Compare and Contrast Essay

It is hard to believe that perfection has such high standards these days. People are expected to look and act perfect all the time. And if they are not, they are judged by society. It is not fair for people to be judged by their characteristics or by how they look. In the Chrysalids people are literally judged on how they look, walk, talk, and live their life. It is the same way in the movie Gattaca. The people of Gattaca have very high standards. They are expected to be perfect. Perfection is hard for anyone to accomplish, both in the Chrysalids and in Gattaca. However, some things are far more complicated than perfection such as, which social category you belong in, whether or not if you are “normal” or not, and last but not least, are the rules of “living” more strict in the movie Gattaca or in the Chrysalids.

I believe that categorization is not the best way for a human to live their life. Although getting classified into a certain group is a one-time thing, it drastically changes the endless possibilities for ones future. Let’s take the Chrysalids for example, you get classified at birth. You are either part of the community or you are sent to the Fringes. It is very unfair how the people do not get a choice, it is a do or die. I personally find this aspect very judgemental and life changing. If a person is sent to the Fringes because they were judged according on the way they look, I completely ruins their chance of becoming something better.

I believe that the community’s pig-headedness is going to lead others in the wrong direction. Similar to the Chrysalids, in the movie Gattaca, the community is also divided into social classes. When babies are born, they are also classified at birth by their genes. Whichever baby is healthier or “genetically superior” has a higher status in society. In my opinion, this whole “classification by genes” thing is outrageous. It discriminates against children who may have the same abilities as those who are “genetically superior”. People should not be categorized into social classes. If God wanted the communities of Gattaca and the Chrysalids, to be separated into social classes, he would have done without all of the chaos. God would have done it before they did it themselves.

In our world we have people who may look a certain way and talk a certain way, and these people are cast out for being different. There are similar people like this, in the Chrysalids and in the movie Gattaca. In the Chrysalids, the people of Waknuk believe in a “true image”. The “true image” is what they believe to be someone who has ten fingers and ten toes, the way it says man should look in the Repentances. And if you are not in the “true image” you are considered to be a deviation or mutant, and are sent to the Fringes. The only person who can make this decision is the inspector. He makes this decision a day or two after the baby is born.

I believe that whichever child comes into this world is a form of the “true image”. It is wrong to decide a baby’s future right when it is born. Now, in relation to book, Gattaca also has a similar way of judging whether or not if the baby is genetically healthy. Except when the doctor does decide, he declares the baby as valid or in-valid. The baby is valid if there is nothing wrong with it and if has no health issues, and the baby is in-valid if it has either an internal or external problem. Just as the movie shows valid and in-valid rules, so too the book shows rules based on the “true image”.

As human beings, we all deserve to live in a cruelty free world. We deserve to live our life we want to, not how someone else wants us to. Unlike our world the people of the Chrysalids are governed by very strict rules. But on the other hand people of Gattaca have rules that are less strict. In the Chrysalids, the community of Waknuk is governed by religious laws, most of those laws are forced upon them. For example, if a child is born with a defect, it must be sent to the Fringes all by itself. Now which mother in the right mind would give up their child to be sent to the Fringes? No mother wants to go through that heartache. This is just one of the rules that have to be unwillingly followed by the community. In contrast, the movie is more forgiving than the book. If a child is born with a defect, it is simply declared as in-valid and is placed in a low class of society. In the book the people of Waknuk are so busy pleasing God that they forget how great of an affect it is having on them. The rules are forced upon them which in the end, hurts every single one of them. On the other hand, the community of Gattaca does not have very many rules hanging over their heads. They still have rules to follow just not harmful ones.

The Chrysalids is more of a Godly community. They follow the bible but the mostly follow the rules of Nicholas’ Repentances. However I sometimes question the Repentances, were they created to make life for others better, or were they written to harm others? Both the book and the movie really focus on how a person should look. However, in the end of the movie, the real Jerome Morrow commits suicide because he was still second best. He could not live with the fact of being second. It is sad how much a person expects themselves to be so perfectly perfect. The reason why we came to this world is not to be perfect, we should not try to be like someone we are not. Even though the book and the movie are just sci-fi and fantasy, I still feel angry at how arrogant society is in the book and the movie. People really need to realize what life is all about. Life is not about pleasing others, it is not about pleasing God. Life is about being compassionate and humane towards each other. Nobody is perfect, and no one expects you to be.