The Chrysalids

The first 200 words of this essay...

THE CHRYSALIDS

Trace carefully the stages of David's increasing awareness of the dangers of contravening the image of the norm, bringing out clearly the increasing fear he feels for his own safety and that of the rest of the "group"

David increasing awareness of the dangers of contravening the image of the norm, stems from 2 parallel processes; as he grows up he understands more of what is happening around him and the nature of his dangerous society, and also through experiences and incidents in which he is involved; which leads him to a greater awareness of the dangers of being different.

The first incident occurs when David has these strange dreams of a city that is non-existent in Labrador and tells Mary about it; Mary then warns David not to talk about his dream, "she went on to warn me very seriously not to mention it to anyone else," David although at this point is not aware of the dangers of being different, but nevertheless he takes the advice of his sister. The effect of this on David is quite powerful; he takes the advice of not telling this to anyone else and more