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The Chrysalids: The Differences Between Waknuk And Christianity

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The Differences Between Waknuk and Christianity

John Wyndham packed The Chrysalids with a plethora of themes that related to problems of the time it was written, and can be related to today. These include discrimination, prejudice, xenophobia, love, trust, religion, and more. However, religion is the most important theme in the novel. Waknuk is portrayed as a puritanical religious society that seems to have similar practices to Christianity. Though they have their resmeblances, Waknuk’s behaviors contradict Christianity. Waknuk, appears to be biblical, but in reality is not.
On one hand, Waknuk seems like a biblical, religious community that believes in God and follows similar practices to Christianity. One way John Wyndham relates the two …show more content…

This shows that people of Waknuk raised their children in a God focused manner, just like Christians. These are resemblances between Waknuk and Christianity that Wyndham has placed, among others, to show the reader their likeness and similarities. Though Wyndham has made Waknuk appear to be Christian, they have more differences than similarities. The people of Waknuk seem to have a biblical view on life because they believe in God and know the Bible. They frequently talk about the image of God and the Definition of Man, but their image of God twists biblical truth. For example in Waknuk they believe that anyone that is different from their “Definition of Man'' (13) is not human. This is evident when the inspector is talking to David about Sophie and he says the Definition is important and if any child is born and different in any way “then it isn't human…it doesn't have a soul” (55). This shows Waknuk dehumanizing people who are different from their image of God and this is contrary to the Bible because it says to “ Live in harmony with one another, [and] do not be haughty” (Rom. 12:16 ESV). Consequently, Waknuk saying that people who are different are soulless is judging them on their difference and showing them contempt which is against God …show more content…

Waknuk’s image of God also twists biblical truth through the idea that “only the image of God is Man” (Wyndham 18). Firstly this is not-biblical because this is a notion obtained from Nicholson’s Repentances, another book besides the Bible that Waknuk uses for rules and foundation in their society. And secondly, the Bible does not have a distinct definition of how a human should look. The Bible says “God made [humans] in his image” (Gen. 9:6) and the image of God has nothing to do with physical features, rather has to do with the behavior and responsibility on Earth. Therefore, Waknuk showing prejudice to those who are different because of their physical appearance, is not biblical because they are leaning on their own understanding in addition to discriminating against the unique, two things the Bible says not to do. Finally, Waknuk is a small, close minded community. They think they are the only civilization with true humans, however beyond their land there are other civilizations that believe they are the true image as well. For example in the novel there is a tribe of men and women who are completely hairless, so they believe hair is the devil's mark. However, physical appearance means nothing to

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