Over the past couple of days, I've been re-reading, for the umpteenth time, The Chrysalids by John Wyndham, having found an online version I could read on my Kindle. It's been one of my favourite books since I heard a serialisation of it on the radio when I was 11, and certainly since I first read a copy I filched from the English storeroom at school at 14 (I always meant to put the book back after I'd read it, but it somehow never happened, and I kept the copy until it finally disintegrated, about 20 years later!), but I've always looked at it as a science fiction take on a post-apocalyptic world. This latest re-reading, though, has made me think about another layer of meaning in the story, namely the portrayal, and, it seems to me, condemnation by the author, of the ills of a society dominated by religious fundamentalism, patriarchy and outright theocracy. The sort of society that some, particularly in the US and some Islamic countries, seem to consider to be some sort of paragon. And worthy of being imposed on everyone else, by military force, if necessary.
Love & best wishes to all
Sammy B
Yeah, that guy is a real nutcase. It's interesting that we go after the Snowdons and Mannings, but not the real treasonous bastards out there!
ReplyDeletePeace <3
Jay
Hello Jay
DeleteInteresting, but not all that surprising, sadly. Something to do, maybe, with the fact that the 'whistle-blowers' illuminate aspects of society that the establishment would rather remained in darkness, while the dominionists believe in a societal structure that would keep that very same establishment in their unearned and undeserved positions of power and privilege.
Love & best wishes
Sammy B