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In The Chrysalids, David’s relationship with his dreams mirrors his relationship with his telepathy. Of course, his dreams are also likely the product of his telepathy. At the beginning of the novel, David hides his dreams much like he hides his ability. For example, he tells Sophie about neither, even though he trusts her a great deal. At this phase in his life, both his dreams and his ability bring him great pleasure—they have not yet been tarnished by his relationship with Waknukian beliefs. After David comes to understand why Sophie had to flee, his dreams become increasingly violent and his ability becomes increasingly burdensome. By the end of the novel, however, David has found a way to the place in his dreams, where he can be open about his ability.
Dreams Quotes in The Chrysalids
The The Chrysalids quotes below all refer to the symbol of Dreams. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1
Quotes
“Dreams were funny things and there was no accounting for them; so it might be that what I was seeing was a bit of the world as it had been once upon a time—the wonderful world that the Old People had lived in; as it had been before God sent Tribulation."
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Chapter 3
Quotes
“If John and Mary Wender had been there when I woke up struggling and crying, and then lay in the dark trying to convince myself that the terrible picture was nothing more than a dream, they would, I think, have felt quite a lot easier in their minds.”
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Get the entire The Chrysalids LitChart as a printable PDF.
Dreams Symbol Timeline in The Chrysalids
The timeline below shows where the symbol Dreams appears in The Chrysalids. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...begins with David, the young narrator, telling us that when he was young, he sometimes dreamed of a city with “carts running with no horses to pull them” and “shiny, fish-shaped...
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While David felt like a normal child at the time of the dream, he tells us that he can now pinpoint the day when he realized he was...
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Chapter 3
...Old People could do that he and she cannot. He considers telling Sophie about his dream of a city with metal fish in the sky, but decides to keep it a...
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...would happen if to him if he actually had three hands. He falls asleep and dreams about the most recent Purification, in which a calf was slaughtered for being hairless. In...
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Chapter 6
...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...
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...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...
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Chapter 8
...that Aunt Harriet’s suicide was the most disturbing event in his life so far. He dreams of her lying in the river, holding her baby. The fact that even the slightest...
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Chapter 9
...Rosalind and David must lie and say that they heard her screaming. That night, David dreams his old dream in which his father kills Sophie, only this time he is killing...
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Chapter 12
...that there are. David is excited to learn that the city of which he has dreamed is not necessarily an Old People city, but one that might actually still exist.
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Chapter 16
...from Zealand announces that they are almost there. A “fish-shaped craft” like those in David’s dreams appears in the sky. As it approaches, it begins to drop thin strings, “like cobwebs,”...
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Chapter 17
...the woman and go with her to Zealand. There, David finds the city of his dreams. The sound of the thoughts of thousands of people fills the air, and David and...
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