Hypocrisy at Its Finest: Evil in The Chrysalids John Wyndham 10th Grade

Mankind’s intense fear of evil is capable of provoking humans to commit grotesque acts of malice in order to get rid of “evil” in their daily life. John Wyndham's The Chrysalids effectively exposes the hypocrisy and the ludicrousness of a society that executes in members based on their physical appearance in an attempt to remain pure and moral. The citizens of Waknuk in essence commit vicious acts of evil in order to restrain the growth of mutants in their society whom they consider ‘evil’. Firstly, in order to ensure that Sophie does not spread her mutations, they deny her the right to conceive babies. Despite being a small girl, they sterilize her and thrust her into the fringes naked. Secondly, the residents of Waknuk ruthlessly torture Katherine to learn about the ‘Thought shape group’ so that they can eradicate it. Lastly, they hunt down David, Petra and Rosalind; trying to murder them in order to ensure that no one with telepathic abilities is present in their society.

The Wanukians tirelessly try to hunt down David, Petra and Rosalind in order to eradicate all remaining mutants with telepathic abilities in their society. The imminent threat to their lives is starkly visible in the lines, “The man cannot have had a...