Women In The Chrysalids

“Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” -Vince Lombardi. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham introduces two societies, Waknuk and Sealand. Waknuk is an intolerant society in a developmental hiatus, and Sealand is a technologically and socially sophisticated community. Waknuk is ignorant of individual’s abilities, causing division among it’s people. However, Sealand embraces these extraordinary traits and differences, helping progress itself as a unified society. Sealand provides an example of what humanity can achieve if we overcome our primitive prejudices and intolerance-integral elements of Waknuk society.

The novel begins in the home of David Strorm, son of Joseph Strorm, religious pillar of the community. Joseph is a believer in the existence of God, like many in Waknuk. However the …show more content…
Women, such as Emily Strorm and Mrs.Wenders. Waknuk lives in the medieval times, when the duty of women was to give birth and be a housewife. Sealand however treats women, men and telepaths all as equal. This was proven when the Sealand woman led a mission to Waknuk. She had the authority to make decisions, such as which route to take, not flying Rachel to Sealand with the group and many others throughout the novel. This is something the Waknuk society would not have allowed, as women’s roles in the community revolved around their husbands and children. A society can only evolve if the people choose to recognize the importance of others.

The Sealand society is what the modern world should aspire to be, with diversity, acceptance and tolerance as the fundamental elements of our new world. We must embrace our differences so that humanity may achieve the level of sophistication similar to that of Sealand’s. Because “The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings.”-Albert