The Chrysalids: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

David tells the others in his group of telepaths about Sophie, and while they struggle with the notion that a Blasphemy might not be evil, they also know that it is impossible to lie in one’s thoughts, and that David must be telling the truth. That night, David dreams once again of his father killing Sophie and of the city with the fish in the sky—dreams he hasn’t had in years. His sister Mary tends to his wounds when he awakes and he comes up with a plan to flee Waknuk.

The Inspector visits David at home and asks him more about Sophie. David tells him that Sophie didn’t seem like the Deviations he learned about in church, and the Inspector reminds him of the part of the Definition that says that “each foot shall have five toes.” He explains to David that God does not produce anything imperfect, and that by being imperfect, Sophie proves she is not a creation of God. When he asks David why he didn’t tell his father about Sophie, David tells him about his dream in which his father kills her. The Inspector assures him that Blasphemies are not dealt with in this way, and tells David that he won’t prosecute him for lying about Sophie.

David finds it difficult to promise the Inspector that he will report future Blasphemies, because he cannot convince himself that Sophie is truly evil. The Inspector tells him that while fidelity to friends is important, maintaining “the Purity of the Race” is more so. David’s father interrupts him to announce that the Wenders have been caught. David is so overwhelmed with guilt that he cannot breathe, but the Inspector assures him that it is not his fault that the Wenders were caught.

A few days later, David announces to Uncle Axel that he is going to run away. Uncle Axel cautions him against it, telling him that there is nowhere to go and that staying is preferable to running away, where he would only be caught and brought back. David asks him about the territories outside of Labrador, and Uncle Axel promises to tell him about them as long as he doesn’t tell anyone else. He says to David that when people want to believe something, you only cause problems by contradicting them, even if what they believe is untrue. To Uncle Axel, the fact that the people of Waknuk do not know the truth about the rest of the world means that Waknuk is a more peaceful place than it otherwise might be.

Uncle Axel explains to David at great length what he knows about the rest of the world. Much of this knowledge is based more on rumor than fact. He tells David of sailors who visited the Badlands to the south and were shocked to find an abundance of mutated crops because they had been taught to believe that nothing could grow outside of Labrador at all. He calls the area “a jungle of Deviations,” and says that it is proof of the necessity of Purity Laws. Further south are areas that are thought to be entirely desolate, although one ship reported seeing the remains of an Old People city. Everyone on this ship became sick, however, so no one else was willing to venture to the area to confirm the presence of an Old People city. Instead, they chose to believe that the area south of Labrador was devoid of life—a belief that pleased the authorities because it discouraged further exploration.

Later on, Uncle Axel says, people became curious again, and an explorer named Marther headed south. His journals argue that the views of the church are wrong, and these areas could actually sustain life. Marther was tried for heresy and the authorities considered banning voyages south. During the controversy, a ship thought to be lost returned to Labrador bearing rare metals and spices. It was impossible to determine the purity of the spices, as they were not previously known to the authorities. Orthodox believers abstained from eating them, while others argued that they were the spices mentioned in the Bible. The desire for spices prompted more southward exploration.

Uncle Axel tells David that these lands are now known to be inhabited by people who either do not abide by Purity Laws or have a different understanding of what a Mutant is. Indeed, in other places, people who would be classified as Blasphemies in Waknuk consider themselves to be made in the Image of God, and think that the Waknukians are Mutants. These communities have in common the stories of the Old People, and the people in each place believe them to be their true ancestors. Uncle Axel tells David that while this is hard to fathom, there is really no proof that Waknukians are made in the Image of God. Their Definition of what is normal comes from Repentences, which was written long after Tribulation, and thus might not present an accurate picture of what Old People were like.

While David finds what Uncle Axel has to say vaguely interesting, he is mostly concerned with whether there are any cities outside of Labrador. Uncle Axel says that there are not, and when David presses him, he assures David that if there were any, they would know about them. Uncle Axel then reasserts that it is impossible to know what the true Image of God really is. In fact, he says, David and Rosalind, with their ability to communicate without words, might be closer to the true image, even though in Waknuk he would be persecuted for this Deviation. David takes this opportunity to tell Uncle Axel that he can communicate with others in this way as well, although he does not know their names because names aren’t necessary in telepathic communication. Uncle Axel responds by emphasizing again that it is impossible to prove what the true image really is.