The Chrysalids Joseph Strorm Quotes

The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham, published in 1955, is a science fiction dystopian novel that focuses on a small community suffering the effects of a nuclear holocaust. The society of Waknuk has survived a nuclear war, but radiation has contaminated the living things outside the small community. The inhabitants of Waknuk are religious and stern and regard the disaster as the wrath of God, immediately eliminating any deviational person, plant or animal. Joseph Strorm is the main character, David's father as well as a preacher and magistrate in Waknuk. Due to Joseph’s extreme religious beliefs he is tremendously cold-hearted towards his family and unrealistically strict when it comes to dealing with any deviations. He is also excessively devoted,

Joseph is a magistrate in Waknuk and has been preaching since he was 16 years old, that alone shows how prideful and devoted he is to his town and to God. One of the first instances where his devotedness can be noticed is when he found out the Daker family housed a tailless cat. He discovered the cat had been a result of a deviation, and he wanted the cat to be deemed as an Offence and be dealt with accordingly. Joseph demanded for the inspector to make a warrant for the cats destruction, and after the inspector did so, Joseph “personally attended the demise of the Daker’s cat.” (37). Joseph later found out that the cat had in fact lost its tail some how during its life, rather than it being the result of a deviation, but yet did not resign from his magistrate position although he should have. This shows how prideful Joseph is of his role in Waknuk as well as how devoted and determined he is to making sure there are no mutants whatshover. Another instance of Joseph’s devotedness was after his newborn baby, Petra, was born. In Waknuk, families do not recognize or pay any attention to their newborn until it receives a normalcy certificate from the inspector. Joseph’s wife gave birth to a baby, and had two babies who did not receive a normalcy certificate prior to this one. This caused quite a bit of tension in the household because Joseph, along with everyone else, knew his wife would be thrown away like garbage if this child was Blasphemous. Rather than Joseph spending time with his wife who had just given birth or visiting his baby for the first time, his first thought was to order the inspector. Joseph is so overly devoted and determined to be right in the eyes of God, that he would ignore his newborn baby and wife until they were deemed normal. “There was plenty of silent speculation whether my father would, as the law allowed, send my mother