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The society that David lives in is very strict and controlling, following the dystopic literature genre like books such as Fahrenheit 451 and 1984. However the government controls its citizens to match the religious views of the Repentances instead of controlling them in fear of war and hostility. The society has strong beliefs that everyone should have the same body structure, and the country would reject anything different classifying it as a deviation. For any new baby born the government would examine the child and see if he/she matches the requirements for the definition of humanity by the Repentances. If the baby had something different with its body structure, such as Sophie with the extra toe, the government would either murder or export the “deviation” to the Fringes. The society and government are controlled by religion, similar to ancient times of the medieval Ages where the Catholic Church was in charge of the many decisions made by the country.

 

Forms of rebellion have been presented, as some characters do not meet the qualities of the dystopic society. Ant Harriet gives birth to a baby that has an in-human quality. Knowing that her baby would not be accepted by society, she asked her sister (David’s mother), who also had a baby named Petra, if she could trade the baby just to get an accepted inspection of a non-deviated human structure. David’s mother rejected the request and banished Ant Harriet from coming back. Ant Harriet wants to rebel since the society does not accept what she loves.

I shall pray God to send charity into this hideous world, and sympathy for the weak, and love for the unhappy and unfortunate. I shall ask Him if it is indeed His will that a child should suffer and its soul be damned for a little blemish of the body… And I shall pray Him, too, that the hearts of the self-righteous may be broken…(Wyndham 73)

Wyndham suggests the concept that God’s will, might be miss interpreted as this society thinks that to only be accepted by Heaven is to be like the Repentances definition. However as the novel progresses, Uncle Axel begins to bring the thought of what is the point of normality. He describes that on his voyages around the world, he saw many different mutations think that they were the norm of God. There is a suggestion that we should not differ ourselves from others even if they look different or contain different qualities.

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