Effects Of Nuclear War In The Chrysalids

Khalil Meghjee
Mr. Steiner
ENG 1D1f
June 13, 2018
Horrors of Nuclear War/Accidents: Connect the Novel To Real Events
The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham connects the horrors of nuclear weapons in the story to the truth of them in real life. There are 3 main connections between the novel and real nuclear events, these are the effect on the land and the environment, effect on people, and the cause being power. These 3 topics can be seen throughout the novel as well as in real life. * The Chrysalids novel has many references to real nuclear war and nuclear accidents which leads the author to predict the effect it would have on a future society at large.
The first way the novel and real life are connected is the effect that nuclear war and accidents

The Sealander is describing the effect of “Tribulation” on the land that they are passing through. The quote intensely describes what The Sealander is seeing and how shocked she is by this. After the quote The Sealander goes are far as to say, “If we did not know that you were on the other side of it, we should have turned back and fled” (Wyndham 179). The Sealander states, “There are stretches, miles across, where it looks as if all the ground has been fused into black glass; there is nothing else, nothing but the glass like a frozen ocean of ink… then belts of Badlands… then another wilderness of black glass. It goes on and on…” (Wyndham 179) This quote shows how extreme the effect on land was in the novel after Tribulation This same description could be used to describe

This quote from The Sealander shows how truly ashamed they are by the actions of the Old People. They are confused by how someone could be allowed to do such things that affected generations to come because of their extreme greed. The Sealander says, ““but Why? — why? — why?... there was the power of gods in the hands of children, we know: but were they mad children, all of them quite mad?... the mountains are cinders and the plains are black glass—still, after centuries!... it is so dreary… dreary… a monstrous madness… It is frightening to think that a whole race could go insane…” (Wyndham 179). The second quote is stated by Uncle Axel while he is discussing with the David the idea of running away. He then proclaims, “Oh, I know people tell tales about how wonderful they were and how wonderful their world was, and how one day we’ll get back again all the things they had. There's a lot of nonsense mixed up in what they say about them,even if there's a lot of truth too., what's the good of trying so hard to keep in their tracks? Where are they and their wonderful world now?” (Wyndham 48) Both the quotes describe how the Old People were proud and thought they were so great, but both The Sealander and Uncle Axel say that what they worked so hard for doesn’t matter anymore because they destroyed what they created through