Power In the world of "The Chrysalids"
Caitlyn
14/12/2013
How Power is used in Waknuk. Patricia Cornwell once said “I believe that the root of all evil is abuse of power”. This quote reigns true in the world of The Chrysalids because Waknuk thinks that they are far from the Old Peoples way of life and they are finally becoming pure in Gods eyes, yet, they are making the same mistakes that include punishing people who don’t follow or look like them, swaying their influence and power when it suits them and using violence and intimidation to get what they want. Waknuk takes extremes when it comes to trying to rid their lives of mutants; if a person does not look like them or follow their way of life they take measures that would ensure them of no future contact with them. To do this Waknuk sterilizes mutants, hunts them down and finally, exiles them. On page 167 Sophie says “I’d have given him babies gladly, if I could. …I – oh why do they do that to us?” This quote shows that Waknuk does something to the deviations so that they are not able to reproduce and create more deviants in the process. Waknuk also goes to great lengths to hunt down mutants. For example, when David, Rosalind and Petra are found out, Waknuk organizes a big group of people to go out and look for them. Finally once the mutant is captured and neutered, Waknuk exiles them into the Fringes, no matter how old they are Waknuk just drops into the Fringes and leaves them to their own devices. In Waknuk only the inspectors and higher forms of government have a say in whether something or someone is a deviant or not. Due to this they can decide that a deviant is normal if it makes them enough money, albeit they don’t truly know what the “true image” is. The most prominent example of where the government allows an obvious deviant to live in Waknuk is when they “great-horses” are introduced. On page 37 Joseph Strom says “It’s easy to see why some people would approve of them’ he said ‘One of those brutes could do the work of two, maybe
14/12/2013
How Power is used in Waknuk. Patricia Cornwell once said “I believe that the root of all evil is abuse of power”. This quote reigns true in the world of The Chrysalids because Waknuk thinks that they are far from the Old Peoples way of life and they are finally becoming pure in Gods eyes, yet, they are making the same mistakes that include punishing people who don’t follow or look like them, swaying their influence and power when it suits them and using violence and intimidation to get what they want. Waknuk takes extremes when it comes to trying to rid their lives of mutants; if a person does not look like them or follow their way of life they take measures that would ensure them of no future contact with them. To do this Waknuk sterilizes mutants, hunts them down and finally, exiles them. On page 167 Sophie says “I’d have given him babies gladly, if I could. …I – oh why do they do that to us?” This quote shows that Waknuk does something to the deviations so that they are not able to reproduce and create more deviants in the process. Waknuk also goes to great lengths to hunt down mutants. For example, when David, Rosalind and Petra are found out, Waknuk organizes a big group of people to go out and look for them. Finally once the mutant is captured and neutered, Waknuk exiles them into the Fringes, no matter how old they are Waknuk just drops into the Fringes and leaves them to their own devices. In Waknuk only the inspectors and higher forms of government have a say in whether something or someone is a deviant or not. Due to this they can decide that a deviant is normal if it makes them enough money, albeit they don’t truly know what the “true image” is. The most prominent example of where the government allows an obvious deviant to live in Waknuk is when they “great-horses” are introduced. On page 37 Joseph Strom says “It’s easy to see why some people would approve of them’ he said ‘One of those brutes could do the work of two, maybe
Cited: Whydham, John. The Chrysalids. Toronto, ON: Penguin Books, 1958. Print.