In the story The Chrysalids, Davie
(the narrator) is, and knows several other youngsters who are, "different." They are
considered by society to be "mutants" or "deviations," but Davie and his friends keep
their secret from family and friends.
One of them has
disappeared; no one has heard from him. After Sophie and other deviations have been
discovered, Davie is worried that perhaps the boy who has disappeared has also been
discovered.
Davie's Uncle Axel (who is the only adult who
knows Davie's secret) promises that he will try to find out what he can, and whether the
boy was taken because he was a "deviation."
In the
meantime, it is discovered that Aunt Harriet's baby is a "deviation," and when she comes
to Davie's mother for help, she is turned away by both of his
parents.
All of these things are especially unsettling to
Davie: he fears being discovered as well.
However, Uncle
Axel finally comes back to him and tells Davie that a boy named Walter, about the age
Davie had described, had been killed accidentally in a logging camp mishap, and that
there is a good chance that this boy is Davie's missing friend. The family is sad for
the loss of Davie's "friend" Walter, but relieved that he died from nothing other than
an accident. (Had there been other circumstances, it could easily have been that Walter
was a "deviation," a constant fear in this society.)
As it
is, they realize the boy may have been related to Davie's
grandmother because they both had the same last name:
Brent.
In the future, the family feels
it would be wise to know more about who is a relation so there is no worry or confusion
of the same kind again.
Perhaps it is
actually the fear of those who do not conform, who are mutants, that makes everyone want
to know who their family members are, so they do not become involved in something
illegal or unholy, and find themselves conspirators without knowing the truth of these
people.
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