order for one to succeed. They can change the course of one’s life, and encourage one to work harder. Therefore, obstacles can be beneficial.

In 1955, John Wyndham saw tremendous errors in the way of humanity. Now he must’ve been a very insightful man because he saw problems that would be relevant for many years to come; problems that still exist today. John Wyndham wrote “The Chrysalids” as a warning to today’s society. He did this by using the three different societies to showcase the pros and cons of the three main types of government in the world, showing us that people who are unable to adapt in an ever changing world will face massive setbacks, and finally, he uses todays world as a warning to the characters in the story.

Another predominate lesson in the novel is, how change is possible, but quite difficult to become accustomed to. David proves this point in a conversation he shares with Uncle Axel. Since David was raised in a society where change was not an option, but instead it was mandatory for the people of Waknuk to move towards Gods true image and move away from all deviations. David and many others had a hard time going against their way of living. David admits that he is reluctant to change saying, “Moreover, I was reluctant to admit the flaw in the tidy, familiar orthodoxy I had been taught (pg 64). Similarly, Waknuk is against change and always resisted when change was an option. David reveals that change is quite difficult to become accustomed to when he states, “The place may have been called Waknuk then, anyways, Waknuk it had become; an orderly, law-abiding, God- respecting community of some hundred scattered holding, large and small” (pg 17). This shows that their town, Waknuk, had never become anything different through-out many years. Also Joseph Strorm was a very strict and rigid man who unfortunately was at a point where he and many others who lived in Waknuk were brain washed with the Bible, and Nicholson’s Repentances. Therefore change was a possible option but hard to go forward with it. In this novel it therefore teaches us how change is possible, but overall very hard to do.

John Wyndham’s book The Chrysalids is of the speculative fiction genre set in a time after the third world war which is what he calls the Tribulation. It is set in a town that is called Waknuk which is in an area, province/state/country, called Labrador which is a place filled with religious fanatics. These religious fanatics believe that everybody and everything are to look the same and everyone and everything that does not look like the rest is considered to be sent by the devil, called them Offences, Blasphemies, and Deviations, also that they should be condemned. Condemned meaning that they do not get the same treatment that the “norms” do. That is why alienation, segregation, and discrimination socially, psychologically, and physically

“‘She was competent, decisive, self-reliant; perhaps she intimidated them, for before long they drifted their attentions elsewhere’” (93).

Although both the previous events did put David into an adverse position, the following experience changed David’s outlook on life for the better. Finally there was someone to tell David the true meaning of mankind, Uncle Axel. Uncle Axel tells him to be proud of his telepathic abilities, instead of praying to be what everyone else thinks is the true image. Uncle Axel also changes David's outlook on the true image of man, he explains to him how it's not one's physical features that define him, but what's in his mind.

The novels The Chrysalids by John Wyndham and The Hunted by Charlie Higson are very similar in many ways, but also different in a few others. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham is about a boy named David finding he has the ability to talk through his mind and has to take his friends, who also have his ability, and escape the oppressive Waknuk society. The Hunted by Charlie Higson is about a teenager named Ed searching for his friend’s 6-year old sister in the ruins of a post-apocalyptic Europe. The settings of the novels The Chrysalids by John Wyndham and The Hunted by Charlie Higson can be compared and contrasted through the time the story takes place in, the mood of the novels, and the places the novels are based around. These novels have

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.

In the novel The Chrysalids by John Wyndham it explains the life of a boy named David

David's second dream was in the attic. David had a dream where he sees Kathy laying in the bathtub. " Kathy lay immersed in it, her arms crossed over her breast, flowers strewn about her" (Werlin 136). This symbolizes David