Is the chrysalids an anti-religious book?

Answer 1

It can definitely be interpreted that way, but I choose to interpret it as a book that is celebrating positive change. The whole idea in the book is that these children who are telepathic are our future, and we shouldn't stand in their way. It gets to that conclusion by showing a lot of things that are negative... including murder of innocents by their telepathic saviors from Zealand. The ethics are very fuzzy in the book, but the children are saved in order to build a better society. I think most of us agree that as a society we want our children to do that... and I think most religions want that as well.

Answer 2

While "The Chrysalids" by John Wyndham does explore themes related to religious extremism, it is not explicitly anti-religious. The book raises questions about the dangers of rigid belief systems and intolerance, but it does not condemn religion as a whole. Rather, it critiques how religion can be used to justify discrimination and oppression.

Answer 3

I'm sure it can be interpreted that way, but that isn't the way that I see it. I think that if you take that line of thought, then all you are doing is replacing one religion with another... going from the worship of purity of form to the worship of one particular deviation. Where David ended up was MUCH better for him... but would it have saved his uncle or Sophie or any of the people on the Fringe? No. In that way, it would only be the triumph of selfishness.

I see the book more, at least in the beginning, as supporting the idea of loving people no matter what they are physically or mentally. And in the end it definitely brings in the idea that it is OKAY to judge people for what they believe and what they do... and what their future holds, even when you don't know. Why else would the people from Zealand exterminated the entire camp of fringe people along with the norms that were attacking?

Hopefully, it is a book that makes us take a look at ourselves and the way that we judge, the way that we decide who has a future and who does not, and the way that we decide who is worthy of life and breeding, and maybe makes up take a step back and learn a little more compassion and a little less judgement all around. ... And I think that a lot of religions... perhaps most of them, also want that.