Some people dream about having an ability to communicate through mental
telepathy. Some even claimed to have this ability but it played an
important role in the novel The Chrysalids. The author created an
interesting environment. There was no communication and the only people
who could communicate between each other were the ones that had the power
of telepathy. Because in some areas the land was so dangerous because of
the radiation that people were cut of from another and left on a small
piece of land. They could not communicate. Though-shapes not only
developed the plot of the story but greatly affected the lives of some
characters and might affect Waknuk.
We all know that people in Waknuk were very superstitious but did it
actually help the plot to develop? On page 91 through 103 finally and
idea gets out about some people being able to communicate through
thought-shapes. When Katherine and Sally got caught and tortured they
finally tell some of the names to the inspector. This forces David,
Rosalind and Petra to runaway to the fringes, and they established some
kind of contact with a woman from Sealant (Zealand, On page 134). The help
that the sealant woman promised is on their way to the fringes. The plot
is greatly influenced, David learns more things as the time goes on. He
discovers who is the Spiderman(Gordon) and where is Sophie. He meets them
and learn what it is like to live in the fringes. When the sealant woman
rescues David, Rosalind and Petra they are brought to a big, developed city
like the one in David’s dreams. Because of the telepathy David discovers
that such a city really exists but most of all through Petra they establish
contact with a more civilized people than they are. Because of the
conflicts in the story it leads the main characters to discover the sealant
city.
Telepathy not only affects the plot of the story but also the main
characters in the novel. The most obvious thing is that David, Rosalind
and Petra are saved. They have a chance to learn, experience new things
they never saw or heard before.
The Chryslids – Plausible
The Chryslids – Plausible
“The Chrysalids” by John Wyndham is an entertaining yet plausible story. It compels the reader to think about human nature and our attitude to the world around us that we often take for granted.
The setting of “The Chrysalids” is several hundred years after a nuclear war. What is left of civilization is a few small towns here and there all over the countries of the world. The population is by the leadership what the “true image” is apparently meant to be. If you are not of the true image then you are sent to live in the fringes.
Many people and animals are born with birth defects caused by the nuclear radioactivity that is still present from the nuclear destruction of previous years. The population that is considered of the “true image” are cruel to the “freaks” or “mutants”.
Some of the people in the novel are also very bigoted like David’s father. He thinks he is the king of the castle and can’t be wrong. If he says something it should happen like where he has an argument with the inspector about the giant horses or when he burnt that families cat because it didn’t have a tail eg “It is your moral duty to issue an order against these so called horses!!” Various people including David’s father all agree that deviants are from the devil and should be castrated or thrown out of society.
Another thing is that people are forced to agree with the laws and if they don’t they are also thrown from society where they would either be killed or spend the rest of their miserable lives in the sloughs of the fringe people.
Their attitude towards the world is OK I suppose. They don’t really use that much of the worlds resources in Waknuk or any of the other little towns around. They don’t need to think about how much longer the supplies of these materials are going to last because all that they are using at the moment is trees, which they seem to have plenty of, and water which they get from wells and rivers. There food they grow or hunt and cook and bake things over open fires I would assume.