FEATURED ESSAYS 1. The Chrysalids: The Importance O... 2. The Chrysalids: The Importance Of... 3. Chrysalids 2 4. Extra Sensory Perception 5. The Evils In The Chrysalids 6. Chrysalids 7. Extra-sensory Perception 8. King Henry IV And Joseph Strorm: ... 9. ESP 10. Extra Sensory Perception 11. The Chrysalids 12. Chrysalids 13. Chrysalids 14. The Chrysalids

The Chrysalids:  The importance of telepathy

    Some people dream about having an ability to communicate through mental
telepathy.  Some even claimed to have this ability but it played an
important role in the novel The Chrysalids.  The author created an
interesting environment.  There was no communication and the only people
who could communicate between each other were the ones that had the power
of telepathy.  Because in some areas the land was so dangerous because of
the radiation that people were cut of from another and left on a small
piece of land.  They could not communicate.  Though-shapes not only
developed the plot of the story but greatly affected the lives of some
characters and might affect Waknuk.

    We all know that people in Waknuk were very superstitious but did it
actually help the plot to develop?   On page 91 through 103 finally and
idea gets out about some people being able to communicate through thought-
shapes.  When Katherine and Sally got caught and tortured they finally tell
some of the names to the inspector.  This forces David, Rosalind and Petra
to runaway to the fringes, and they established some kind of contact with a
woman from Sealant (Zealand, On page 134).  The help that the sealant woman
promised is on their way to the fringes.  The plot is greatly influenced,
David learns more things as the time goes on.  He discovers who is the
Spiderman(Gordon) and where is Sophie.  He meets them and learn what it is
like to live in the fringes.  When the sealant woman rescues David,
Rosalind and Petra they are brought to a big, developed city like the one
in David's dreams. Because of the telepathy David discovers that such a
city really exists but most of all through Petra they establish contact
with a more civilized people than they are.  Because of the conflicts in
the story it leads the main characters to discover the sealant city.

    Telepathy not only affects the plot of the story but also the main
characters in the novel.  The most obvious thing is that David, Rosalind
and Petra are saved.  They have a chance to learn, experience new things
they never saw or heard before.  Mike and Rachel stays behind but hopes to
come to the big city were things are different.  Some characters died in
the final chapter when the helicopter makes a landing killing everything
that moves around it. The characters that died where: the spiderman
(Gordon), David's father, Sophie and all the people from the fringes and
Waknuk that where near the helicopter.

    Waknuk might be affected by the discovery of the sealant city because
the reader finds out (in the final chapter) that the sealant city is very
developed and people are better educated. They are also civilized and
understand that Waknuk is a village cut off from the surroundings because
of the radiation.  If Waknuk will be helped as predicted it may become a
big, civilized city like Zealand.  The natives in Waknuk will stop thinking
that Tribulation was sent by God and that all deviations are devil's
creation.  They might understand that the radiation might be the remaining
of a nuclear bomb or nuclear war.  The sealant people might help Waknuk in
education and they themselves may build the machines like today's, and grow
more productive crops.  The entire thinking and appearance of Waknuk might
change.  On the other hand when the radiation will go away after a while
the sealant people might go deeper and deeper into the surrounding land.
Waknuk might be taken over by other cities because it could not and/or
would not know how to compete with the cities.  This also might depend on
how are the Zealand people like.  If they are so understanding and educated
they will probably help Waknuk to develop, but if the people won't help
then the `negative point' could be true.

    Many things can affect the plot of a story, the characters or the
surroundings in a story.  In this novel these three points were influenced
by mental telepathy.  This type of story could be an example how people
were in the past (in the really world).  It is an idea what could really
happen if a nuclear war would become a reality.