Examples Of Arrogance In The Chrysalids

The Chrysalids is about arrogance, self-delusion and self destruction. These elements are seen in the different characters and they are manifested through the characters' behavior, activities, actions and perception.

The characters who portray actions of arrogance most frequently seem to be the leaders of the different societies in the book, one of them being Joseph Strorm. Joseph Strorm portrays arrogance as he allows his arrogance to blind him from the truth which is that he in fact does not know who or what the "True Image" is. However, because of his belief to think he is always right, he pushes the society of Waknuk to believe and accustom themselves to live by the rules of a book called Nicholson's Repentences. He dispenses …show more content…
In the Chrysalids, the author shows that not only do the main characters show corruption in the society but so do the mere and seemingly insignificant people of the society, for there may be deviations amongst them. Anne is an example of self-delusion. In the novel, Anne objects to all the arguments of her fellow thought shapers when they ask her not to marry Alan. She responds to them finally with, "Why should I wait? It might be for years, or for always. I’ve got Alan and you want me to waste years waiting for someone who may never come – or whom I may hate if he does. You want me to give up Alan, and risk being cheated of everything. Well, I don’t intend to. I didn’t ask to be the way we are; but I’ve as much right to get what I can out of life as anyone else." Anne gives up her friends from the group of thought shapers of Alan Erwin, a man who believes will not report her if he were to find out that she was a deviation, herself. She thinks she can control her thought-shaping and be accepted as a norm. She believed so strongly in her deserving to be like the other norms that she deluded herself into risking the safety of her own friends. She was blinded by her fantasy of becoming like the norm and refused to respond to everyone in the thought-shaping group. Because of this delusion, she killed herself writing a letter to …show more content…
An example of self destruction for a different reason besides arrogance or self delusion is Aunt Harriet. Aunt Harriet produced a third baby and like the first two, this baby was yet another deviation, having something different from what was stated to be the acceptable norm. Knowing that her children would be taken away from her, and thinking that her husband will leave her for producing a deviation again, she decided to take her own life. However the last words that David Strorm heard from her were not words of desperation of her wanting her children to be normal but instead she said, "I shall pray God to send charity into this hideous world, and sympathy for the weak, and love for the unhappy and unfortunate. I shall ask Him if it is indeed His will that a child should suffer and its soul be damned for a little blemish of the body... And I shall pray Him, too, that the hearts of the self-righteous may be broken." Even in times of desperation, Aunt Harriet was able to tell what was unjust and what was just. She prayed for the people of Waknuk to realize that they have done wrong and that everything they have been believing in is, too. She knew that she would be unable to change the beliefs of the society and therefore she took her own life, hoping that her death would make an impact to the people. And fortunately for her, it