The Chrysalids

by John Wyndham

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How does Sophie killing a guard in chapter 15 demonstrate her change?

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When we meet Sophie again in chapter 15, her behavior and actions show that she has toughened up immensely. Her experiences have transformed her from an innocent child to a woman who will not hesitate to kill when necessary.

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By the time David meets Sophie for the second time, her appearance and character have changed dramatically. In the first chapter, David describes Sophie as a typical happy child, still in awe with the world:

The branches parted, and a face looked out at me. It was a small face, sunburned, and clustered about by dark curls. The expression was somewhat serious, but the eyes sparkled.

In the fifteenth chapter, the spark in her eyes and her dark curls have been replaced by a "glint of dark eyes" and "dark hair hanging down on each side of her sunburnt face."

The once "ordinary little girl" has been worn down and made bitter by living on the fringes and being what she calls a "deviant."

You've never known loneliness. You can't understand the awful emptiness that's waiting all round us here . . . Why didn't they kill me? It would...

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have been kinder than this.

Her only her solace is her relationship with Gordon, but even that is threatened by Gordon's interest in Rosalind. Even when David tries to convince her that Rosalind is not interested, she finds it very hard to believe him. It's almost as if she has nothing else left.

"You can't know a thing like that about another person. You're just trying to—"
"I'm not, Sophie. I do know. You and I could only know very little about one another. But with Rosalind it is different: it's part of what thinking-together means."
She regarded me doubtfully.
"Is that really true? I don't understand—"
"How should you? But it is true. I could feel what she was feeling about the spi—about the man."
She went on looking at me, a trifle uneasily.

Her change in character is represented most dramatically, however, when she leaves the cave to kill someone.

The broad blade was clean and bright. It looked as if it might one have been part of the kitchen furnishings of a raided farm. She slipped it into the belt of her skirt, leaving only the dark handle protruding.

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In the beginning of the novel, Sophie is basically a normal, good natured kid.  She enjoys spending time with David, and is a bit naive about the cultural implications of being a Deviant.  She is a bit more worldly than David, because she knows that she should hide the fact that she has six toes. That's probably because her genetic mutation is visible to her and her parents.  She has been living with it for her entire life.  At the same time David doesn't know about his abilities just yet, so it makes sense that he is more naive than her.  Still, she's not a hardened killer.  

By the time the reader finishes chapter 15, though, it is evident that Sophie is a vastly different person than she used to be.  Her change is not only focused on external aggression and survival, but also her internal attitude about life and society is very different.  I like this quote:

"To be any kind of deviant is to be hurt—always," she said.

It shows that Sophie is not disillusioned about being a Deviant any longer.  It hurt her to be ostracized as a child.  It was painful to be sterilized, and it continues to hurt because she is incapable of bearing children with/for the man she is in love with. That constant pain and suffering at the hands of an intolerant society has made her a cold and hard person.  Rosalind and Petra bear witness to that attitude when Sophie kills the guard with little to no hesitance.  The final lines of the chapter summarize nicely exactly how much Sophie has changed. 

"Rosalind, and Petra too, watched silently in horrid fascination as Sophie scooped a bowlful of water from the bucket to wash the blood off her arms and clean the knife."

She's cool, calm, and collected after having killed someone. That's a far cry from the girl readers first met.  

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