Student Question
In The Chrysalids, what differentiates the external and internal aspects of Rosalind?
Quick answer:
Rosalind in The Chrysalids externally conforms to Waknuk's strict norms, publicly opposing mutations. Internally, however, she possesses telepathic abilities, marking her as a mutant. This duality reflects her need to hide her true self to survive in Waknuk's oppressive society. Unlike Waknuk, Sealand embraces telepaths, ultimately rescuing Rosalind and others to help build a new world, highlighting the conflict between oppressive conformity and the acceptance of diversity.
Rosalind in John Wyndham's The Chrysalids has to deport herself in public in a way such that she does not reveal her mutant powers of telepathy. The external Rosalind, the public Rosalind, is forced to show adherence to the norms and to seek and destroy plant and animal mutations just as vigorously as the other inhabitants of the rigid land of Waknuk do. Privately, in her inner, or "real" self, Rosalind has the mutated ability to communicate with others telepathically.
She is a member of a small group of mutants in Waknuk who have developed telepathy, which, as far as the land of Waknuk is concerned, is a deviant mutation that must be snuffed out. By contrast, the land of Sealand (New Zealand) is populated by hosts of telepathic mutant humans who save the telepaths of Waknuk, destroy rigid and unchanging Waknuk, and invite the young telepaths from Waknuk to...
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help build a new world.