In the novel ‘The Giver’ written by Lois Lowry, and the film, ‘Pleasantville’ by Gary Ross, there are many similarities and differences in the themes and ideas explored. These are represented in the novel and movie’s main themes, such as freedom and choice, colour and the description of utopian and dystopian societies.
Comparing both ‘The Giver’ and ‘Pleasantville’, they each deeply explore the theme of freedom and choice. In ‘The Giver’, the citizens of the community live in a world where they make very little decisions of their own, and lead a life where everything is set. "Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness.” For example, no one gets a choice at want they want to do in life, as the elders decide their futures at the age of twelve. The only two people in the community that can independently think are Jonas and The Giver, due to having memories of the past, when everyone could think freely and feel real emotions. Similarly, in ‘Pleasantville’, the characters also have little control as they are deprived of independent thought and follow the same routine every day. The simple clarity of black and white matches the idealised nature of the world, where everything is perfect and simple. Everyone in Pleasantville has given up colour, knowledge, new experiences and pleasure in order to keep things “pleasant” and uniform. In the beginning of both ‘The Giver’ and ‘Pleasantville’, their worlds are in black and white. As Jonas, and the citizens of Pleasantville start to discover new things about the "real world" and individuality, both worlds slowly start turning to colour. “If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!”
Another common theme is the audience perception of the societies morphing from utopia to dystopia as both texts progress. Initially in ‘The Giver’ and ‘Pleasantville’, the communities are portrayed as a perfect place where everything is orderly and efficient. “How could someone not fit in? The community was so meticulously ordered, the choices are made so carefully.” The citizens of both communities are protected from human conditions like pain, hunger, homelessness, and anything that would be of inconvenience to
The story in The Giver by Lois Lowry takes place in a community that is not normal. People cannot see color, it is an offense for somebody to touch others, and the community assigns people jobs and children. This unnamed community shown through Jonas’ eye, the main character in this novel, is a perfect society. There is no war, crime, and hunger. Most readers might take it for granted that the community in The Giver differs from the real society. However, there are several affinities between the society in present day and that in this fiction: estrangement of elderly people, suffering of surrogate mothers, and wanting of euthanasia.
The novel ‘The Giver’, authored by Lois Lowry, and the film ‘Pleasantville’, directed by Gary Ross, share numerous similarities. Many of the themes and messages conveyed throughout both the novel and film are very alike. Some of the various similarities between the themes explored include the concept of colour, denial of true emotions as well as the main character being a harbinger for change.
The movie ‘‘Pleasantville’’, written, produced and directed by Gary Ross, approaches a period in America’s history which subsequent generations idealise as a better and more stable society. He portrays this time period of the 1950s as a time when people and life were less complicated; a time when everyone knew their place in society. However, as the film ironically shows, this was a time when people were more ignorant, racist and most certainly sexist. Ross demolishes this illusion of the great 1950s American society by showing how its defects are gradually changed from black and white to colour. Ross shows that ‘change is inevitable’ once a catalyst for change is added to the ordered life of “Pleasantville”. Once David and Mary-Sue begin
What would it feel like living in a world which everyone is same and the life is monotone?In “The Giver”,written by Lois Lowry,there’s a community based on perfection and the citizens who have strict and ethic rules to prevent their community from becoming unethical and unequal.Lowry conveyed her ideas both with in advantages and disadvantages,and the diversity which citizens in the community have lost.
The Giver is considered as a dystopian society because everyone is under the illusion that there is freedom. An example of this is when the text states, “you're ready for the pills, that's all. That’s the treatment for the stirrings.” They can't even have independent thoughts. Medication is given to prevent
The relevant theme shared by both text were sameness and equality. The both community were under the control of Chief or elder. In The Giver the reason Lois Lowry uses the word “sameness rather than “equality” because equality implies that people have certain basic human rights, which in the community in The Giver they didn’t. For example, they didn’t have the freedom to make choices as to who they marry or what job they do. However, since all their experiences throughout their early lives were controlled, they were all besides Jonas and The Giver. “So there will be a whole part of your life which you won’t be able to share with your family. It’s hard Jonas. It was for me.” said by the Giver because he had to sacrifice his life to become the Giver and he knew how hard it felt. In Harrison Bergeron, the government enforces their idea of equality by physically and mentally handicapping citizens. The beautiful must wear hideous masks or disfigure themselves, the graceful and strong must wear weight around their necks at all hours of the day and the intelligent must listen to earsplitting noises that impede their ability to think. “Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else.” In both texts the protagonist try to solve a problem but they had created another problem by sharing it to the other members in the community. Also because they went against the rules and regulation the community were disrupted.
Intro: Lack of knowledge leads to an unjust society. Lack of knowledge is presented much throughout The Giver by Lois Lowry and the film Pleasantville. directed by Gary Ross. In The Giver and Pleasantville both societies share a distinct trait, which is lacking knowledge. In The Giver the citizens don’t have a lot of knowledge and don’t have lots of memories. Also, the society in The Giver is lacking knowledge because they haven’t been exposed to much throughout their lives and haven’t had any memories containing knowledge. In Pleasantville
The lack of color on the television show Pleasantville describes a lot more than our technological advancements, it artistically captures the lack of free will we once had. Breaking free from their shells of self awareness the people of Pleasantville start to display their true colors so to speak. The distinct changes or unusual new found attitudes stirring up inside pleasantville remind myself of our very own past here in the united states over the last century or so.
David and his twin sister Jennifer lead different social lives. Jennifer is a typical blonde, surrounded by her popularity and David is a shy geek that spends most of his time watching television. One evening while their mother is away, they fight over the TV. Jennifer wants to watch a concert, with her date, but David wants to watch a marathon of Pleasantville, a black and white 1950s sitcom about the idyllic Parker family. During the fight, the remote control breaks, and the TV cannot be turned on manually. Before David even has the time to call an electrician, a strange TV repairman man appears at their door. He then proceeds to quizzing David about Pleasantville, then gives him a mysterious remote control. David and Jennifer resume their
A utopian society is to be though of perfect or idealistic. The charcters in the book have no feelings, no choices, and no memories other thhan their own life. The Giver and Jonas are the only two with memories since their job is to be the holder of them and Jonas stops taking his medication to no longer interfearing with his body that gives him feelings. All others do not have any emotional attachments. The community decides all of your life’s plan. They choose your spose, your career, and you are not able to have your own children. If you want children you have to apply and a child will be given to you if you are accepted. The Giver and Jonas are the only ones with memories from the past that go back hundreds before the community was a utopian societ and other communities and how they live. The only memories the people in the community are allowed to have are their own lives but thneir lives are controlled by the committee of elders. This give the people of the community teh benefit of never feeling pain but they have no freedom which is almost as if they live in a comunity with a dictatorship.
David is, at his core, very insecure about who he is in the real world. He uses the show Pleasantville to escape and block this insecurity throughout the movie. In the real world, he is an expert on the show; quizzing his friends on it, watching it instead of going out, and using the noise of the TV to block his parents’ argument. These are all methods of fooling himself into thinking that his life is going well, when in actuality it is not.
Life decisions are what shapes you to who you are. If you were told who to marry, how many children to have, where to live, and what job to have really isn’t living is it? In a world of sameness, everything stays the same and does not change. In The Giver, the story is told through a black and white image, that is until Jonas discovers colors. The receiver and the giver have a hard time connecting with the rest of the community due to being able to see what others cannot. “He found that he was often angry, now: irrationally angry at his groupmates, that they were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on (Lowry, 99).” Jonas starts to get frustrated over the fact that no one else cares about being all the
You are about to experience a brief compare and contrast paper between reality and a fantasy. In which our world is no long a mass chaos but everyone is equal to each other. I am going to compare the book to the movie. Many things are different and most are the same, but i'm going to point of the differences today between the movie and the book.
Lois Lowry’s novel, The Giver, offers a thought provoking, well written story, because it changes the perspective of anyone who dares to read it to. Lowry places her novel, at some point in the future when mankind has gone away with changes and choices in life. She forces readers appreciate, or at least re-think the world they live in today. Her novel presents a fully human created environment where people have successfully blocked out conflict, grief, and individuality. Each person follows the same routine every day. Failure comply with standards, to be different, means death. Jonas, the main character, finds himself trapped in this world.
The film Pleasantville written, directed and produced by Gary Ross shows a time period in American History where life was more comfortable, stable and ‘perfect’ if you would generalise it. However, as the film ironically shows, this was a time when people were more ignorant, racist and most certainly sexist. Ross demolishes this illusion of the great 1950s American society by showing how its defects are gradually changed from black and white to colour. Ross uses various settings to help show the viewer the imperfect aspects of Pleasantville’s