T ODAY ’ S C HECKLIST Sentence fragments activities The Chrysalids – Character sketch of David Chapter Two Questions Read Chapter Four Chapter Four Analysis – Ethics

What’s in a name? David – in the biblical story of David and Goliath, David had to overcome great challenges Joseph – earthly father of God’s son John – disciple whom Jesus loved Mary – Mother of Jesus Sophie – means “wisdom”; also associated with beauty Rosalind – character in Romeo and Juliet; Rosalind has a Romeo and Juliet relationship with David

Biblical references Expulsion from Eden – Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden when Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, thus, Original Sin The Flood – God saw the sinfulness of man and inflicted a great flood (Noah’s Ark) Pestilences – plagues were sent upon Egypt, the Israelites, and King David’s subjects

between the lines What is David implying, without directly stating it? “However, I did not talk much about this part of Ethics to Sophie. Not, I think, because I ever actually classified her in my mind as a Deviation, but it had to be admitted that she did not quite qualify as a true image, so it seemed more tactful to avoid that aspect. And there were plenty of other things to talk about.” - David, Ch. 4

David does not see Sophie in the same way that the other members of his community do He is, however, trained to view certain abnormalities as deviations from the “true image” (i.e. the image of God) His “tactful” way of avoiding this subject reveals his compassion for his friend

The Allegory of the Cave According to Plato, people who are untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects, that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see.

When the prisoners are released, they can turn their heads and see the real objects. Then they realize their error. What can we do that is analogous to turning our heads and seeing the causes of the shadows? We can come to grasp the Forms with our minds. In The Chrysalids… “Only the authorities, ecclesiastical and lay, were in a position to judge whether the next step was a rediscovery, and so, safe to take; or whether it deviated from the true re-ascent, and so was sinful.”

In the Allegory of the Cave, individuals must set themselves free of the chains that bind them. What is the danger of having only the authorities be those who determine the truth?