Dystopia The Giver

    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.

Jonas’ community appears to be a utopia, but, in reality, it is a dystopia. The people seem perfectly content to live in an isolated wreck—in a government run by a select few—in which a group of Elders enforces the rules. In Jonas’ community, there is no poverty, starvation, unemployment, lack of housing, or discrimination; everything is perfectly planned to eliminate any problems. However, as the book progresses and Jonas gains insight into what the people have willingly given up—their freedoms and individualities—for the so-called common good of the community, it becomes more and more obvious that the community is a horrible place in which to live. You as a reader can relate to the disbelief and horror that Jonas feels when he realizes

The Giver shows the ideology of a dystopian theme as it has the citizens being controlled by the authority. Members of the community are being watched by The Community so that they will not perform anything that hurts the population. For example, “”you know that there’s no third-chance”. The rules say that if there is a third transgression, he simply has to be released.” is quote said Jonas’s mother while sharing her experience that day. In this quote The Community is empowered and regulates every community member to be the way they want them to be; perfect. “Attention. A reminder Stirrings must be reported in order for treatment to take place. “”Jonas you HAVE to take your pills!””is another quote in The Giver. In this quote both the Community

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.

Lois Lowry’s The Giver is set in a futuristic, dichotomous society, one that is both utopian and dystopian. In response to the overwhelming destruction and chaos in the world, the Elders have attempted to create and maintain a peaceful and orderly utopia, but this security comes at a price. The citizens of the community have sacrificed their individuality and freedom. Although most adult members have some knowledge of the hypocrisies involved, they choose to perpetuate the deception, allowing the community, as a whole, to continue on blissful ignorance. When young Jonas is confronted with all the truths of the present and all the memories of the past, he must choose for himself

The Giver describes a society in search of perfection, which is a recurring theme in literature. Somebody in Jonas’s society decided that eliminating or limiting choices and feeling, among other things, would ultimately create a perfect place in which to live. By eliminating and/or limiting choices and feelings, the creators were able to implement Sameness, which would then provide a conflict-less environment in which to exist.

Envision a society of order and perfection: no danger, no pain, and no war. All the communities are closely bonded together and there is no fear for the future. Peace and order surrounds the world, and everyone is blinded by this utopian country, inhibiting the true clear vision needed. Though it seems perfect, many of humanity’s rights must be taken away in order to attain and stabilize this hierarchy. Simplistic aspects in the world like vivid colors, beautiful music, and passionate love have been stripped from the population leaving everyone empty and blind. In The Giver by Louis Lowry, the utopian community is questioned and ultimately has to be destroyed by a true hero, Jonas, who sacrifices in order to give humanity back the human rights. By removing love, colors, and music, the community was able to gain control over pain and conflict; but as seen in Lowry’s book, this perfection has its price and has its consequences on the population causing lack of knowledge of the outside world, the lack of knowledge of the past, and lack of experience of the choices made.

Through our society we are all raised up to be independent and unique individuals such as being ourselves and expressing who each of us are to the world. However, in the book The Giver by Lois Lowry, everyone is raised to count on one another and everyone must look and act the same. Our society differs from Jonas’s in many ways, such as the family units, birthdays, and the way we each learn about our past.

Dystopia is defined as being a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding. Dystopian is also considered to be about futuristic societies that have degraded into repressed and controlled states. Dystopian literature uses cautionary tones warning us that if we continue to live the way we do, this can be the consequence. A Dystopia is contrary of a utopia (a world where everything is perfect) and often characterized by an authoritarian or totalitarian form of government. Dystopias usually feature different kinds of oppressive, socially controlled systems and a lack of or total absence of individual freedoms and expressions, and in incessant state

The community in The Giver is a dystopia because of the lack of uniqueness , sameness, and complete control of the entire community .

In the novel, “The Giver,” the writer, Lois Lowry, reflects many characteristic of Jonas’s society, some of which will be different to our society. For example, one aspect of Jonas’s community that is unlike to ours are rules and laws when it comes to sharing feeling at dinner and sharing dreams in the morning with the family. This contrast can be proven when the author writes in chapter 1 on page 5, “Nor did Jonas, tonight. His feelings were too complicated this evening, he wanted to share them but wasn’t eager to begin the process of sifting through his own complicated and his own emotions.” This quote prove that differences between the two societies.

Lois Lowry’s paradoxical novel The Giver follows Jonas, a young boy living in the safety of his controlling community. Although his community appears to be perfect, it is soon revealed that the people of his community are living meaningless, controlled lives. This is shown as they have lost all compassion and knowledge of the past, there is no individuality in their lives and they do not feel any love. After receiving many memories of the world, Jonas discovers that there is more to his life than what his fellow Community members have been living. “They were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on. And he was angry at himself, that he could not change that for them.” This leads the Community members to live like robots instead of human beings.

In our English class we read “The Giver”. Usually novels that are obligatory at school tend to be boring or too technical, but honestly this novel was different. I loved it. From the first chapter I wanted to continue till the end. I was mesmerized by the core topic and once we analyzed it, that’s when I decided I would choose this as my written task topic.

“Perhaps the greatest utopia would be if we could all realize that no utopia is possible; no place to run, no place to hide, just take care of business here and now” (Carroll). In the story, The Giver by Lois Lowry, you follow a boy named Jonas who lives in a community that seems like a utopia, but is really dystopia. In this Jonas is specially chosen to become a receiver, who holds all of the memories from the past, that people in the community don’t know about, like snow and war. Even though things may seem perfect in the community in The Giver, it actually isn’t, things in this community are actually dystopian, seeing how people have no choice or freedom and people are getting controlled by the sort of leaders of the community, the Elders.

The novel, “The Giver” by Lois Lowry, will make readers experience a range of emotions . This story contains many unique ideas and makes you think about the society that Jonas lives in. 12-year old Jonas lives in a dystopian disguised as a utopia. When Jonas is chosen as the new “Receiver of Memories”, he starts to understand the true reality of his world. Jonas’s character keeps you intrigued since you can slowly see his character develop as he starts to really see.