The Chrysalids

The primary conflict in the novel Chrysalids is brought about by the government's choice to control and oppress people with genetic mutations, including telepathy. This central conflict manifests...

The main difference between the societies of Waknuk and the Fringes is the society’s organizational structure. Waknuk is an agrarian theocracy, and there is generally anarchy in the Fringes....

In a nutshell, the hardships of her existence as somebody bearing a physical abnormality have transformed Sophie from an innocent child to a woman who has been toughened by life's hardships. After...

Let us remember that the bank is first introduced in the first chapter of the novel and is used as a kind of play area for David and it is where he first meets Sophie. David mentions that he uses...

In The Chrysalids, there are two books owned by David's grandfather, Elias, to form the basis of this dystopian society. The first is the Bible, and the second is called Repentances, authored by...

John Wyndham's science fiction novel belongs to a post-nuclear world. Nuclear radiations have resulted in mutations and abnormalities. A cult Christian community in Waknuk becomes intolerant to...

It is in Chapter 2 that David describes to us the house in which he lives and the signs that you refer to. The signs are placed in the biggest room - the main living room of the family, and David...

The first crisis is a raid on Waknuk society from the people of the Fringes. The raid ultimately fails because the Waknuk people successfully defended themselves, and several of the attackers were...

When Uncle Axel describes Tribulation as nothing more than a "word... A rusted mirror, reflecting nothing," he is explaining how the way in which the powers that be in this dystopian world treat...

At the beginning of the story, David is a small boy of about ten years old. He has been taught the religious laws of the land, has memorized them, but does not understand them fully. This is why...

Joseph Strorm is cruel in the book The Chrysalids in that he lacks compassion as a human being. He is too rigid in his thinking, not being able to see the value in others who appear different than...

The Tribulation was a catastrophic nuclear holocaust which destroyed the Old People and dramatically altered the environment of the world and its inhabitants. The citizens of Labrador are strictly...

Joseph is the biological father of David. Joseph Strorm is a strict disciplinarian, and David knows this. Despite knowing that his dad is adamant about adhering to religious rules of Waknuk...

David does not quite know how it happened that he and Rosalind fell in love. The events of the story span years, and David and Rosalind have grown up together because they are cousins. Their...

David's power is telepathy. He is able to communicate with fellow telepaths simply by thinking his thoughts, and he can hear the thoughts that they are sending to him. The book never really clearly...

The signs you refer to actually appear in Chapter 2, and not just in the kitchen, but in the big room in the Storm's house. Note how important these "truths" are to this community, that such signs...

An example of David’s thoughts on deviation is when he prays to be normal. David worries about Sophie’s deviation, but he has a problem of his own. David has a secret deviation, because he is a...

It is in Chapter 14 that Rosalind and David are close enough to the woman from Sealand to be able to communicate with her themselves, rather than relying on Petra to communicate for them. Chapter...

The conflict between Rosalind and Sophie concerns jealousy over David. Sophie and Rosalind both have a connection to David, and both are jealous. He can communicate telepathically with Rosalind,...

David has several dreams that are critical to the story line. However, I think that the question is asking about the dream that David describes in the opening paragraphs of the book. He dreams of a...

The woman from Sealand justifies the killing of the Waknuk citizens by stating that the Waknuks are no longer a superior form of the species. Her explanation is very Darwinian. Adaptations lead...

The similarities between the philosophy of the Waknukians the dwellers of the fringes is similar in that both groups of people think that they have the correct understanding of what God is doing...

Almost everyone in Sealand is telepathic, and they feel sorry for people who aren’t but do not discriminate against them. David and his friends are telepathic. This means that they communicate...

Waknuk was founded by David's grandfather, who was driven by "the ungodly ways of the East" to make a better society. He developed the first district in Waknuk, and relied heavily on the Bible and...

Sophie is important in The Chrysalids as she demonstrates that physical appearance isn't everything; that there's so much more to being a human than how you look. David has grown up in an...

In The Chrysalids we see that some kind of tragedy has happened, and that the remaining people live under the strict commandments of the Old Testament. They are led by Joseph Strorm, a fanatical...

The first good place to look for quotes about Joseph Strorm is chapter 2. At the beginning of the chapter, David gives readers a bit of background information about his grandfather and father. At...

Waknuk society was established in the wake of a nuclear holocaust, which has significantly affected the world's landscape and genetic pool. The citizens of Waknuk are religious fanatics, who...

Girls and women wear the cross on their clothing to protect them. One of the first things that we learn about David’s community is a hint of the importance of religious devotion. When David meets...

The final few paragraphs of this novel end where the first chapter started. If you remember, the novel begins with David's dream of a strange city with odd flying machines. This example of...

The chapter begins by showcasing David in a childlike manner. Readers are shown David and Sophie getting out of work in order to play together. They spend time together fishing and hunting for...

In Chapter 7, David is somewhat startled to learn that he has a baby sister as no mention of any upcoming birth has been made. Shortly after his sister Petra is deemed normal and afforded a...

Chapter 15 doesn't explicitly explain why Sophie helps David, but I think two factors contribute to Sophie's help. The first is that Sophie knows that David kept her mutation a secret all those...

David’s Uncle Axel is very supportive of him, and they have a father-son relationship that is much better than the one between David and his own father. David is much closer with Axel than his own...

From David we can learn to be open-minded about the world and the people in it, and not blindly follow the will of our parents. Children are definitely impacted by their parents’ beliefs. Parents...

Uncle Axel is David's friend. Among the adults, Uncle Axel is David's best friend. The friendship is deeper that simply an uncle and nephew that like to spend time together. Uncle Axel is a...

At the story's climax of The Chrysalids by John Wyndham, there is the battle between the Waknuk force and the people of the Fringes. It is at this point of the story, that the main conflict is...

As a so-called deviant, Aunt Harriet's baby is effectively a non-person in this society. The child might as well not exist. So when Aunt Harriet drowns herself with her baby, the child is never...

For Joseph Strorm, his way is the only way. His father established the rules of Waknuk, declaring anyone unfit who does not fit their narrow view of the world. Joseph Strorm is the heir to Waknuk...

David's nightmare reveals his increasing apprehensions about his father's capability of eliminating whatever he deems is not "PURE," whether it be animal or human. Early on, he has become aware of...

David is severely beaten by his father when he wishes that he had another hand. In David’s society, everyone is devoutly religious and they consider everyone to be made in the image of God. Anyone...

I'm not so sure about that initial prompt. David doesn't defeat anybody. He and a few other Deviant telepaths are on the run and hiding. They are being hunted by the Waknuk people and the...

John Wyndham uses David's throwaway remark to poke fun at how a fanatical attachment to dogma can undermine not only our sense of humor, but also our capacity for rational judgment. David's father...

This story is filled with important events, and different readers are going to place emphasis on certain events more than others. For me, the first significant event is David discovering that...

The Chrysalids starts off with a ten-year-old David, playing all by himself at the high bank. He meets and makes friends with Sophie, who has six toes, a trait that makes her a mutant by Labrador’s...

At the beginning of Chapter 6, David is informed that Sophie and her parents have been captured. After learning this news and having been beaten, David decides to run away from home. This news of...