THE CHRYSALIDS full notes

houseofballoons THE CHRYSALIDS key: themes general Insights characterisation devices CHAPTER 1: PLOT POINTS: ● Starts with David having a dream of an Old People city with “shiny fish-shaped things in the sky” → David asks his sister, Mary about this but she says that no such place exists. She tells him that he should keep this dream to himself, foreshadowing the secrets he has to keep later on in the novel ● David meets Sophie, and she begrudgingly reveals her toes to him after getting injured. David gradually realises she has six toes → he doesn’t notice because he regards her as a friend and isn’t focused on outward appearances (childlike innocence) ● Incident with Sophie’s toe should’ve gotten a response out of David since it was preached that human beings shouldn’t have extra toes, but the fact that seeing her toes doesn’t trigger the thoughts of the rules shows how easy it is to memorise something without understanding it CHAPTER 2: PLOT POINTS: ● David goes home. Around his home are proverbs from a book called the Repentances e.g. “Watch thou for the Mutant!” → Waknukians feel this need to protect themselves from what they don’t understand (‘ignorance is bliss mindset’)

houseofballoons CHAPTER 4 THEMES: ● Prejudice: sterilisation of Blasphemies so that they wouldn’t be able to reproduce → emphasis that they want to have an untainted and pure society ● Reliability of sources: the only information that the Waknukians rely on are from the Bible & Nicholson’s Repentances → who’s to confirm the reliability and truth of these sources? ● Progress & gradual acceptance of mutants through the greathorses (SYMBOLISM) KEY PLOT POINTS: ● David sees people from the Fringes and expects them to look monster-like (based on the descriptions he has been told), instead one of them even resembles his own father ● Joseph gets into a fight with the inspector about the horses as they’re abnormally large → horses were bred and “man -made” → government has no qualms about this but Joseph does as he views them as mutations and not in the image of god → horses represent gradual acceptance of deviants and freedom ● The government is simply using horses for more profits & gains → ideas of justice and fairness depends on how much they gain. ● Uncle Axel is different from a lot of other characters as he questions the norm and is a lot more accepting (non-conforming) → not prejudiced like most Waknukians TIMELINE: ● Since Canada is cold in the present world and Labrador WAS cold → we are the Old People → Waknuk is a city of the future (expected to be more progressive) and everyone got wiped out by nuclear war → led to deviations because of the effects of radiation ● (pg 33) “Out of that blankness stretched a few strands of legend, badly frayed in their passage through successive minds.” → successive minds is a metaphor for people. A few strands of legend refers to many different interpretations. → eventually Nicholson’s Repentances was what people decided to follow because they believed it to be from the time of the Old People AXEL’S IMPORTANCE ● Uncle Axel is presented as an important character because of his divergence in mindset compared to the rest of the characters, he questions the truth and doesn’t just conform to the truth that the Bible and Nicholson’s Repentances present. He’s also the only reliable

houseofballoons adult figure in the book who serves as a mentor to David and guides him on what to do as a Deviation - Serves as a contrast in characterisation compared to Joseph Strorm, who’s David’s own father, yet David feels hesitant in approaching him because Joseph used violence in order to get an answer out of his own son, and believed the words of another child (Alan) who claimed his son was hiding a mutant instead of talking to him in a civil manner → constantly talks down to David instead of treating him like his own child and with respect ETHICS & HISTORY OF WAKNUK ● “Out of that blankness stretched a few strands of legend, badly frayed in their passage through successive minds.” → this means that as the story gets passed down from person to person, the real truth gets distorted and leads nobody to know what truly happened → ethics of Waknuk aren’t backed by reliable sources. ETHICS WHAT ARE ETHICS? ● Ethics are unwritten rules and beliefs of what people should do and should not do based on right or wrong in society. The government and religious leaders decide what ethics are. ETHICAL SYSTEMS IN THE CHRYSALIDS ● Nicholson’s Repentances & the Bible are the systems they follow. Both books originate from the time of the Old People and are to be strictly followed; if one doesn’t resemble the image of God, they would be considered Blasphemies and outcasted. 1. System 1: people in Waknuk who consider anything not in the image of god to be blasphemous 2. System 2: people in the Fringes who don’t believe they’re wrong. Because of the bad living conditions in the Fringes, they have to raid Waknuk for resources (food, supplies) → they feel that Waknukians deserve it because in the first place, Waknukians were the ones who kicked them out 3. System 3: Zealanders: a group of people with telepathic abilities → they feel that they’re superior because their telepathetic abilities are more advanced than telepaths in Waknuk → in their society, anyone who doesn’t have telepathic abilities is outcast and inferior. They feel that they need to do this to ensure constant advancement/progress (survival of the fittest mindset) → they don’t feel any guilt murdering/killing people who aren’t like them (non -telepaths) [THEME: PREJUDICE, PROGRESS] Commented [1]: refer to chapter five

houseofballoons 4. System 4: David & the group of telepaths: their ethics are that they’ll never harm their own kind (the Anne incident where they didn’t kill her even though she posed a threat to the group and risk their safety) THE TRIBULATION & STORY IT RESEMBLES ● It resembles the story of Noah’s Ark and the Great Flood (bible) which saw all creatures destroyed ● (DEFINITION OF TRIBULATION IN THE BOOK) Tribulation → a way God punished the old people for their sinful behaviour, a form of punishment to the people who had a phase of irreligious arrogance prevailing at the time. Before Tribulation, it was the Golden Age, a period where people were religiously faithful & abiding ● “Irreligious arrogance” → refers to non-religious behaviours CHAPTER 5 THEMES: ● Prejudice (against Blasphemies) BLASPHEMIES, GREATHORSES ● David & Sophie go around Waknuk to play → Alan finds out about Sophie’s deviation. ● They run back to Sophie’s place, and Sophie’s parents have already packed their bags → shows how the life of those considered deviants have been affected by the laws and they always have to cower and live in fear, and it also shows how much Sophie & family have to sacrifice because of one small deformity → Wenders leave with horses which symbolise freedom (compared to carts which leave tracks, horses don’t. They’re easier to escape with) ● When David goes home, he’s met with his father and the Inspector. Joseph is fuming because he discovered from Alan that Sophie is Blasphemous (and he knows Sophie is David’s friend) + David was concealing a Blasphemy → David beaten by Joseph with a whip Commented [2]: so. there's a waknukian definition of tribulation, which is what i explained. but there's an axel definition of tribulation/ OUR definition of tribulation, which is the nuclear war wiping everyone out and yadayada Commented [3]: think there cld be essay questions asking about tribulation and what it is, so you have to be careful when answering because they could be asking OUR definition or waknuk's definition

houseofballoons JOSEPH VS INSPECTOR MORTON ● Their reactions: - Joseph reacts with anger an