The Chrysalids Essay
Is moral to believe in morality? In The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham, a boy named David Strorm lives in an extremely religious society titled Waknuk, and he is forced to keep his telepathic ability a secret, along with eight others in the novel, so he is not cast-out or executed. The people of Waknuk look down on anyone who is appears to look different than the ‘true image’ of God, and they banish the so-called deviants to a place of outside of society, described as the Fringes. There is a constant theme of morality throughout the novel and it is shown many different ways through various characters, as the meaning of a right decision can differ from person to person. In The Chrysalids, innocent people who have their own ideas and morals, within a prejudice and controlling society, are forced into fleeing, punishment, and suicide.
Predominantly, David, who has his beliefs about deviants, must flee from Waknuk by the end of the novel, as the people of Waknuk discover his telepathy, and David knows that their religious morals prevent them from being understanding. David’s morality first changes when he meets Sophie, a sixth-toed girl, and he realizes how immoral the idea of treating people as non-human, strictly because of their appearance is. When David grasps the idea of Sophie’s six toes, he does not tell the…show more content… In The Chrysalids, only a few amount of people have their own sense of morality that differ from the rest of society’s idea of morals, who are not swayed by its corruptness. In addition, these good people suffer from forced departure from their homes, severe and unfair punishments, and death. Morality is never right or wrong, thus, it develops its own meaning depending on what someone’s considers to be right or
