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A Story of a Boy in a Dystopian Society in The Giver By Lois Lowry

Decent Essays
Lois Lowry, the author of the book The Giver, often portrays her young protagonists from her experience as a child. Lowry was born on March 20, 1937 (Dellinger). During her early life, she was very interested in reading and was very solitary (Dellinger). This is where she got her idea to become an author. Lowry went on to pursue her dream of writing at Brown University (Dellinger). After graduating, she went back to college at the University of Southern Maine to further study writing (Dellinger). Lowry married a Naval officer and together they had four children (Dellinger). Lowry often used her children's escapades as inspiration for her books (Dellinger). Continuing on, The Giver is a story about a young boy named Jonas who lives…show more content…
society. Next, the setting helps express the theme man vs. society. Through Jonas's point of view, we can see just how much Jonas starts to despise his community. This hatred builds up in Jonas and explodes in the theme man vs. society. Jonas lives in a dystopian society (Hanson). This community is strictly made up of rules and rituals (Hanson). Also the fact that the people are colorblind shows just how strict Jonas's community really is about sameness (Hanson). "Jonas mimicked in a cruel, sarcastic voice. 'I will kill people, sir. Old people? Small newborn people? I’d be happy to kill them, sir. Thank you for your instructions, sir'..." (Lowry, 152). This quote in the story, The Giver, shows the severity of Jonas's community and depicts the community's true colors. This quote also helps show that Jonas does not approve, which means that unlike the others, Jonas has a sense of morals. Furthermore, Lowry uses symbolism to help portray the theme, man vs. society. Symbolism in the story allows the reader to see Jonas's abilities firsthand. Also, the reader is able to see Jonas's reactions and how he feels he needs to revolt. "...Jonas did not take his pill. Something within him, something that had grown there through the memories, told him to throw the pill away" (Lowry, 129). This quote symbolizes that Jonas's community is so strict, that they have even gone to the extreme of taking away their emotion for love. Also, that fact that he threw
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