The Chrysalids Critical Analysis

As Harriet Braiker once said: “Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.” There are many people that always seek for being perfect, but what does that leads to? In Waknuk society, “perfection” just led to destruction. Joseph Strorm, the father of the main character David Strorm and the leader of this society, started forgetting about the values he should have had and also he was forgetting about the love he needed to give to his family. In addition, God sent Tribulation because He wanted society to become better than what they were being. The citizens in Waknuk were seeking to look more like God, according to the people from the Fringes, which were people who were sent to another place because they

The world would be much different if society does not pressure one to look like perfection. In John Wyndham’s novel The Chrysalids, each and every character must be like everyone else and if they are not, the village sends them to live in the outskirts of the towns where the chances of survival are close to zero. Though everyone looks the same, people think about the concept of society and sameness differently. There are three different types of people in each village. Number one, there is Joseph Strorm, leader of Waknuk, whose obsession with the norm renders him blind in seeing and welcoming the value something possesses, instead all his eyes allow him to see are what is in front of them. Then there is David Strorm and his group of deviants

Sumayyah- Betrayal and loyalty those are two strong words that might have affected us some time in our life. The terms betrayal and loyalty are also relatable when we started our novel the Chrysalids by John Wyndham. In the novel the author shows the concept of betrayal and loyalty as the ultimate result of poor relationships.

What Humanity Never Learnt Humanity as a whole has progressed in a multitude of ways since the early days, but to ignore our flaws would be ignorant. In John Wyndham’s book the Chrysalids, he addresses a lot of these flaws he sees in society. This book features a small civilisation that survives a nuclear apocalypse and how their narrow-mindedness resembles that of the society we live in today. This book uses some of the many flaws of today’s society and uses those flaws to help concoct an interesting story.

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.

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

Uncle Axel for his knowledge and educating him for the things that he never knew about or were beyond his imagination. Uncle Axel provided him the confidence of accepting and believing in his ability and himself. For example, Uncle Axel asks David “What do you think it is that makes a man a man?' I started on the Definition. What makes a man a man is something inside him. No, what makes man is mind; it's not a thing, it's a quality” (80). In this quote we see that David learns an important lesson about the image of man. Uncle Axel seems to explain it well but David wonders how he came up with this because if he was to ask Joseph this question he would’ve said something like" What makes a man a man is how he look" (80). David looks up to Axel like a step father he is given him advice for the world and his surroundings. Sophie for her kindness, strength, and her heartwarming personality she has showed this when her foot was stuck under the rock and by always having a smile on her face. Sophie was very kind to David when they first encountered, she showed much affection towards David. David remarks towards Sophie were, “She likes to have fun, be excited, and be happy" (7). David comments, "She is empathetic” (8). When seeing all these qualities of Sophie, David set a mindset she was a norm. Therefore, when finding out that Sophie has six toes, he was very astonished because throughout David’s life he has been taught that deviations are a sin. When encountering one it made David think the exact opposite. This caused David to question that Sophie could not be a deviation because she is found to be very out going. So he realizes that Sophie couldn’t be portrayed as an evil person. When David, "Finds it hard to see how the very small toe on each foot could make much difference either."(55). David begins to trust her

Women have always had an impact on men! Mothers, sisters, aunts, friends, wives, or girlfriends are all part of this group of women, and can change a man in many ways. Similarly in the book, ‘The Chrysalids’ the protagonist David Strorm deals with three important women in his life, that have a huge impact on him. They all influence his character, and some help him through his journey, and some create problems for him. The three women, Aunt Harriet (David’s Aunt), Petra (David’s full sister), and Sophie (David’s childhood friend), have always helped out David, and supported through harsh times, and thus they have affected David in a big way.

The Chrysalids is a story set in the future. In the story, the “normal” people living in Waknuks, where David came from, were searching for the abnormal, or the ”mutants” and tried to kill them. Throughout the story, they were very eager to look for David and the rest of his telepathy group to investigate their special powers or even, to kill them. The reason of them really doing so was not because of that the telepathies were actually different, but is due to that they were scared that the telepathies would rule the place as they had special, extraordinary abilities, which “normal” people did not have. Other than that, normal people certainly did not deserve the rights to destroy mutants just because they were not shaped like God’s image,

Female characters are influential in John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids. In the novel, three women are of paramount importance in comparison to all others in shaping David’s views and opinions: Sophie, the Sealand woman, and Aunt Harriet. In the society of Waknuk, individuals exhibit prejudice repeatedly throughout the novel through their own blinkered treatment of deviations. David Strorm’s, a twelve-year-old boy whose parents brought him up in such lifestyle, interactions with those three women throughout the novel sways him to have second thoughts about it. Their dealings with David each have a particular impact on his life. Sophie allows for doubt to enter David’s life for the first time; the Sealand woman expands his views and prompts him to consider other beliefs different from those of his society; and Aunt Harriet makes him more conscious of his society’s despicable activities and more attentive to it. In John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids, Sophie, the Sealand woman, and Aunt Harriet are instrumental in influencing David’s outlook on society.

One’s behaviour can have an substantial impact on a society's outcome. There is a common notion that humans are nurtured to be peaceful and civil. However this belief is contradicted by the action of the boys, in William Golding’s, “Lord of the Flies”. A group of schoolboys are abruptly thrown out of their controlled and civil circumstances into an inhabited tropical island in the middle of the Pacific. The novel is Golding’s attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature, by using symbolism to delineate this theme. Golding’s extensive use of symbolism, such as the conch, the signal fire and the painted faces helps demonstrates the defects of society. These symbols are used by Golding to illuminate the subsequent effects on the boys’ behaviour, which undoubtedly illustrates the defects of human nature on society.

David Strorm is the protagonist in the book, "The Chrysalids." He is a telepath in a dystopian era where genetic mutations are believed to be works of the devil. His father, Joseph Strorm, is a strict religious leader in their community, strongly against mutants like David. He doesn't know about David's mutation, but if he did, he would surely banish him like they do all deviants, even though David is his son. These two characters, despite them having different beliefs, can be similar. David and Joseph Strorm are the same because they both think they are doing the right thing and are both seen as leaders. However, they are different because, while David accepts deviants, Joseph is strongly against them.

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.

There really is no true or perfect human image yet society these days expects people to look and act a certain way and people can be very cruel if a person does not meet these expectations. In the novel The Chrysalids written by John Wyndham and in reality presently, many human rights are violated and these rights will continue to be violated as long as humans exist and people continue to be cruel. In the town of Waknuk, certain people do not follow the human rights but instead they violate them. Throughout the novel, many characters rights are being violated such as the abuse and torture David faces, the intolerance towards woman like Sophie and Petra for being different.