Variation in Communication from John Wyndhams The Chrysalids

by meighen17 (student)

AS and A Level English

McIntyre

ENG 3U

Michelle Green

April 2, 2012

Meighen McIntyre

Variation in Communication from John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids

By definition, communication is “the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs” (dictionary.com). Throughout John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids, the main character, David Strorm, expresses different types of communication depending on who he is communicating with. Through David’s communication we can explore a variety of human interactions. David has an inability to talk with his mother, Emily Strorm, and his father, Joseph Strorm. Despite David’s difficulties for him to communicate with his immediate family, David is able to talk to his Uncle Axel with ease. He also uses “thought-shapes” to communicate with his cousin, his younger sister, the Sealanders, and several others. David is able to communicate differently between different groups of people.

Before David runs away to find the Fringes, he has to live with his father, who does not tolerate any blasphemies or deviations that are not pure to the image of God. This makes it very hard for David to talk to him, as David is considered a deviation himself from being able to send picture shapes to other people. One night in the kitchen, David had wished he had an extra hand so he could have tied his cloth around his finger as a bandage, and his father responded with, “You - my own son - were calling upon the Devil to give you another hand” (Wyndham, 26). David found it hard to talk to his father because he was very religious, and did not accept very miniscule deviations, or a desire to have a deviation. David cannot talk to his mother either, because his mother is very much like Joseph. In the beginning of the book, David is explaining his family’s past, when his father married, and whom he married. David says, “my mother’s views harmonized with [Joseph’s] own. She had a strong sense of duty, and never doubted where it lay” (Wyndham, 17). Later when Aunt Harriet was introduced with her baby, David’s mother said, “You have the effrontery to bring your monster into my house, and tell me it’s nothing much” (Wyndham, 70). Even “such a little thing” (Wyndham, 70) that deviated from the true image of God frustrated Emily, since she was raised to have the same morals as Joseph; no tolerance for any deviations. Having both parents with such regard to the true image of god makes it very difficult for David to talk to either of them, as he would be treated the same way other blasphemies are. With the author’s perception on how David cannot communicate his parents, we can explore why young children are subconsciously pressured by their parents to run away from home.

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David’s Uncle Axel is not directly related to him, since he married one of Emily’s sisters. It could be due to the fact that Uncle Axel is not directly related to the Strorm family, and does not have the same ideals towards Christianity, that made him so easy for David to talk to, but nonetheless, Uncle Axel was one of the few people David could tell things to. When Uncle Axel asked David who he was talking to and David told him he was talking to Rosalind, David had to explain what they were able to do, and David had such an easy time telling him that he was talking to Rosalind, who was “near home, in a little secret tree-house her brothers built in the spinney” (Wyndham, 30), which was not anywhere within hearing distance if Rosalind was actually talking. David’s Uncle Axel also has very different opinions on the true image. When David told his uncle that he was going to run away, Uncle Axel told him about the geography of where the Fringes and Badlands were compared to Waknuk, and he also voiced his own attitude towards the true image:

You start asking yourself: well, what real evidence have we got about the true image? You find that the Bible doesn’t say anything to contradict the people of that time being like us, but on the other hand it doesn’t give any definition of Man, either. No, the definition comes from Nicholson’s Repentances - and he admits that he was writing some generations after Tribulation came, so you find yourself wondering whether he knew he was in the true image, or whether he only thought he was.... (Wyndham, 63)

Uncle Axel also says, “I’m telling you that a lot of people saying that a thing is so, doesn’t prove it is so. I’m telling you that nobody, nobody really knows what is the true image” (Wyndham, 64). This emphasizes Uncle Axel’s the difference between Uncle Axel’s and Joseph Strorm’s opinions on the true image of God. Because of this difference, we can explore the human interactions between people with similar opinions and people who talk, but have to force an opinion because their opinions are two polar opposites.

David also can communicate with the other mind-thinkers; Petra, Rosalind, Michael and Anne, just to name a few, although their way of communication is completely different than just talking. The group sends thoughts to each other telepathically, but instead of using words, they send pictures that represent words. To the mind-thinkers, the thought shapes go deeper than just the pictures, as David explains by saying, “I think we were all too deeply hurt and shocked. Words have to be chosen, and then interpreted; but the thought shapes you feel, inside you...” (Wyndham, 131). Because the communication between the mind thinkers takes on a whole new dimension, it is a much different way for David to communicate. From this communication, we can only assume that the interactions are very honest, and open; which is normally only accessible when there is complete trust in any human relationship.

From David’s interactions, we can explore different human interactions. When put in hostile environments with family, the children are forced away from the verbal or physical abuse; and in David’s case, both. In a caring relationship with family members, one is able to talk openly with them. When you use more than words to communicate with people, there is an even deeper understanding of each other. With David’s communication, everyday human interactions were able to be investigated.