The Chrysalids by John Wyndham Essay Sample

In today’s world, we are constantly plagued by opinions of what is perfect versus imperfect. People change their bodies, mannerisms, and style based on being accepted. The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham, is a dystopian novel, in which people who are born different are separated from regular society. Wyndham brings us along on a journey of the different beliefs and religions that each community shares and how the people in these communities fit in. The people of Waknuk are taught that there is only one true image in life. This true image states you must have ten fingers, ten toes, two arms, two legs, and look like everyone else. Every once and a while, there is someone that does not meet that standard. The People of Waknuk are very firm on what they believe the image of God is, and whoever does not meet this standard will be considered a deviation. Discrimination is a very evident theme throughout the book as people with deviations are sent to cruel, poor places and deviations are unfairly treated, punished and suffer major consequences like being sent away or even death.

Discrimination is responsible for most of the suffering that takes place in the novel because deviations are exiled to a cruel, poor place. When an individual is found to have a deviation, they are taken away from their families and sent to the Fringes. In the Fringes, an expanse of land that borders the community of Waknuk and the Badlands, the genetics of the plants and animals are not controlled, causing many mutations in species and making it harder for exiled individuals to survive. David's father, Joseph, describes it as where “The devil struts his wide estates, and laws of God are mocked,” (Wyndham, 1955). The people of Waknuk only know what they hear; the Fringes is a very unpleasant and cruel place that they refer to as the “devil's land,” (Wyndham, 1955). Nothing in the Fringes is as people from Waknuk believe is in God's image - rather everything is deviational. Every once and a while, the people living in the Fringes get so desperate for food and resources that they raid Waknuk for whatever they can get their hands on such as guns, food, and clothes. This causes the people of Waknuk to experience returned suffering because the exiled people of the Fringes take what they haven’t been afforded so that they can survive. The people of Waknuk are wrapped up within the image of their beliefs, believing that anyone outside of the ideal image is meant to be an outcast. However, the people living in the Fringes do not look like what one expects when someone is outcast for a deviation. In fact, they are very ordinary looking; when describing two leaders of the Fringes, David describes them as, “two ordinary men with beards” (Wyndham, 1955). This shows that a lot of people in the Fringes could fit in with the people of Waknuk and possibly live there, instead of living in such cruel, poor conditions. However, the people of Waknuk will not accept this because of what they have been taught to believe.

Discrimination is also responsible for how deviations are treated, causing suffering. The people of Waknuk are firm on what they believe. They do not care if a deviant is a family member to them or a stranger - they will treat them the same as they do any other deviation. An example of this is David's Aunt Harriet. She has three kids that have all been born with deviations. She asks her sister, Emily Storm for help, but she refuses to help Harriet because it is not their way. As a result, Harriet’s children have either been sent to the Fringes or have been killed. Aunt Harriet even goes so far as to beg, “This is the third time. They’ll take my baby away again like they took my others. I can't stand that, not again” (Wyndham, 1955). This shows that she has suffered each time one of her children are taken away because of their deviation. It also shows that Aunt Harriet has had enough suffering from a law put in place about being born in God's true image that she has no choice but to stand against it. On the other hand, Joseph, an important man in Waknuk and David’s father, would exile his own children because of what the community thinks is right. When David, Petra, and Rosalind’s secret is exposed, they decide they have to run away. David believes that Joseph is so firm on his beliefs that he is willing to chase down his own children and Joseph even goes so far as to set a bounty to bring David back dead or alive. The bounty ultimately leads to a horseman trying to kill David, Petra, and Rosalind. As the children are being chased, the horsemen shoot at them, “His arrow passed between us, skinning our horses' heads” (Wyndham, 1955). This shows that Joseph is willing to try to kill his children to stop them; David's father is so caught up in his own beliefs that he's not worried about his son and daughter dying. These examples show that family is not a consideration when it comes down to God's image and deviations.  

The people of Waknuk have a firm grasp on what they believe is the right way. Waknuk is a place of idealized standards that forces its citizens to believe and follow what they believe to be the true image of people.  If an individual is considered different then W1 they will be exiled from Waknuk and sent to the Fringes. Therefore, deviations are treated poorly and suffer consequences, such as where they will be forced to survive; most of the time, this is in a cruel, poor place known as the Fringes. In today’s world, discriminating against someone or multiple people is very wrong and unfair to that individual. If you discriminate against someone, it can, in turn, alienate you from other people. People may think that you don’t have respect for others. To make sure we don't discriminate against anyone, we can focus on our own strengths, beliefs, and core values, instead of other peoples’.