Essays You Can Maybe Learn From

English 10: The Chrysalids - Identify a Theme

Identify the theme of The Chrysalids and explain how it is revealed.

In the science fiction novel The Chrysalids, written by John Wyndham, there is an underlaying theme of perfection's illusion and the effects of it on humans. It is revealed through the Definition of Man mentioned by David sets a "norm" for the people of Waknuk to follow, while the sterilization, banishment, or exile of anyone who doesn't fit into the Description of Man, called Deviations, to the Fringes prevents the "perfection" of their society from being affected. These two ways maintain the perfection in the society of Waknuk, but they both have a community: the Image is man-made, interpreted by humans and implemented by humans who claimed to know God's image of the perfect individual. From this we can see that the interference of humans causes the Image of God to shift, into the Image of the Observer.

The Definition of Man, first narrated by David Strorm, who is the main character, is what the people of Waknuk are expected to know and to comply by to live the most perfect and flawless lives, without the eye-sore of having to see mutations in plants, animals, and even humans. Anything that strays away from the Definition is considered to be "not human. It is neither man nor woman. It is a blasphemy against the true Image of God, and hateful in the sight of God" (6). Here the definition of a man is implied that it is set by God as what he intended for them to look like, but this was only a belief brought to the people of Waknuk through the Old People. The Old People in this novel refers to us, and because of what the Old People's religions had told them was right and wrong, the ideas had gotten drilled into their heads, and they passed it on from generation to generation, each of which enforced the idea of perfection with no true source other than The Old People's words. But as David and Rosalind had conversed in thought-shapes while they were on the run, they both agreed that spoken words could not convey ideas, thoughts, or beliefs as well as their thought-shapes could, so judging by this possible theory, I believe the people of Waknuk could not communicate with each other like telepaths could, and the meanings of the Old People's words have been twisted and misunderstood for decades, eventually leading them to the Definition that caused the banishment and exile of many, those of which included Sophie's family and many seasons of the Strorm family's crops. I truly believe that the Definition of Perfection in our words were not as extreme as the people of Waknuk put it but is rather a result of misunderstandings and lack of effective communication.

Relying on the Definition of Man, the people of Waknuk will first sterilize, then banish those who do not fit into the Definition into the Fringes, a place where legend tells there are Deviations who scare and kill children who wander there, where terrifying monsters lurk to grab a bite of an unfortunate passerby. Because of this, everyone has a negative image of Deviations, imagining them to be cannibalistic creatures that prey on the "norms" for revenge. However, this isn't true, as Petra had soon realized when she and David and Rosalind had to flee Waknuk in fear of their exile, as there was no 'Old Maggie' with four eyes or 'Hairy Jack' who kidnapped children and brought them to his cave to eat. As David narrated, Deviations in the Fringes "often looked quite like ordinary human people, if nothing had gone too much wrong with them" (7). The Deviations banished by the inspector and Joseph Strorm as a serious follower of the Definition are usually similar to what the "norm" is, but because of a small mutation, they had to be banished. The process of ensuring there was no deviations amongst them is the main reason why the theme of man-made perfection is present. The entire process is dealt with and treated by men in the Waknuk community - the inspector and Joseph Strorm. Without Deviations in the community, there is no chance of them being able to reproduce and create more Deviations. The banishment of sterilized Deviations also prevents them from having children once they enter the Fringes, hopefully decreasing the numbers of people they have to fight every few months in a Fringes raid. The actions taken by those men to maintain a perfect life is already a form of man-making perfection. The idea of man-made perfection is definitely alive and spreading within our modern society, which contributes further into the story as a passing on of our idea of perfection. However, our form of perfection is more so engrained by images of "perfect bodies" and "ideal traits" we see online in the beauty industry, fashion industry, and in the ever-changing beauty "standards" than how many limbs we have or what our body parts look like. These "norms" set by us create a similar effect as the Fringes People in the Chrysalids, as we tend to favour those who sport a jacked, muscular, toned, or a slim, hourglass, beach body rather than one that is plump, chubby, stretched, or scarred. The standards we have set as an evolving species grow more extreme with every new "trend", which could be seen as the exponential misinterpretations, we see in the Chrysalids. In some rather toxic environments, parents might say to their children, "marry rich", "get a partner with a nice-looking body, so they'd meet our standards to produce the best-looking grandchildren", "don't date that one, they have a disability". These words completely disregard the personalities and the character of the person, and rather is a very surficial and materialistic way of determining whether a person is worthy of a good life. From this we can clearly see that the man-made image of perfection was indeed passed onto the Waknuk People and taken to the extremes.

The image of perfection in the eyes of Waknuk People have become an illusion, blinding them from seeing other things in a person that are worth more than their physical appearance. The Definition of Man and the banishment of anyone who differs from the image of perfection creates the implementation of a man-made process, making perfection not truly in the image of God, but really, in the image of the observer.