Analysis Of The Chrysalids By John Wyndham

Criticisms of Humankind Some may consider humanity doing amazing, but there certainly are a countless number of mistakes that humankind has made. These people probably criticize humankind often. John Wyndham, is no exception to this. In his novel, The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham, Wyndham certainly answers this question by criticizing humankind by stating that, humans are arrogant, are afraid of the different and the idea of religious fundamentalism. His criticisms are clearly shown throughout the book.

To begin with, Wyndham criticizes humankind by showing our fear of the different in the book. The people of Waknuk are very afraid of Deviations, who are very different from citizens of Waknuk. The common belief in Waknuk is that the devil

The people of Waknuk, most notably Joesph Strorm are self righteous and are overconfident. The people of Waknuk follow nothing but their own religion, and always assume what they are doing is right. This can be seen when Joesph Strorm thinks he is right about Angus Morton's horses. Joesph thinks that Morton's horses' have a deviation, despite them being government approved. Another instance is when Joesph kills a cat that he thinks is a Deviation, despite the cat being government approved. There are religious leaders who think they are right simply because religious backs them up. An example of this can be seen with Galileo and his theory that the sun is in the middle of the galaxy. The church decided to burn Galileo alive for stating facts against religion, but years later, it was proven that Galileo's theory was true. The church priests were certainly being self righteous. Another criticism can be seen by the fact the nuclear holocaust happens. This shows that Wyndham believes that eventually, humankind will destroy themselves through something, such as the nuclear holocaust. John Wyndham's criticisms reflect upon humanity once again. This can be seen with all the major countries. There are a countless number of conflicts happening all over the world. Powerful nations, such as Canada, declare war upon terrorists in those conflicts, without fear in potential terrorist attacks coming back to attack.

In the novel, the entire community of Waknuk follows the sayings in the bible and Nicholson's Repentances very literally. This can be seen with the Deviation concept. Waknuk's people believe that Deviations are created by the devil, and choose to punish them. The people of Waknuk follow their religion's every word without thinking about the harm their actions could do to the Deviations themselves, and the members of Waknuk's community. The people of Waknuk also live their life in fear, simply to atone for the sins that they believe were caused by the Old People by forcing the women to wear crosses on their dresses, praying for forgiveness should a Deviation be born and etc. Humankind can also be self righteous because of religion. Joesph Strorm is the perfect example of this. Joesph once kills a cat who has a Deviation. The cat is government approved, but Joesph chooses to take matters tho his own hands, and killed the cat. Joesph instantly thinks he is correct about the cat, and takes action right away. Another example could be seen with Aunt Harriet's baby's incident. Joesph instantly thinks he is right because the baby does not follow under Nicholson's Repentances definition of man. Joesph then yells at Aunt Harriet, and forces her to pray for forgiveness. He then makes himself look more superior than Aunt Harriet, simply because religion was on his side. This is similar to what people do in reality. The Galileo