“I dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. " ― Martin Luther King Jr. The topic of my essay is how and why Waknuk society is prejudiced, in The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. My first argument is about the Waknuk people's hatred towards chrysalises. My second argument mainly focuses on Joseph Strorm; his character traits and actions. My third and final argument talks about the atmosphere in which the main character David had to grow up. Through several literary elements, Wyndham created in The Chrysalids a society based on prejudices that has an obsessive devotion to conformity to the norm, resulting in opposition to change or deviation from the norm. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Prejudice is also present in Waknuk due to the hatred people have expressed for chrysalises in more ways than one. Soon after Katherine and Sally confirmed that David, Rosalind and Petra are telepaths, their certificates of normality were immediately revoked despite having lived with them for almost twenty years. After Micheal told David and Rosalind that Sally and Katherine had confessed, he told them that “They could pass for normal anywhere. So a proclamation was posted describing the three of you and officially classifying you as deviants.” This shows how quickly the people of Waknuk will change their opinions of you even after trusting you for as long as they actually did in the story. Equally important, everyone in or out of Waknuk has been told that there is a reward for anyone who can report and confirm the deaths of David, Rosalind and Petra. We know this from Michele who informs the chrysalides that "anyone can shoot them on sight without penalty". He also told them that "There is a small reward if their death is reported and confirmed." Taking away their certificates was enough, but beyond that, giving a reward for the death of chrysalises just for something they can do only adds more evidence of why Waknuk is a prejudiced society. In shorter words, the people of Waknuk can and will change their opinion of someone based on their physical appearance or something they can do. They also have the mindset that someone they consider non-human does not deserve to have basic rights or even live. Another way that prejudice is shown in Waknuk society is through the acts and characteristics of Joseph Strorm, the preacher of the Waknuk church and the son of Elias Strorm (the man who founded Waknuk). Joseph is also the father of the main character, David. First, Joseph Strorm ordered a cat he had found to be killed because he saw that it had no tail. Soon after the poor cat was killed, it was proven that it was not blasphemy. “Somehow he had learned that Ben Dakers' wife had taken in a tailless cat. He investigated…and directed the inspector to issue a warrant for destruction as an offence…then a notification later arrived stating that there was a recognized breed of tailless cats.” Clearly, this quote shows that Joseph saw a cat without a tail and then did minimal research about it and immediately ordered it killed. It shows that Joseph wants to get rid of anything that is out of the ordinary or doesn't exactly look like the "norm." Second, Joseph also scolded his son for simply saying that if he had a third hand he could have tied a tighter bandage..