Student Question
Prove that Rosalind in The Chrysalids is a strong, resourceful, self-reliant woman.
Quick answer:
Rosalind in The Chrysalids is portrayed as a strong, resourceful, and self-reliant woman. Living as a deviant in a dangerous society, she develops these traits early. She demonstrates leadership by organizing the group's escape, planning meticulously, and taking charge during crises, such as when Petra summons the telepaths. Rosalind's ability to quickly concoct believable explanations showcases her quick thinking, further highlighting her strength and independence in a patriarchal society.
Certainly I think that any of the group of which Rosalind and David are a part have to be strong, resourceful and self-reliant to live their life of deception in an atmosphere of such danger. However, you also might like to think about how she is presented as being a weak character. A key moment for this comes when the "spider-man" says he will take her as his lover:
It was not surrender to the stronger character, the conqueror. It was loathing, a horror which broke her defences from within.
This clearly shows that she was "terrified" and is made to be described as a "child" in the face of the thought of bearing this man's children.
However, you are right in many senses to point towards her strength and self-reliance. Note that when David, Petra and Rosalind flee it is Rosalind who has organised and packed everything and Rosalind...
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also comes up with a "story" to explain how David and her were able to "hear" Petra from so far away. Although there are examples of her fragility, it is her strength that dominates.
In The Chrysalids, provide two examples demonstrating Rosalind's strength.
This is a great question as it forces us to examine Rosalind's character more carefully in the novel and consider the role that she plays. Clearly, the fact that she is living as a deviant in a society that would punish that fact with sterilisation and exile means that she has had to develop traits such as strength and self-reliance very early in her life. These become evident in a number of different locations in the novel. One that comes to mind is how in Chapter 11 she takes the lead of the group of telepaths after Petra devastatingly summons them all to help her and protect her from a wild cat. Note how she takes control:
"But we must be careful this doesn't happen again. David will have to explain to Petra in words and try to teach her to use some self-control. If this distress of hers does occur, you must all of you ignore it, or, anyway, not answer it. Just leave it to David and me. If it is compulsive, like it was the first time, whoever reaches her first will have to try to make her unconscious somehow, and the moment the compulsion breaks you must turn back and cover up as best you can. We have to make sure we are not drawn together into a group again."
Note here how she shows her strength as a quick-thinking leader, even being willing to entertain extreme solutions to prevent the danger the group have just placed themselves in.
Likewise in the next chapter, Chapter 12, we see her strength reflected in the careful planning and preparations she has made for their escape, in sharp contrast to David's lack of preparations:
I realised that Rosalind had put in some careful planning to hide our tracks.
Thus, throughout the novel, Rosalind is presented as a strong female character, who shows self-reliance and leadership skills as she, like the other telepaths, is engaged in a desperate battle for survival.
In The Chrysalids, how is Rosalind strong, resourceful, and self-reliant?
You are right in identifying that, although the society of this novel is one that in many ways represents a move backwards towards more traditional, patriarchal values, Rosalind is presented as a strong, self-assured and self-reliant character. However, if you think about her situation, it is easy to understand how she has developed these qualities. Consider her situation: she, like David and the others, is trapped in an elaborate deception in which one false move could result in the loss of her life or worse. Because of this, she has been forced to develop these qualities that you have identified as a matter of survival.
For example, in Chapter 9, we see her resourcefulness and her quick-thinking when she is able to quickly create a fiction to explain her ability to "hear" Petra when she first reveals herself when nobody else is able to:
Rosalind turned an incredulous expression of surprise towards him.
"What! With the way she was yelling! I'd've thought anybody who wasn't deaf would have heard her half-way to Kentak."
Likewise in Chapter 12, when Rosalind, David and Petra flee, it is Rosalind who is the organised and prepared one, showing David to be unprepared and disorganised.
Clearly, then, you are right in suggesting that Rosalind has had to develop certain qualities that show she is resourceful, strong and self-reliant in this excellent dystopian novel.