There is one instance of despair in The Chrysalids by John Wyndham when Anne, a mutant telepath, marries a nontelepath, a "norm." Anne unwisely chooses to confide in her norm husband who turns on her. Anne commits suicide and, in an act of bitterness and despair, leaves a note revealing the names of the entire mutant telepath group.

Another instance of despair comes when Sophie's mutation is discovered and she and her family flee to the Fringe to live in danger, hardship and exile. An earlier instance of despair is when David is brutally punished by his father, the patriarch of Waknuk, for not revealing the truth about Sophie's mutation when he happened to discover it.