The Chrysalids Trivia Quiz

Answer: Extra toes

David, a young boy with dreams of a distant past, finds himself playing with a young girl named Sophie, inadvertently discovering that she has six toes, something that would cause her to be seen as a blasphemy under the eyes of the gods. When she injures herself, David takes her home to her mother, who asks him never to speak of the girl's issue again and to keep her malady a secret.

This proves to be a predicament since David's father, Jacob, is an ardent follower of the laws of Heaven and calls out for repentance whenever possible. Under Jacob's instructions, all such blasphemies would be destroyed to ensure the region's prosperity.

Answer: Labrador

David and his family live in the rural farming community of Waknuk, a location surrounded by Fringes and badlands that act as a home to blasphemous savages. The people of Waknuk and surrounding communities, at times, are raided by these outsiders. Of course, David's family is very much opposed to the mutants outside. On one occasion, David absentmindedly says that if he had a third hand, he could perform a task easier.

This leads him to be scolded by his father for his subconscious wish to be a mutant. On another occasion, David confides in his uncle, Axel, that he can communicate with Rosalind, his cousin, with his mind.

This is kept secret.

Answer: Swimming

David and Sophie are caught by a boy named Alan while swimming in a stream and it's then that Sophie's secret is discovered. David is forced to fight the boy and when he's incapacitated, they run back to Sophie's family. With the secret now revealed, they have no choice but to leave Waknuk and flee hundreds of miles to protect the girl. David asks to join them, but realizes he can't or else put the family at risk.

Instead, he hides at their abandoned house for a night and returns home for punishment at the end of his father's whip. David later speaks to his uncle about running away and following the coast southward, but it's made clear that there likely isn't much to find down that way. Nonetheless, with the strange connection David has with Rosalind and others, it seems that there may be something wrong with them--something wrong enough to consider them deviations.

Answer: Heresy

Shortly after Sophie and her family leave Waknuk, David's sister, Petra, is born. A certificate of inspection is given to indicate that she is of the True Image and her family continues on. At the same time, David's Aunt Harriet visits, bringing her own baby and seeking a solution as her child is not in the True Image. Both she and the baby are later 'purified' for their heresy. It's not long before David, seeking answers, speaks to his Uncle Axel about his situation, being able to speak to the seven other children in his mind. Axel suggests that the mind is important, and that he should both harness and hide his talent to protect those around him.

It's this discussion that leads David to connect with the others.

Answer: Anne

Six years pass before David and the others who can speak within their minds discover that Petra also possesses the same deviation; this happens when she nearly drowns in a river and frantically calls out for help using her thoughts. This, coupled with bad years of tribulations in crops, leads both David and Axel to worry that people will be looking for scapegoats. It's not long before Anne, one of the eight with the gift, decides to marry Alan, David's childhood bully, and denounce the others. Alan is later found dead, leading Anne to suicide.

Her sister, Rachel, another with the gift, finds a note outing all eight of the group. She burns it to protect them.

Answer: Axel

Things grow more dire when Petra, traveling through the woods, is attacked by a deviation. All of those connected by their minds come running to help her, but this doesn't go unnoticed-- a man named Jerome Skinner witnesses this odd event happening, and the seven need to figure out how to stay even more undercover, beginning with training Petra to avoid overwhelming the others with her strong gift.

This gift does, however, allow her to contact a woman far to the southwest. The group prepares for the worst when inquiries start spreading, and David discovers that his uncle, Axel, was responsible for Alan's death, protecting the group, but not for long.

Answer: Sealand

After inquiries commence, Sally and Katherine are taken and David, Rosalind, and Petra decide that it's their chance to make a break for it, fleeing into the night. During this time, Rosalind is forced to kill a man to protect the three of them. It doesn't keep their tracks covered though; Katherine is tortured and reveals the truth about five of the seven with the gift, making them outlaws and barring them from local human settlements.

They have no choice but to flee to the Fringes, keeping to the trail at the same time, but making haste. Petra, meanwhile, with her enhanced abilities, sends letter-shapes back and forth between someone claiming to be from Sealand.

Answer: Yes

As David, Rosalind, and Petra near the Fringes, David realizes that the stakes are dire as he communicates with Michael about the situation. The Waknuk people get nearer and if they end up getting caught, David may need to kill Rosalind and Petra to protect them from their torturous former neighbours.

As they reach the edge of their territory, however, David is attacked from something above him and knocked out. He awakens to find that he's been captured by the exiled savages and, while they're safe, they're being taken deep into the blasphemous lands.

Answer: Uncle

David, Rosalind, and Petra reach the Fringe camp to discover that it's another of his uncles-- his father's brother-- who's in charge of the encampment. This man sends David away after a short discussion, but keeps the girls since they can be of use, not having physical deviations. David ends up being surprised when he's saved by Sophie and brought to a nearby cave.

She explains that she still loves David for how he protected her many years before, but she recognizes that he now loves Rosalind and, in a moment of distraction at the camp, she saves them from the main tent.

At the same time, Michael warns David that the three of them are expected to return to reveal any others who may have the gift. After Petra and Rosalind are rescued, it's determined that the people of Sealand will be arriving with reinforcements to save the group of them.

It will, however, take sixteen hours before they can make it.

Answer: An airship

Halfway through their wait, a battle commences between the people of the Fringes and the people of Waknuk. Michael, among the latter group, searches for the camp while Sealand's people inch closer, crossing lands of black glass and mountains in cinders from the devastation of the past. The battle edges closer and finally reaches the camp, resulting in the deaths of Sophie, David's father and uncle, and many others. Soon, however, the people of Sealand arrive in what appears to be an airship, sending down a constricting material that incapacitates and kills the struggling fighters on the ground.

The woman in contact with Petra informs them that there's room for four of them on the airship, but Michael insists on going back to Waknuk to retrieve Rachel.

He plans to meet them in Sealand as the trio depart across the blackened lands to the home David could, until now, only see in his dreams.