The Chrysalids Fear

As Martin Luther King once said, “Men often hate each other because they fear each other: they fear each other because they do not know one another; they do not know one another because they are separated.” While he was talking about our reality, truth lies in his words within the town of Waknuk; of The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham. The people in this community are afraid of what they do not understand and they turn that fear into something more powerful, hate. In the novel, the people of the Fringes lash out and raid the village of Waknuk, because they are afraid of those that attacked them within their own fear. The Waknuk people do not only frighten the Blasphemies of the Fringes, they frighten their own children with stories of monsters

in order to create a hateful passion towards the Blasphemies. In this town, the Blasphemies are terrified, the children are terrified, and so are the “holy”, terrified of God himself. Waknuk could be described as a bitter, hateful town. But, it could also be described as a town where all live in fear and are powerless without their hate.

Power to many, is everything. When people are afraid, they become vulnerable to those in which they are scared of. Within the Fringes, this can be seen with blatancy as “The people of the Fringes . . . , had very little where they lived in their border country, so they came out into civilized parts to steal grain and livestock and clothes and tools and weapons, too, if they could; and sometimes they carried off children.” (Wyndham 2). These Fringes-people have a burning, passionate hatred for those of “The Norm” in Waknuk, taking things they do not need for survival, like children. There could be no other possible motive for kidnapping, other than to cause pain for the parents. However, these Blasphemies were brutally mutilated and tortured by those of “The Norm”, terrorized with no mercy. Consequently, they must have felt fear, in that moment, afterwards etc. However, the Fringes are a brutal place, somewhere that one cannot afford to be vulnerable, be afraid. Thus, they transformed their fear into hate, to give them protection, give them power. They need to be protected from the monsters, fuelled by their fear, who lurk within Waknuk.

Those that live in Waknuk live in an endless cycle of fear. They are afraid of God and Tribulation to no end. However. They choose to project and transfer that fear onto their children. For example, in the novel, it is said that Alan sees Sophie’s footprint and immediately attempts to turn her in. Imagine being told that “'Be good now, or I'll fetch Old Maggie from the Fringes to you. She's got four eyes to watch you with, and four ears to hear you with, and four arms to smack you with. So you be careful” (Wyndham 2) for your entire life; of course you would be terrified of mutants. If this ideal of mutants being demonic was pushed and pushed upon you, it would make logical sense that you would be averse to Blasphemies. However, those with individual brains would hesitate, just a little when condemning someone, especially as a young child. However, the Waknuk people choose to add to that adversity through fear; telling stories from a young age meant to ingrain fear. In this sense particularly, a child would be vulnerable if they were afraid of the Blasphemies, as their parents so wholly instill. Ergo they feel the instinctual need to protect themselves, transforming their fear into hate.

Everyone in Waknuk lives in constant fear and it turns them into monsters.

The people of Waknuk are so petrified of God that they hate anything posing a risk to them, including family. Joseph Strorm is perhaps the most fearful of them all, with a passionate hate towards anything that could cause another punishment from God, preaching to her that “You have sinned, woman, search your heart, and you will know that you have sinned. Your sin has weakened our defences . . . ”. (Wyndham 3) He is too focused on the weakening of his defences against sin that he disregards his family completely. His sister in law has created something that will anger God and bring punishment upon him. Because he is afraid, he banishes her and consequently causes her to commit suicide, without feeling any remorse. His fear motivates his every move and has created an extreme and hateful man. While reading, many may feel as though they hate Joseph, but maybe, they are really

afraid.

Within the novel, it seems as though fear consistently performs a sort of metamorphosis into a powerful hate.

Those in the Fringes hatefully attack the Waknuk, fearful of the past terror inflicted upon them. Children are so terrorized by the idea of mutants that their minds no longer question anything they are told. And even those that believe themselves to be oh so righteous fear God, the one thing they put all of their faith in. Fear and hate are easily misunderstood within this community, except for the fact that fear leaves residents vulnerable; provoking them to alter their feelings until they gain more power and protection though hate. And while this may seem trivial as it is described only described within this text, the same logic applies to our reality. For instance, examine the Salem Witch Trials. Twenty people were executed based on the logic of the only those living in the town. They believed that these people were different than the norm; magical, dangerous. They were simply afraid of these so called “witches” and their powers. This historical event bears an eerie similarity to the community of Waknuk. The town of Salem was filled with Puritans who were terrified of the Devil. So when women were accused of being missionaries sent by Satan, havoc was wreaked. You see, the Puritans needed someone that they could use as almost a reassurance scapegoat, to help ease their minds about the looming threat of the Devil. And so, the Salem Witch Trials were held. Within

The Chrysalids, those of the Norm are afraid of the Devil and his creations, casting them away. To the general population, the idea of executing or banishing a group of people simply because we are afraid of their difference seems absurd. Yet not even 350 years ago, the residents of Salem, Massachusetts were doing this exact thing. We need to remember this dire event to aid us in stopping the repetition of our mistakes. The issue is that humans will always be afraid, of others, life, themselves. In spite of this, humans cannot let fear control them, or transform into the all powerful hate. Because in the end, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself ” (Franklin Roosevelt).