One issue that this innocent incident deals with--innocent because David used a simple idiomatic expression to convey his difficulty in self-doctoring his wound--is what Joseph Strorm represents in The Chrysalids. Strorm is the symbol of (and in an allegorical reading, the allegorical figure of) unyielding, unthinking blind adherence to a standard or cultural ideological construct. By way of definition, a cultural ideological construct is any idea or system of ideas that establishes, supports and sustains the power structure, in this case, the Old People's adamant fight against mutations (which, immediately after the Tribulation, may have been needed and logical but may since have become stagnant and counter-productive).
Another issue that this incident deals with is the punishments given to mutants. It is brought up as David lies awake in anguish thinking about Sophy:
If it was such a terrible thing just to think of having three hands, what would happen if one really had them--or anything else wrong; such as, for instance, an extra toe--?
The issue of punishment, or, from Wyndham's perspective, unreasoning punishment, for events that occur outside of the realms of control or intent is introduced through Strorm's treatment of David and the later treatment of Sophy. It surfaces again and again throughout the story through David's aunt and baby, through the think-talkers, through Uncle Axel's protective attitudes, through David's encounter with his mutant paternal uncle. Interestingly, it also surfaces in an ironically oppositional way through the question of Angus Morton's "great-horses."
Rumours of great-horses had reached our district though none had been seen there. ... the fact that Angus was the importer ... [caused the] prejudice that he went to inspect them [with].
His doubts were confirmed at once. The moment he set eyes on the huge creatures standing twenty-six hands at the shoulder, he knew they were wrong. He ... went straight to the inspector's house with a demand that they should be destroyed as Offences.
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