Hope is the meaning of life, which is the reason for staying alive, and having something to live for. When Martin Luther once said, “Everything that is done in the world is done by hope,” he meant that if you never have hope, nothing can be accomplished. Hope is what the characters in John Wyndham’s book; The Chrysalids lived for. First, the characters set goals for themselves to achieve, which drove hope. Next, the characters knew that there was a possibility that the future would hold a better life than the present. Finally, positive character relations gave inspiration, which drove hope.
Clearly, hope and inspiration are expressed consistently throughout the book. Primarily, the characters set goals for themselves to achieve, which drove their hope. The main and most important goal in the Waknuk society was the goal of eliminating deviations. Joseph Strorm’s goal was to eliminate all offences, and blasphemies, so he could live in a place that respected the “true image of god’. Joseph was able to have hope in eliminating all deviations, because he knew that god, The Bible and The Repentances all believed that the world should be comprised of people that obeyed the “true image. When heading to the Fringes, the single goal of all characters was to escape and have freedom. David Rosalind and Petra had to leave Waknuk, and escape safely to the Fringes. They were determined to make it, because David would not let anything bad happen to the others.
David was hoping that they would escape without harm, and one night while Rosalind was sleeping, David had a conversation with Michael. After talking to Michael, he told Petra, “Hush, darling. It isn’t going to happen, because we aren’t going to let them catch us. pg 144 When he told Petra that nothing was going to happen, he was solidifying their goal. The final goal that the characters had was the goal to please, living to please. Anne loved Alan deeply, and she married, so she could please him.. Anne felt that the only thing that she had to live for was Alan. Trying to please Alan gave Anne hope, and when Alan was shot, all of Anne’s hope was eliminated. Anne no longer had anything to live for, so she committed suicide. Through the characters goals in eliminating deviations, escaping to freedom, and living to please, they were able to have hope for the future.
Subsequently, positive character relations drove hope. First, optimism, optimism is a great quality which rubs off on people giving the others hope. The Sealand woman was a very optimistic lady, and she never doubted herself, always thinking of the glass as half full. When Michael doubted her reliability, she showed how optimistic she was when she stated, “You can count on us” 178. The optimism of the Sealand woman rubbed off on the others, giving them a sense of hope. Next, brave people have remarkable courage that stands out clearly and drives hope.
When Katherine was being torture to tell about the other telepathics, Sally stayed strong. Even though Sally knew she would be next, she showed courage by not succumbing to the torture, and by not telling the truth. The other characters knew that Sally stayed strong, and did not back down to torture giving them hope. Lastly, when a character is inspiring they drive hope. When Sophie was forced to the fringes, because she was different, she became sure of herself, positive, and inspirational to the others.
She showed she was sure of herself, when she stated, ” damn you,… Leave me alone, damn you Without meaning to, Sophie inspired the others to accept what came their way, and run with it. They knew that they could all change and adapt as well as she did. Obviously, the relationships that Sally Sophie and the Sealand women had with the others were all very positive. They rubbed their inspiration, courage, and optimism off on the others, driving hope. Finally, the characters had hope because they knew that the future would be better than the present.
Dreams showed glimpses of the future that encouraged hope. David started and ended the book with the same dream of Sealand, which was a much better place than Waknuk. Sealand was a place where telepathic deviations were respected, and people were jealous of those with super human abilities. David sensed that the place was actually real, and when his dream kept on reoccurring, he had hope that his future could be better if he could just get there. Next, when communication occurs with another world, it is evident that there is another place where the future could be better.
Throughout the book Petra had extraordinarily strong telepathic abilities, and through her abilities she was able to communicate with people from much farther away than any of the others could. Petra learned of her abilities when she heard background noise. She told David of the other noise when she said, “she’s a long way, a very long, long way away, I think. ” pg 134 Knowing that there was somewhere else in the universe gave the characters hope, the reality of a better place became much more real, which drove their hope.
The characters individual thoughts inspired them to question their own world, and wonder for a better place. They all believed that Waknuk was not the ideal place that it was depicted to be. Many people that lived in Waknuk believed that it was a perfect place, but in reality Waknuk was not really perfect. The thought shapers knew that there would be something better out there, and if they tried hard enough to get to a better place, they would eventually find a superior land.
Evidently, the characters dreams, communication, and individual thoughts show that they believe their future lives will be better than the lives that they are currently living. Clearly, hope and inspiration are expressed consistently. Setting goals drove hope. Positive relations drove hope, and knowing that the future would be better drove hope. Hope is necessary for survival, without hope there is nothing to live for. Nobody can live and enjoy life without hope. Clearly, as stated by Martin Luther, “Everything that is done in the world is done by hope,” Hope is essential.
