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 him and others who are looked upon as "normal."
In this novel, the people of Waknuk do not want deviants, those deemed physically corrupted or different, among them. They want normal looking people, in essence physically "right," to be the standard for their society. They are taught to look for “Offences.”
As the novel states, these “…were things which did not look right – that is to say, did not look like their parents, or parent-plants.”
Joseph Strorm is cruel in that when something is doubtful as to whether it is an Offence, he does not call a district inspector to make a final judgement. Joseph Strorm just liquidates or eliminates anything...
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that may smack of an Offence at all. This is where his lack of compassion shows clearly.
In one incident, David Strorm makes an offhand remark that he wishes he had a third hand to make tying a rag easier. This is blasphemous in the Strorm household – to not be happy with the body God has given one. Joseph Strorm is relentless in his vocal anger (bordering on verbal abuse) at his son. He accuses his son of Devil talk because his son innocently made a comment that he needed a third hand to tie the rag better.
With fierce anger, and again, a lack of compassion, he says to his son, “Pray, you wretched boy, for a forgiveness you do not deserve, but which God, in His mercy, may yet grant you. I will come to you later.” This is foreboding. Joseph Strorm will make sure his son has learned a lesson. David Strorm experiences suffering later from his father’s visit to his room. This is an example of cruelty to his own son.
In addition, David Strorm meets the girl Sophie, who has six toes. When her secret is revealed, she is deemed a mutant. In David’s father’s eyes, she must be liquidated as she is not physically pure and "right." Joseph Strorm beats his son so that he will tell him where Sophie has fled. This is Joseph Strorm’s modus operandi throughout the novel TheChrysalids. He is a fanatic who cannot stand the physical abnormalities that are present in society. He wants physical purity and is relentless in persecuting those who are not considered normal.
He has imposed this belief system on family members who are physically different and also on crops that grow mutantly and are not fine physical representations of what fruits and vegetables should be when they mature.
References
How is Joseph Storm both cruel and deeply religious in The Chrysalids?
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 because it was founded by his father. Both men are of one mind when it comes to the religious views.
David reflects on his father’s role in the community when he thinks about his first encounter with Sophie the girl with six toes.
David Strorm, the son of Joseph Strorm, of all people, who had seen her foot. (ch 3)
David realizes that Sophie’s father was tempted to kill him because “a dead boy could break no promise” and he knows that David’s father is tyrannically religious.
Angus describes him as “a flinty-souled pedant, and bigoted well beyond reason” (ch 4). He does not have a problem turning his own wife’s sister away because her baby has some minor defect. He beats David severely when he accidentally comments that he could tie a bandage if he had another hand.
Joseph seems to have no problem turning out a member of his own family. When David arrives in the Fringes, he meets his uncle. The uncle was thrown out because someone decided his arm was not the right length. He is completely cold-hearted.