The Chrysalids Critical Analysis

Secondly, John Wyndham's novel The Chrysalids shows the consequences of going against the beliefs of closed society through major conflicts in the novel. Firstly, Joseph became enraged and accuses David for wishing to have another hand. Wyndham writes, "you- my own son- were calling upon the devil to give you another hand!"(26). To explain, this creates a conflict between David and his dad, Joseph Strorm. David’s father is a strict believer in the Waknukian faith.

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

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.

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

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.

Humans have a natural tendency to conform to each other; they strive to fit in with their community and to blend in with the crowd, undoubtedly because modern society seems to have put everyone on a leash. Its harsh judgment and constant pressure forces everyone to follow each other around like sheep — compliant — staying in line in fear of the repercussions. Likewise, in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., conformity is an ongoing theme that causes the entire community to isolate Hester in The Scarlet Letter, believe in witchcraft in The Crucible, and discriminate against African Americans in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Hawthorne, Miller, and King all show the effects of the pressure and corruptions in the community, as well as the punishments the individuals receive as a result of conformity. In all three pieces of writing, the authors describe the community as a powerful oppression that forces people to be obedient, simultaneously asserting that conformity ultimately leads to consequences in both the community and the individual.

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.

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.

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,

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.

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

Sophie allows for doubt to pierce its way into David’s life for the first time. At the start of the novel, when David first meets Sophie, he gets an insight into a deviant’s life. She has proven to be the first blow to efficiently impact David’s thoughts and make him question the authenticity of his society’s belief system. “It is hind-sight that enables me to fix that as the day when my first small doubts started to germinate.”

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,

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.