The Chrysalids Theme Analysis

The association of homosexuality with filth begins in childhood for David and most certainly in his relationship with his father. His identity confusion can be seen from early on as he mentions: “I was in full flight from him. I did not want him to know me. I did not want anyone to know me” (Baldwin 16). Indeed, David’s father install in him from the very beginning the notion of a white, heterosexual, masculine American male. He wants his son, whom he addresses as “Butch” to “grow up to be a man” (90) and not “a Sunday school teacher” (15). The “teacher” to which his father refers to can be understood as a threat to masculinity because “the teacher” is almost surely a woman and he wishes only a life of “butch” for his son. This notion surfaces

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.

Throughout the entire movie we can see that David is the character that changes the most. David is portrayed as a nerdy and lazy teen that spends all his time watching the show pleasantville and eating junk food. The director shows us that his life at home is not really good and his only escape is while watching pleasantville. When he gets teleported into the show and town Pleasantville he’s stuck in the traditional way of living there, not changing anything and constantly worrying about his sister Jennifer altering the entire town. His fear of change sprouts with the worry of the disturbances his sister will create. In this circumstance the power of fear leads him to be controlling of the situations. We can see this how he tries to control the change when he finds out Mary Sue has been intimate with Skip and this creates a domino effect for

Uncle Frank’s action needed to be punished because he was racist and did not have respect for women and especially the Indian people. This transforms David from the young clueless boy into a young even maybe adult person he is by the end of our novel knowing more than maybe even modern day adults about how hard life is and how cruel the world can

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

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

In chapter 1 David keeps Sophie’s important secret for her sake and to protect her from the government, because she could get hurt. In chapter 5 David is willing to fight Alan for Sophie’s sake and feel like he’s doing the right thing. Later in the book when David and his friends run away from Waknuk because they would of gotten hurt. If they didn’t run away they would of been “broken” and tortured like Katherine. In both these situations the characters threatened by the government or another person and the author lets them rebel because they are in harms

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

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.”

To begin with, one major theme that continuously played a part throughout the entire book is desire. To many of the characters, it was the one urge that they could never overcome. One

Throughout the book Sophie had an exponential effect on David development even when not present. Firstly, when David meets meets Sophie and learns about Sophie’s supplementary toe, David accepts Sophie for who she is. “ It was all twisted and puffy - I didn't even notice then that it had more than the usual amount of toes...” (Wyndham 9). This is critical to David's development as it influenced him to ignore the rules of the uneducated town of Waknuk. Secondly, when Sophie is a suspected deviant David helps her run away to the fringes evading the law. “I managed to find some candles and light them,and when I had blown up the fire and put some more on, that helped to make the place seem less lonely.” (49). In this quote David is trying to make the house seem occupied so the people of Waknuk do not get suspicious. This is imperative as for the first time in his life David rebelled against the rules

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.

David also sees himself as having a great deal of influence on others and prides himself on that fact. When David was walking along the street with a coworker, a girl mistook him for a celebrity and David found it amusing to play along. David’s narration describes that the coworker was not amused by this joke and “avoided [David] for the next six months” (DeLillo 2.14). Once David sees the influence his appearance and pride could have on one coworker, he believes that he