Theme, atmosphere and style of the Chrysalis Theme: The theme is closely linked to satire in this novel. Numerous main ideas of the novel point out the shortcomings of Waknuk society and even our society. For example, the Waknuk company will ban from their company anything that is not realized in their concept of true image. In the history of humanity, some groups have always reacted negatively towards apparently different groups. Recent historical events of genocide make what Waknuk does seem like child's play. For example, during World War II, when six million Jews were killed. The expulsion of Armenians from Türkiye, to Cambodia in the 1970s and to Rwanda in 1994. Our society has institutions and clinics to transform our concept of abnormal into normal. David's society, despite its great concern for the True Image, allows the introduction of great horses into their society. While they are obviously not normal, for profit reasons the True Image can be ignored. It is proven that hypocrisy is a universal human condition and the people of Waknuk are no different from us. The main critical theme, however, is the one implicit in the novel's title. Chrysalis is a term taken from biology. It describes the state through which a larva must pass before becoming an insect. In this state the larva is wrapped in a rigid covering or shell, does not feed and is totally inactive. This is precisely the state that Joseph Strorm and his kind are trying to maintain and impose on humanity. As Ms. Sealand points out, evolution cannot be denied and the chrysalis cannot be stopped in its development to the next stage. The anti-intellectualism of Waknuk society, which seeks to end both logic and imagination, and its efforts to deny evolution, are destined to be a dead end. Wyndham's attack on this kind of thinking ranges from satire to outright virulence. The satire is primarily directed at Joseph Strorm. Because he embodies everything that is wrong with the community's religious ideas, he is made to appear as a frustrated and dangerous person. But criticism can take crueler forms, as in the case of Sophie's fate or Aunt Harriet's suicide. Their stories introduce a sense of helpless frustration as they highlight not only the folly of the Waknuk philosophy but, also, the futility of trying to defeat it. Uncle Axel, as the author's spokesperson, provides the most accurate portrayal, as he tells David that every group of people he has seen in his travels thinks the True Image is themselves. No one, he points out, could ever be sure that the true image is correct, since it comes from Nicholson's Repentances, written after Tribulation. Atmosphere: In Chrysalides, the atmosphere varies widely. There is the normal interest at the beginning of a novel as characters reveal themselves and the plot unfolds. But the strongest curiosity in this novel arises from the need to identify society. It's familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time. Just when the reader has established that it belongs to the 18th century, somewhere in the Western Hemisphere, a vague reference is given to suggest that this is not the case. Then there is the peculiarity of the company itself. These people look like us, but have a disturbingly different set of beliefs, which further piques our curiosity. As the setting, characters and background are established, the atmosphere begins to change to one of fear. This occurs for two reasons. The extraordinary lack of charity and inflexible set of rules in David's community are appalling in themselves but, at this point, we have come to know and appreciate David,.