The Chrysalids Research Paper

What if the world had erupted into nuclear war? The Chrysalids explores the aftermath of such a scenario, centering on a community that preaches a religion of intolerance to combat a troublesome plague of mutation. Is the genre of The Chrysalids science fiction? To start, the setting is post-apocalyptic. In addition, there are mutations. Furthermore, the society is dystopian. Therefore, The Chrysalids is a science fiction novel.

To begin, the setting of The Chrysalids is post-apocalyptic, a key indicator of science fiction. In fact, an apocalyptic event had occurred prior to the setting of the story. When Uncle Axel explains his interpretations on what had happened to David, he theorizes, “Tribulation wasn’t just tempests, hurricanes, floods

To start, intolerance is prevalent towards Mutants. When Aunt Harriet pleads with the Strorms to protect her Mutant baby, Mr. Strorm chastises, “The enemies of God besiege us. They seek to strike at Him through us. Unendingly they work to distort the true image; through our weaker vessels they attempt to defile the race” (Wyndham 72). In this instance, Mr. Strorm uses his religious beliefs to discriminate against Aunt Harriet and her Mutant baby. Individuals like him consider Mutants threats to the purity of their race and thus create a dystopia for Mutants. As well, Mutants are oppressed by the authorities. When Sophie recalls her punishment by the authorities, she laments, “I’d have given him babies gladly, if I could. … I – oh, why do they do that to us? Why didn’t they kill me? It would have been kinder than this” (Wyndham 167). Like other Mutants who suffered the same fate, Sophie was sterilized and banished to the Fringes. The government’s oppression creates a dystopia for Mutants like Sophie. Finally, the society is governed by religious beliefs. When David’s sister Petra is born, David describes the process, “No one, indeed, would dream of mentioning the matter openly until the inspector should have called to issue his certificate that it was a human baby in the true image. Should it unhappily turn out to violate the image and thus be ineligible for a certificate, everyone would continue to be unaware of it, and the whole regrettable incident would be deemed not to have occurred” (Wyndham 66). Once a baby is born, it must be verified with the inspector to have followed the “true image” outlined in the religion. This ruthless process is enforced by the theocratic government and creates a dystopia for desperate mothers who have repeatedly given birth to Mutant children but have had them taken away by the authorities, such as Aunt Harriet. To conclude, The Chrysalids