The Chrysalids

“My father’s faith was bred into his bones.”

Joseph Strorm’s faith is embedded in him as it was passed down from his father, a brutal and cruel man who was obsessed with traditionalism. Joseph upholds these same values, to a much more extreme extent than most of the other members of the community. He is completely unyielding and willing to kill even his own family to maintain purity. Joseph’s disposition is representative of Purity, Prejudice, and the Rippling Effects of Fear, as his actions lead David and the others to be in a permanent state of anxiety as they wait for the day they are discovered.

“THE DEVIL IS THE FATHER OF DEVIATION.”

All around David’s house are wooden panels with warnings about what will happen to people who do not reflect the true image of God. All crops, animals, and humans who exhibit even a slight mutation are seen as blasphemies and are destroyed or banished. The animals and crops are not to be eaten, leaving them completely wasted, and the people are sent to live in the Fringe lands with little food or vegetation. David is brought up to believe The Definition of Man to be true, but when he meets Sophie, his views begin to unravel. This quote reflects Purity, Prejudice, and the Rippling Effects of Fear.

“It changed our lives by marking our first step in corporate self-preservation, though we understood little of that at the time. What seemed most important just then was the feeling of sharing…”

David and the other telepaths start to form a unique community, unlike those of “normal” people. Using their minds, they create what David calls a think-together, in which their minds become a collective consciousness, and they can share emotions and thoughts with one another. When they resolve to keep their secret together, it is the first act that solidifies them as a group. This quote demonstrates the novel’s theme of True Versus False Unity.

“Above all, he must see that the human form is kept true to the divine pattern in order that one day it may be permitted to regain the high place in which, as the image of God, it was set.”

David begins teaching Sophie what he knows of the world and learns in school, but he intentionally refrains from teaching her about his ethics classes. These classes are designed to instill the doctrine of purity, and David knows that Sophie is considered a Mutant. He does his best to protect and shield her from the hatred of the world but is ultimately powerless to do so. This quote illustrates Purity, Prejudice, and the Rippling Effects of Fear that shape the lives of the characters.

“The lands down there aren’t civilized. Mostly they don’t have any sense of sin so they don’t stop Deviations; and when they do have a sense of sin, they’ve got it mixed up. A lot of them aren’t ashamed of Mutants; it doesn’t seem to bother them when children turn out wrong, provided they’re right enough to live and learn to look after themselves. Other places, though, you’ll find Deviations who think they’re normal. There’s one tribe where both the men and women are hairless, and they think that hair is the devil’s mark; and there’s another where they all have white hair and pink eyes.”

Uncle Axel acts as a confidant, protector, and adviser for David, but he also falls victim to some of Waknuk’s false ideas. In describing the people of the south, he refers to them as Mutants and implies that they are “abnormal.” The groups he refers to, such as people with white hair and pink eyes and people with no hair, are normal conditions, not comparable with mutations caused by radiation, such as extra toes. Still, Uncle Axel’s stories prove illuminating to David, who learns that other perspectives and cultures exist.

“A lot of people saying that a thing is so, doesn’t prove it so. I’m telling you that nobody, nobody really knows what is the true image. They all think they know, just as we think we know, but, for all we can prove, the Old People themselves may not have been the true image.”

During one of his conversations with David, Uncle Axel points out that the variation in people’s beliefs regarding the true image of God is proof that the true image is not known. It explains why Waknuk is intentionally isolated, as knowing this fact would likely instill doubt in many of its inhabitants. Each group in the novel believes that they are the superior and pure race and the true reflection of God’s image. They cannot all be correct, and none may be. Furthermore, because they are Living Among the Wreckage of a Fallen World, the people of Waknuk are unable to prove their beliefs about the Old People.

“I shall pray God to send charity into this hideous world, and sympathy for the weak, and love for the unhappy and unfortunate. I shall ask Him if it is indeed His will that a child should suffer and its soul be damned for a little blemish of the body […] And I shall pray Him, too, that the hearts of the self-righteous may be broken […].”

When Aunt Harriet comes to visit, she comes bearing a baby with a mutation. In a desperate plea, she asks her sister to trade babies for a few days so she can pass the inspection and keep her newborn. Having sacrificed two of her own babies for the sake of purity, Emily is horrified and denies Harriet’s request. Joseph soon finds out and preaches to her about her sins. When Harriet leaves the house, she states one final protest against the family and the world that claims a loving God would hate his children. The next day, she is found dead. This quote illustrates the theme of Purity, Prejudice, and the Rippling Effects of Fear.

“Oh, I know people tell tales about how wonderful they were and how wonderful their world was, and how one day we’ll get back again all the things they had. There’s a lot of nonsense mixed up in what they say about them, but even if there’s a lot of truth, too, what’s the good of trying so hard to keep in their tracks? Where are they and their wonderful world now?”

Uncle Axel is full of wisdom about the true nature of the world, morality, and humanity. He points out the flaws in Waknuk and how its people strive to emulate the Old People. In truth, the Old People were flawed and led themselves down a path of destruction. Regardless of whether that destruction came from God or the humans themselves, it was clearly the wrong way to live. This quote demonstrates how by Living Among the Wreckage of a Fallen World, many of the people within it have skewed views of the past and present.

“We might try being ourselves, and build for the world that is, instead of for one that’s gone.”

Uncle Axel criticizes the ways of the past and suggests that they do not have to be trapped by it. Instead, people can look toward a brighter and more unified future. It is later revealed that this future exists elsewhere in the world when Sealand is shown to be a place built upon unity, understanding, and advancement. This quote also illustrates The Dangers of Resisting Change.

“Knowing who we were was our second stage in gaining confidence. It somehow increased a comforting feeling of mutual support.”

Over time, the group of telepathic children becomes closer, more unified, and more confident in their abilities and solidity as a group. When they decide to introduce themselves by name, it humanizes them and adds to the bond that they all share. This quote demonstrates True Versus False Unity as the children form a group that is based upon respect, loyalty, trust, and love: an example of true unity.

“It was a funny thing about my sister, Petra. She seemed so normal.”

In this quote, David foreshadows Petra’s powers, which prove much stronger than any other telepath. After two failed attempts at conceiving a perfect child, Petra appears to be her parents’ success but ironically ends up being the most different of all.

“The stupidest norm was happier: he could feel that he belonged. We did not, and because we did not, we had no positive—we were condemned to negatives, to not revealing ourselves, to not speaking when we would, to not using what we knew, to not being found out—to a life of perpetual deception, concealment, and lying.”

Once David and the other telepaths realize how different they are from everyone else, they start to feel a sense of superiority and isolation from the people they once spent their days alongside. David remarks that “normal” people do not have to deal with the same problems as telepaths, and these shared difficulties keep them united. David and the other telepaths are forced to conceal their true selves, and David often wonders how many other people in Waknuk are concealing something as well. This quote demonstrates True Versus False Unity and Purity, Prejudice, and the Rippling Effects of Fear.

“She will sacrifice anything, including herself, to one loyalty. For her, that is quite logical; for everyone else it looks not quite sane; socially it is dangerous.”

After Anne marries Alan and they both end up dead, Uncle Axel comments on the often desperate actions of women in love. He remarks that in some cases, women fall so deeply in love that they will sacrifice anything for their partner. This is demonstrated not only by Anne, but Emily, who gives up two babies, and Sophie, who dies on the battlefield alongside Gordon. This quote illustrates how false unity can bring people to do foolish and destructive things.

“In spite of Petra’s continued propensity to slip at any moment into what, in terms of sound, would be a deafening bellow, we all felt a proprietorial pride in her progress. There was a sense of excitement, too—rather as if we had discovered an unknown who we knew was destined to become a great singer: only it was something much more important than that.”

The telepaths share a deep sense of unity, which means that when Petra progresses in her abilities, they all share in her pride and accomplishment. They root for her as she learns to hone the strength and direction of her signals. They also feel that Petra is someone very special and important because the strength of her telepathy is unmatched by any of them, and she can do it without even trying.

“Words have to be chosen, and then interpreted; but thought-shapes you feel, inside you.”

David distinguishes himself and the other telepaths by several factors, one of which is the fact that their form of communication is more efficient, deeper, and clearer. It presents a fuller picture, involving emotion and thought in a single message. These messages are felt inside the person. This quote illustrates True Versus False Unity as David and the other telepaths possess a unity of mind that “normal” people do not.

“When people are different, ordinary people are afraid of them […]. It’s a feel-thing not a think-thing. And the more stupid they are, the more like everyone else they think everyone ought to be. And once they get afraid they become cruel and want to hurt people who are different.”

As paranoia increases that Fringe invasions are coming and spies may be afoot, the people of Waknuk become increasingly suspicious of anything strange. Uncle Axel worries that their paranoia will result in a witch hunt, and his worries turn out to be prophetic. The way that the people of Waknuk fear difference and act out violently against it, eventually resulting in their own destruction, illustrates The Dangers of Resisting Change and Purity, Prejudice, and the Rippling Effects of Fear.

“They weren’t God’s last word like they thought: God doesn’t have any last word. If He did He’d be dead. But He isn’t dead; and He changes and grows, like everything else that’s alive. So when they were doing their best to get everything fixed and tidy on some kind of eternal lines they’d thought of for themselves, He sent along Tribulation to bust it up and remind ‘em that life is change.”

When David and the others are captured by the Fringe people, David has an illuminating conversation with one of them. The man reveals his views of the people of Waknuk and God, and it causes David to realize that not everyone sees things the same way. The man from the Fringes believes the people of Waknuk are dangerous and flawed because of the way they treat anything different from them. He sees The Dangers of Resisting Change and where it will lead those people. Like the people of Waknuk, the people of the Fringes are Living Among the Wreckage of a Fallen World and are still influenced by the concept of Tribulation and a punishing God.

“A word again […] When the minds have learnt to mingle, when no thought is wholly one’s own, and each has taken too much of the other ever to be entirely himself alone; when one has reached the beginning of seeing with a single eye, loving with a single heart, enjoying with a single joy; when there can be moments of identity and nothing is separate save bodies that long for one another […] When there is that, where is the word? There is only the inadequacy of the word that exists.”

David and Rosalind fall deeply in love during their adolescence, and it is a love like no “normal” person can experience. Due to their telepathy, they share a unified mind and are always together, even when they are apart. When David is with Rosalind, he feels as if they are one person, and the only thing that separates them is their physical bodies. Their relationship is an example of true unity. This quote also acts as a metaphor for world peace, as a world that is without conflict is one that thinks and acts together.

“It is frightening to think that a whole race could go insane.”

Throughout human history, large groups of people have come together to cause mass destruction, genocide, and irreversible damage. The same can be said of the Old People in the novel, who brought about their own destruction by remaining in a permanent state of conflict and destroying themselves through nuclear war. Although the Sealand woman does not know exactly what happened to the Old People, she knows that it was not God who nearly wiped humanity off the face of the Earth. This quote demonstrates how the novel centers around people Living Among the Wreckage of a Fallen World.

“The living form defies evolution at its peril; if it does not adapt, it will be broken. The idea of completed man is the supreme vanity: the finished image is a sacrilegious myth […] Soon they will attain the stability they strive for, in the only form it is granted—a place among the fossils.”

The Dangers of Resisting Change is a prominent theme that is driven home multiple times, both by figures who discuss it openly and by events that unfold. The Sealand woman knows that organisms that oppose change will eventually die off, as evolution keeps species alive. She is happy to help usher in this destruction by killing off many of Waknuk’s people during the final battle.

“Whether harsh intolerance and bitter rectitude are the armour worn over fear and disappointment, or whether they are the festival-dress of the sadist, they cover an enemy of the life-force. The difference in kind can be bridged only be self-sacrifice: his self-sacrifice, for yours would bridge nothing. So, there is the severance. We have a new world to conquer: they have only a lost cause to lose.”

The Sealand woman bears a strong disdain for the Waknuk people and their deep resistance to change. She believes that they are bound for their own destruction and that Joseph was always meant to sacrifice himself for Petra and David. Since Joseph is of the past and his children are of the future, they are the ones who survive, as life is built on change. This quote illustrates The Dangers of Resisting Change.

“For ours is a superior variant, and we are only just beginning […] We could never commit the enormity of imagining that we could mint ourselves into equality and identity, like stamped coins; we do not mechanistically attempt to hammer ourselves into geometric patterns of society, or policy; we are not dogmatists teaching God how He should have ordered the world.”

When the Sealand woman comes to rescue Petra and the others, she gives a lengthy speech about how the people of Sealand are superior, and the people of Waknuk are pathetic and “primitive.” She feels that the people of Waknuk’s resistance to change and their maltreatment of people who are different exemplifies why Waknuk must be destroyed. This quote illustrates The Dangers of Resisting Change and how it can lead to self-destruction.

“A series of memories cut off what my eyes were seeing—my Aunt Harriet’s face in the water, her hair gently waving in the current; poor Anne, a limp figure hanging from a beam; Sally, wringing her hands in anguish for Katherine, and in terror for herself; Sophie, degraded to a savage, sliding in the dust, with an arrow in her neck [...] Any of those might have been a picture of Petra’s future.”

Throughout the novel, women are often affected by abuse, neglect, mental health conditions, and the doctrine of the true image. As the years go by, David watches as countless women he loves are victimized, banished, killed, and tortured. He reflects on how his sister may have had any of these fates if not for the Sealand people. This quote illustrates Purity, Prejudice, and the Rippling Effects of Fear.