"The chrysalids" by john wyndham
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Passage
But after that she went on to warn me very seriously not to mention it to anyone else; other people, as far as she knew, did not have such pictures in their heads, either sleeping or waking, so it would be unwise to mention them. The nearest approach to decoration was a number of wooden panels with sayings, mostly from Repentances, artistically burnt into them. The one on the left of the fireplace read: ONLY THE IMAGE OF GOD IS MAN. The one on the right: KEEP PURE THE STOCK OF THE LORD. On the opposite wall two more said: BLESSED IS THE NORM, and IN PURITY OUR SALVATION. The largest was the one on the back wall, hung to face the door which led to the yard. It reminded everyone who came in: WATCH THOU FOR THE MUTANT!
“I could have managed it all right by myself if I’d had another hand.” [David]
“What was that you said, boy?” [David’s father] “I – I s-aid I couldn't manage to tie this for myself,” I told him. “And you wish you had a third hand!” “No, father. I only said if I had another hand…” “You – my own son – were calling upon the Devil to give you another hand!” “I want you to keep it secret. I want you to promise that you will never, never tell anyone else what you have just old me – never.” Uncle Axel.
“Oh, God,” I said, “please, please, God, let me be like other people. I don’t want to be different. Won’t you make it so that when I wake up in the morning I’ll be just like everyone else, please, God, please!”
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Reactions, Comments, Questions
When David told his eldest sister, Mary, about about the city in his dreams, she responded saying no city like that exists and that he should keep his visions to himself, lest he be discovered different than the others. In this sense I feel like he’s not being his true self in order to remain safe in the society he lives in. David lives in a world full of religious propaganda. He’s constantly bombarded with the idea of men should really look like and that he isn’t so – that he is a deviant in his own home. That he is not safe anywhere he goes and will not be accepted. That he is doomed to die like stock that is not considered pure.
David’s father is certainly the type to practice and preach what is said to be the word of God. He’s the type that condemned scientists for theorizing or discovering facts that questioned the word of God. He takes David’s imaginative “if” too seriously than an adult should for such a young child, scaring David to the point where sharing his ‘thought shapes’ is out of the question.
Like David’s sister Mary, Uncle Axel realizes the danger that David could be in if David revealed he could see ‘thought shapes’ and forces David to keep that life of his a secret.
With all the influences David has to keep his thought shapes secret, David just wishes he could be like everyone else so that he doesn’t have to worry if one day someone will discover he is different and make him suffer like deviants do.
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Retell
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham is about eight children, including David, Rosalind, Michael, Sally and Katherine, Mark, Anne and Rachel, who can communicate with each other using a sort of telepathy using ‘thought shapes’. Trouble is they live in a community, called Waknuk, in which abnormalities are discouraged and are punished by being cast away into what's called the Fringes - where all abnormalities live - or death. The group manages to disguise themselves as the norm until David Strorm’s little sister Petra is born. As Petra ages, her strength of thought shapes increases beyond the groups’ strength to a point where she is able to unknowingly call the others to her during two episodes of tragic misadventures. Since the group live as far as nine miles apart, these sudden gatherings cause suspicion among the regulars. Sally and Katherine are seized which forces David, Rosalind, and Petra the urge to escape. During their escape, Petra catches the thought shapes of a woman from Sealand (or Zealand) who says that everyone in her area is just like the telepathic group in Waknuk. The Sealand woman says she'll rescue the group and take them back to Sealand because of Petra's thought shape strength. All the while, search groups are out hunting the escaped trio, with Michael as an inside source. Michael telepathically warns the trio of the search teams' whereabouts, so it comes as no surprise when the trio are hiding in a settlement in the fringes and a battle breaks out. The battle is 'settled' when the Sealand woman arrives and takes David, Rosalind, and Petra back to Sealand.
Relate
During this book I was able to relate to David’s wishes to be normal by remembering the times when I have felt the same way. At one point in the book, David’s Aunt Harriet conceives her third deviant infant. Unable to bear the consequences, she drowns herself and the infant in a nearby river. The following nights David is more aware of what could happen to him and his friends should their deviance be revealed and prays to God to make him normal. Like David, I fear of suffering the same consequences of being “abnormal.” It’s no secret that I strive for high marks in my classes, but doing so takes sacrifices. I have lost many friends because I would constantly put my education before them and therefore would often find myself alone. During these times I would wish that I could settle for average so my time would not be spent in solitude. Like David though, I could never be normal.
Reflect
The people of Waknuk have conformed to believe that the thought-shapers go against the image of God; however the population of Sealand proves that the ability is a natural thing. What might happen if the two societies were to meet? Would the people of Waknuk accept that they might not be the image of God (as the Sealand people are so much more prosperous)? Or would they die trying to hold onto the very idea they have conformed to for so long? I would expect the latter because it would be too shocking to realize that they have lived their entire lives believing what isn’t true.
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham is about eight children, including David, Rosalind, Michael, Sally and Katherine, Mark, Anne and Rachel, who can communicate with each other using a sort of telepathy using ‘thought shapes’. Trouble is they live in a community, called Waknuk, in which abnormalities are discouraged and are punished by being cast away into what's called the Fringes - where all abnormalities live - or death. The group manages to disguise themselves as the norm until David Strorm’s little sister Petra is born. As Petra ages, her strength of thought shapes increases beyond the groups’ strength to a point where she is able to unknowingly call the others to her during two episodes of tragic misadventures. Since the group live as far as nine miles apart, these sudden gatherings cause suspicion among the regulars. Sally and Katherine are seized which forces David, Rosalind, and Petra the urge to escape. During their escape, Petra catches the thought shapes of a woman from Sealand (or Zealand) who says that everyone in her area is just like the telepathic group in Waknuk. The Sealand woman says she'll rescue the group and take them back to Sealand because of Petra's thought shape strength. All the while, search groups are out hunting the escaped trio, with Michael as an inside source. Michael telepathically warns the trio of the search teams' whereabouts, so it comes as no surprise when the trio are hiding in a settlement in the fringes and a battle breaks out. The battle is 'settled' when the Sealand woman arrives and takes David, Rosalind, and Petra back to Sealand.
Relate
During this book I was able to relate to David’s wishes to be normal by remembering the times when I have felt the same way. At one point in the book, David’s Aunt Harriet conceives her third deviant infant. Unable to bear the consequences, she drowns herself and the infant in a nearby river. The following nights David is more aware of what could happen to him and his friends should their deviance be revealed and prays to God to make him normal. Like David, I fear of suffering the same consequences of being “abnormal.” It’s no secret that I strive for high marks in my classes, but doing so takes sacrifices. I have lost many friends because I would constantly put my education before them and therefore would often find myself alone. During these times I would wish that I could settle for average so my time would not be spent in solitude. Like David though, I could never be normal.
Reflect
The people of Waknuk have conformed to believe that the thought-shapers go against the image of God; however the population of Sealand proves that the ability is a natural thing. What might happen if the two societies were to meet? Would the people of Waknuk accept that they might not be the image of God (as the Sealand people are so much more prosperous)? Or would they die trying to hold onto the very idea they have conformed to for so long? I would expect the latter because it would be too shocking to realize that they have lived their entire lives believing what isn’t true.