Deviations In The Chrysalids

When people are forced to hold certain beliefs which they do not agree with, they often end up becoming hypocrites. Such is the case in The Chrysalids by John Wyndham; the citizens of the book's setting, Waknuk, are forced to believe that any being which is not completely normal is a mutant, and should be removed from society. These stern beliefs force several citizens to become hypocrites.

Waknuk is a very strict community, and its inhabitants are compelled to maintain numerous rigid beliefs. They are taught, from a young age that all living creatures should look the same as their parents, and that all living things which diverge from their true form are deviations. To Waknukians, it is compulsory to, "know what Offences were. They were
However, the biggest hypocrite of all is the government itself; the government of Waknuk tends to bend the rules of deviations when it suits them. Such is the case when Angus Morton says that his abnormally large horses are, "Government approved" (36). Although the horses are twenty-six hands tall and obvious deviations, the government approves them because they are strong and profitable. Another way hypocrisy is shown in the municipality of Waknuk is that David's father, the man who preaches being honest about deviations and reporting them quickly, tries to hide a possible deviation. When Petra is first born, the entire Strorm family waits for the inspector to come and prove the baby to be a true image of God. Because no one mentions the baby, David becomes aware that "should it unhappily turn out to violate the image ...the whole regrettable incident would be deemed to not have occurred." (66) David's father enjoys pointing out the deviations of others, however, if he had a deviant child, he would not want anyone to find out about it, and that is true hypocrisy. Similarly, David's mother, Emily, turns out to be a hypocrite as well. When her sister, Harriet, comes to see her, and shows Emily her daughter, Emily calls the child beautiful, and fawns over her. Later, when she discovers that the child has a small flaw, she shouts to Harriet, saying, "You have the effrontery to bring your monster into my house!" (70) As soon as Emily sees that the child is a deviant, she forgets her earlier comments on it, and calls it a monster. Her beliefs make her into a hypocrite. To summarize, many Waknukians are two-faced, and this causes them to have a very insecure and suspicious