'The Chrysalids' - unforgettable
Beryl Clarke, Contributor

This week we begin our study of John Whyndham's thought-provoking work, The Chrysalids. This is a story that I do not believe you will be able to forget. It deals with society, the way people live, just as other novels do. But what a way to live!

The Chrysalids is told by a boy/young man, David Strorm. His father is one of the leading citizens in a society that insists that everyone and everything must be physically and mentally alike, exactly alike. No person, animal or plant that is different can be tolerated there. Now we know that such a rigid belief cannot but lead to problems.

This science fiction follows David's life from childhood to young adulthood and tells of a world after Tribulation (Nuclear Holocaust) in which one group of persons, bound by strict laws, live together. The laws are designed to ensure the purity of the surviving race. In the very first chapter, David meets a girl (Sophie), who according to the tenets of Waknuk - his home settlement - is not normal, and strikes up a friendship with her and her parents.

Sophie's secret

Although he had been brought up and still lives in a home where anything different is hated, he neither hesitates to keep Sophie's secret nor does he reveal his knowledge to his family. Remember, that his society operates on the principle that all humans are made in the image of God and because Sophie has six toes on each foot she is considered a deviation and not acceptable in Waknuk. It is, therefore, his duty to report her to his father or someone else. The fact that he does not, raises some questions.

Is it that he does not agree with the beliefs of the adults? Does he consider two small extra toes as 'no big thing'? Is it that, as a child, he only sees Sophie as a playmate, a companion and ignores her difference? Please consider his possible reasons.

Abnormality

We learn soon enough too, that David himself has a secret, a condition that he shares with a few other children in his community. If their abnormality were known, they too would have been in trouble. The situation is worsened by the fact that his father, Joseph, is a rigid, cold, humourless and highly religious man.

Conflict between his father and a neighbour, (Uncle Axel, his father's half brother), attacks from the Fringes (the land where those who were different live), cruel and inhumane treatment, unexpected developments, romance, flight, fight and a last-minute dramatic rescue combine to make an unforgettable narrative.

Does this make you want to read the book now? I like this story, and I think you will too!

Here are some topics for discussion:

a) prejudice

b) parenting

c) religious extremism

d) youthful conduct.

Let us now look at some of the things we learn from the first two chapters. The society believes that it is pure and must maintain its purity in order to survive. As a result, it has set up Purity Laws. From infancy, it is drummed into David and his peers that:

• Only the image of God is man
• Keep pure the stock of the Lord
• Blessed is the Norm
• IN OUR PURITY IS OUR SALVATION

Dreams

But our narrator has dreams that include buildings, machines and the sea - all of which he has never seen. So we begin to wonder if David is dissatisfied with life as he knows it and yearns for something different. His sister's response when he inquires about the location of the city of which he dreams leads us to other questions. For she, having told him that perhaps he dreams of "the wonderful world" that the Old People had lived in as it had been before God sent Tribulation, went on to warn him "very seriously" not to tell anyone else of his dreams. Here we encounter a mystery. Who are the "Old People" and what is "Tribulation"?

From this point on, we discover facts about the society which suggest that it is different, very different from ours, and yet there are similarities.

In the next 'class' we will reflect on the differences and similarities, as this seems a good place for us to break. Do be good to yourselves and God bless!

Two heads are always better than one when it comes to studying. Do you think these Manchester High School students understand that?. - Photo by Michael Lee

Beryl Clarke teaches at Glenmuir High School.