Sexism In The Chrysalids

Societies are built to be a safe, welcoming and an accepting environment, but sometimes end

up to be harsh, cruel and irrational places. In John Wyndham’s novel, The Chrysalids, we are

introduced to a world we can never imagine being, yet we live in a world that is actually not very

different. David Strorm lives in post-apocalyptic world as a telepathic who is regarded as a

mutant and goes on a tough journey with his cousin Rosalind to escape from their non-accepting

community. The Waknuk society is indeed very similar to our world considering that today’s

society also fears things they do not know about, do not always accept differences and has major

issues with dealing with sexism. By comparing Waknuk to our world, the similarities

This example can be compared to how in Waknuk mutations are thought to be a curse.

It really shows that if you go against the things that society has developed to be acts of

normality, you are labeled as not a human and are not treated like how humans should be. Lastly,

a very common practice in Waknuk is sexism. Husbands have the choice of basically throwing

out their wives if she gives birth to more than three children with mutations. Only the males are

given high posts or authority and the women of Waknuk are always believed to be less superior

than the males. “This is the third time. They’ll take my baby again like they took the others. I

can't stand that-not again. Henry will turn me out. He’ll find another wife, who can give him

proper children.” (page 71). This quote said by Aunt Harriet, demonstrates that women in

Waknuk who give birth to more than three mutated children can be abandoned by their husbands

despite the fact that both the wife and husband play an equal role for the birth of a child. The

blame is put on the women for any disliked feature that the child has because of the fact that