Stacy Park/Staff reporter
“The Chrysalids” is a science fiction novel published in 1955 by John Wyndham.
The keyword in this novel is “tribulation.” The Chrysalids is set in the distant future in Waknuk, which is now the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador. The citizens of Waknuk believed that tribulation was God’s punishment for the sins of the elderly. To prevent another tribulation from occurring, all remaining living things were unconditionally considered normal, and Waknuk society expelled those with physical and mental deformities from Waknuk.
In this book, David Strorm, the main character, realizes that he could communicate with others telepathically, Deviant in the Waknuk. So, he tries to hide that fact.
Science fiction is interesting because it can happen in real life in the future. The most important topic that came to mind while reading this book was stereotyping. We tend to set our standards of “normal” and say things that don’t fit are not right. But what is normal? If aliens on Mars see Earthlings, they see us as not usual. Like this example, a book makes to think about the standards of “normal” that society has set.
This book makes me feel about genetic modification. Many researchers modify DNA structure to create a new breed called “super DNA,” like a giant pumpkin to use at Halloween. Recently they have put in more effort to make a difference with the ordinary and upgrade creatures. But in the long distant future, if we try to be expected, the question is “Why do they put effort into being special?” comes to my mind.
Also, another thing that comes to my mind is that genetic manipulation can be the biggest wrong thing the “old person” did, which is mentioned in the book. It is also possible that God wants to reset our world, which is so confusing because of people’s artificial manipulation, so he gave “tribulation.” The beautiful part of this book is that it can be comprehended in many ways.
One bad point of this book is that it can be a little hard to understand at first. The religious part was difficult for me to understand, and at first, the message that this book was trying to say was too vague. However, skip the parts hard to understand at first and reread them. The more reading the book, the book will show the message.
After reading this book, this book feels like an onion. Reading and peeling the various stories piled up like onions several times, the story’s core and the author’s topic are understandable.
The rate of “The chrysalids” is 4 out of 5. This book is recommended because it helps to think about the “Stereotype” that most of us have. This book is the perfect book for people who enjoy an open-ended story. Don’t give up even if this book is hard to understand what this book is like to say at first!!