Examining the Significance of the Title "The Chrysalids"

John Wyndham’s book title is slightly ambiguous due to the fact that he invented the word for his book, but it originates from the word “chrysalis”, a stage in the butterfly life-cycle. The Chrysalids is a book about the aftermath of a nuclear war, and the struggle of people who are different. The novel follows three main groups, the people of Waknuk, the Fringe people, and the Sealanders. Every group represents a stage in the cycle: caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly. The title, The Chrysalids, is fitting because of the evolution and differentiation of beliefs between the Waknukians, the Fringe people, and the Sealanders, which in many ways relates to the butterfly life-cycle.

Firstly, the Waknukians are in the caterpillar stage of life, because they have very little technological growth, old fashioned ideas, and are rigid in their beliefs of deviations and purity. Modern technology is unheard of, as seen in this quote: “'Doesn't he think they were able to fly, like people say?' I asked. No. That's silly. If they could've, we'd be able to.' But there are lots of things they could do that we are learning to do again,' I protested. Not flying.' She shook her head. ' Things can either fly, or they can't, and we can't,' she said” (Wyndham 24, 25). Their drive to do anything out of the ordinary is lacking, whether that may be creating technology or changing their beliefs. In the novel, they try to imitate the Old People, fearing destruction, even though the people in the past were destroyed by their beliefs. In the past, they burned deviants, but now burn crops and exile deviants in fear that they may corrupt the purity of their people, due to their limited knowledge of the nuclear holocaust in the very beginning. They fail to see that deviations do not violate the true image of God because there is no such thing. Their limited technology, imitation of the past people, and their attitude towards deviations are reasons for their placement as the caterpillar stage of life.

Next, the Fringe people are slowly evolving, filling the role of a chrysalis, the transitional stage of the butterfly enclosed in a cocoon, in the life cycle. They are characterized by their inactivity, staying in the Fringes and only coming out when they are desperate for supplies. Considered to be lesser than human, their exile has given them survival skills, and the author remarks on this, saying,

Quite a lot of them had guns, whereas the Fringes people had only a few that they had stolen, and depended chiefly on bows, knives, and spears. Nevertheless, the width of their advance made them difficult to deal with. They were better woodsmen and cleverer at hiding themselves than proper human beings so that they were able to press on another fifteen miles before we could contain them and bring them to battle (Wyndham 33).

Driven out of Waknuk for having deviations, they live primitively in caves with very little, forcing them to go back to Waknuk for supplies. Most of them have progressed ideas but take very little action in spite. Most of them believe that tribulation was meant to happen in order to give humanity a new beginning, but they had never directly challenged the Waknukian society’s belief on that matter. As the title suggests, the Fringe people are in an inactive and sheltered state of beliefs. This is because of a lack of resources, a proper home, and willpower to act on ideas.

Finally, Sealanders are the most evolved and conscious of the three groups, therefore they are the butterfly stage of life in The Chrysalids. They possess new technology that the Waknukians don’t have, as shown in this quote:

Small boats, some with coloured sails, and some with none, were making for the harbour already dotted with craft. Clustered along the shore, and thinning as it stretched back towards the hills, lay the city with its white houses embedded among green parks and gardens. I could even make out the tiny vehicles sliding along the wide, tree-bordered avenues. A little inland, beside a square of green, a bright light was blinking from a tower and a fish-shaped machine was floating to the ground (Wyndham 199).

Their revival of modern technology makes their country advance and resemble something like before the nuclear war. Furthermore, their acceptance of the cycle of change makes them more open to the possibilities. This is especially apparent when one of the characters, the Sealand woman, states: “' The essential quality of life is living; the essential quality of living is change; change is evolution: and we are part of it. '” They have also accepted and embraced their thought-shape abilities, making their society more connected to each other, and in many ways, superior. This leads to their contact with other telepaths, in hopes of rescuing them to bring to their society. Due to this, the Sealanders are the more superior group in the novel, taking the role of a butterfly in the life cycle because they have finished their full transformation.

The three main groups of the novel represent the stages in a butterfly’s life cycle, making the book title of The Chrysalids relevant. John Wyndham’s choice of a title is accurate and represents the main themes of the story well.

Works Cited

• Wyndham, John. The Chrysalids. New York, New York Review Books, 1955. Print.