The Chrysalids

The man recognizes David and the others and aims to shoot them, but Rosalind manages to shoot the man’s horse, and then David does the same. The horse kicks the man into the bushes and runs off. Soon, the group comes to a large valley full of deviant crops and is relieved to know they have finally reached the outskirts of Wild Country. They pass a farm and see the people there inspecting the horse they shot. When they are noticed, they dart through without harm. They find a place to sleep among the trees, and in the evening, Petra startles them by reporting that the girl in New Zealand wants to try communicating with the others. She is unsuccessful, but Petra manages to relay a message. The girl across the sea thinks Petra is extremely important due to her immeasurable powers. Michael tunes in and gets the impression that the girl thinks the people of Waknuk are primitive.

The next morning, Petra wakes David; Michael has reported that the townspeople are picking up the trail again. When Michael says that David must kill Petra and Rosalind if they are captured, Petra hears and inquires why. David explains that “when people are different, ordinary people are afraid of them” (144), which can cause them to do cruel things.

When they start eating, Petra remarks that people in “Sealand” can all make thought-pictures and nobody minds, but people can do it to varying degrees. She notes that people who cannot make thought-pictures “live dull, stupid lives compared with think-picture people” (147) and will never know the sense of community that telepaths have. They depart again and eventually reach a thick forest. They hear gunshots behind them, and both horses run at full speed into the thick of the woods. As they make their way, seemingly having escaped the pursuit, something large and heavy suddenly falls on David, crushing him. All he feels is weight and sparks inside his head, and then everything goes blank.

David thinks about Rosalind and how he has watched her grow into a woman who wears a type of emotional shield against the world. Rosalind seemed to know much sooner than anyone else that the world was hostile against her, and she built up a wall to protect herself. In the current moment, Rosalind calls to David without this wall, bearing her true self to him and sending her love outward. David does the same back, and they share a moment in which there is “a single being that was both” (150). The moment passes, and David comes to. He realizes that he is inside the pannier, and the horse is still trotting. Michael asks what happened, and Rosalind says that Fringe people jumped on them from the trees. Both she and David are bound and being taken somewhere, but the people who captured them do not seem to be malevolent. Rosalind thinks they are more interested in the oversized horses.

David starts talking to one of the riders, who says that the Devil roams in Waknuk, not the Fringes. He goes on to say that Waknuk’s attempts to maintain their image as it is goes against God’s plans because “He changes and grows, like everything else that’s alive […] Life is change” (153). Attempting to remain the same and denying evolution is wrong. David finds it strange but illuminating to find that views on God are so varied. He states that no matter how hard people try to stop it, change will occur. To think of themselves as the true image also means that the people of Waknuk see themselves as God and attempt to control life.

Petra remarks that the people from Sealand are on their way to help, but Michael is doubtful. Rosalind finds she can communicate with the Sealand girl as well and hears advice to keep Petra safe at all costs. She states that she and the other New People, who think-together, intend to create a better world. She laments the ways that the Old People could not truly communicate with each other and could seemingly only get along in small groups. When they created massive problems, they ignored them, hoping they would disappear. She considers them part human at best and blames them for their own downfall. She explains that Tribulation affected the area where she lives but to a much lesser extent, and afterward, people who could make thought-shapes began being born. They grouped together, and their genes strengthened over time. After she ends the communication, Michael comments on the condescending nature of her words. David also thinks that these New People have quite a high idea of themselves.

The group arrives at an encampment and is taken to see one of the leaders. It turns out to be Joseph’s brother, and David admits he remembers him and knows who he is. The man angrily comments that he would have been heir to Waknuk if not for his long arms. He asks David how many people are after him and why, and Petra bursts out that there are over 100. Suddenly, David can sense that the man is somehow bothering Rosalind, and he jumps at him. He is immediately pulled off, and the man orders that David be sent off and never allowed to return to the Fringes. As David walks away, he attempts to hide in some bushes but is immediately found, beaten, and thrown into the brush.

David is being dragged through the forest by a woman, who turns out to be Sophie. He is relieved and happy to see she is alive but alarmed at her changed appearance, ragged clothes, and that she doesn’t wear a cross. David hears from Michael that Rosalind and Petra are safe, but the leader wants to keep Rosalind as a wife. Sophie asks about Rosalind, inquiring whether David loves her. David thinks that the way he and Rosalind are one is something beyond love, but he tells Sophie yes. Sophie admits she is in a sort of relationship with Joseph’s brother, whose name is Gordon. David feels distraught at what Sophie has become, and Sophie worries that Gordon will choose Rosalind and leave her behind. David assures her that Rosalind has no interest in Gordon.

Sophie takes David to her cave home at the encampment, which is largely empty aside from some candles, weapons, and utensils. Sophie washes his face and then goes to fetch some food while David talks to Michael. Michael reports that his group has laid down for the night and has been accosted by Fringe people several times. Mark has stopped communicating altogether. When Petra tunes in and finds David alive, she is greatly relieved. Petra’s friend across the sea tunes in to say help is about 16 hours away, and Michael resolves that it is simply a matter of keeping them safe until then. Sophie volunteers to kill the man guarding Rosalind and Petra so David and the others can escape. She returns moments later with Petra and Rosalind in tow.

Sophie and Rosalind assess one another, and Sophie suggests that Rosalind cut the cross off her clothing since it makes her presence obvious. Sophie has an idea to wait things out while the others discover the guard’s death and go searching in the woods. She believes they will not think to search a home within the encampment. Sophie takes off her clothing without shame and continues the conversation in the nude. She and Rosalind continue to stare at one another suspiciously, and Sophie looks as if she might become violent, but she does not.

The next morning, Michael tunes in to alert David that they are getting closer, and David wonders if there is anything to do but wait for help from Petra’s friend. The Sealand woman laments everything she has seen, including the blackened lands devoid of life, and she remarks on how “a whole race could go insane” (179). Petra then tunes in to Rachel, who has not heard from Mark and wishes for Michael’s company. The second thought was meant to be private, a “behind-think” (180), and David finds it unsettling that Petra can pick up on these. Sophie wakes and seems more placid, and she reports that the search was short; word has come that men are being slaughtered by the group Michael is with.

Petra asks Michael if their father is with him, and Michael answers yes. David asks if he is meant to kill his father, and the Sealand woman chimes in to remind David that life is about change and that if life “does not adapt, it will be broken” (182). He need not worry about his father, as their way of living and thinking cannot last. Sophie learns that Gordon is planning an ambush at the river. Michael’s group approaches, and he provides a play-by-play of their actions as Sophie disappears once again. Arrows and gunshots begin flying near the encampment as the Sealand woman assures Petra they are close by.

David looks out and sees Sophie with Gordon and a bow in her hand. Gordon shoots Joseph from a distance and is shot almost immediately afterward. Moments later, Sophie is shot in the neck and falls to the ground. Suddenly, a noise David has never heard before takes over everything, and he spots what is likely a helicopter coming down from the sky. Mysterious strands that look like cobwebs begin floating down from it and land on everyone. Michael notices that they are sticky, and it glues his hands together. The Sealand woman tells him not to struggle. Soon, everyone is covered in the webs and unable to move, and David, Rosalind, and Petra rush back into the cave. Petra is still unaware of what is going on and is happy to see the arrival. Then, David’s eyes are covered in webs, and he is unable to see.

The Sealand woman assures everyone to remain calm and keep still as Michael guides her to their location. A woman wearing a strange white suit sprays mist into the cave, releasing the glue from their bodies. After she is done, she removes her hood and reveals beautiful pale skin, dark hair, and deep eyes. In a moment of mutual understanding, everyone embraces, and the woman fixes her gaze upon Petra. She picks Petra up and kisses her, and she remarks on how worthwhile the trip was for such an amazing child. The woman says it is time to go, and Michael asks if they are going to pick up Rachel, to which the woman regretfully says no. She tries to explain to the group that their flying machine will run out of fuel if they make any extra stops. Rosalind asks if all the men in the webs are dead, and the woman admits that they are. David and Rosalind feel unsettled by the prospect of killing people so easily, with no fight at all. The woman senses their dismay and explains that there must be death and sacrifice to preserve their species—a familiar tale. She tries to tell David and the others that these people are not of their kind, as much as they think they are. Those who resist change are the enemy, according to her.

Michael ponders for a moment and decides he will stay behind and save Rachel. Together, they will find a way to make it to Sealand later. Everyone else climbs into the flying machine and watches Michael get smaller and smaller. Before long, they are landing in the city of David’s dreams, and he can see the gardens, buildings, cars, and more. It feels more familiar than he could have expected, and he momentarily wonders if he is dreaming. Rosalind hears the sound of a buzzing hive, and she and David realize it is the sound of thousands or more people, just like them. They share a moment of pure joy and hope together, which is soon interrupted by Petra’s abrupt and unmistakable excitement. Rosalind jokes that it can be forgiven this time as it is the most exciting moment any of them have ever experienced.