Dystopian Places In The Giver

The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is a dystopian narrative about a boy who lives in a “utopia” where there is order and, everything is controlled. He alone must contain memories of the past. Unfortunately, many of these memories are traumatic and disturbing. Jonas can do nothing beyond withstanding the pain. Because that is how it had always been in the community. As often paraphrased by the Giver, who is the one giving Jonas the memories, "And back and back and back.”(62) This quote shows how there is nothing that The Giver or Jonas can do apart from accept tradition.

What is The Giver you may ask? The Giver is a 1993 American young adult dystopian novel by Lois Lowry. The Giver takes place in an advanced society which seems to be a utopian but ends up being a dystopian as the story ends. There's a 12-year-old boy named Jonas. Their communities eliminated pain and strife by converting everyone to become so called “equal", they also removed emotional feelings like love. Jonas is selected to become the Receiver of Memory which is the person who stores all the past memories of the time before everyone was equal. There may be times where one must receive the wisdom gained from history to help the community's decision making. Jonas has trouble with concepts of all the new emotions and things introduced to him:

The Giver Simply, a dystopia is defined as a bad place, a place where no one would want to live, a place in which one's rights and freedoms would be gone, a place where the environment would be devastated. Dystopia is created from the Greek prefix “dis” meaning bad, harsh, or wrong and the Greek root “topos” meaning place. The Giver proves all of these characteristics true. Jonas and his community receive no freedom or pain.

Not only does Jonas live in a community with dehumanization, he lives in a civilization that has strict regulations. An example of this is on page 84, “climate control snow made growing food difficult, limited the agricultural periods. And unpredictable weather made transportation almost impossible at times. It wasn't a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to sameness.” Climate control is a type of sameness, the concept of sameness is an important goal, Jonas enjoys this memory and asks the Giver why he doesn't use his power to bring back the hills and the snow. In fact the memory he is sharing is from generations back, so climate control has been around for a long time. Furthermore Lois Lowry states on page 22, “Three years,” Mother told her firmly. “Three births and that's all. After that they are Laborers for the rest of their adult lives, until the day that they enter the House of the Old.” The elders have controlled the society by removing family connections and loyalty. In addition the author claims in paragraph 2, “There was never any comfortable way to mention or discuss

In The Giver, by Lois Lowry, main character Jonas is assigned to be the receiver of memory in a utopian world with no weather, pain, color, feeling, or choice. As the receiver of memory, Jonas has to take in all of the pain and beauty that once lived in the world before “Sameness” is introduced, such as cold, war, and even christmas memories. When child Gabriel is in danger of death due to lack of growth, Jonas decides to run away with the child. Jonas and his teacher, also known as the previous receiver of memory or the Giver organize a plan for Jonas’s escape over the sameness border, carrying Gabe along the way, and setting free all memories back to the community, destroying sameness.

In the book The Giver, it tells the story of a perfect world. Everyone there is happy and feels no pain. As the story progresses, the society appears more and more dystopian as the main goal of the society is revealed, which is sameness.() The community is constantly observed and controlled by every aspect in their lives. The committee assigns jobs, housing, husbands, wives, and children. If found breaking any of these laws, people are “released”, an indirect term for murdering. When Jonas is 12 years old, he 's chosen to be the community 's Receiver of Memory. Once he enters into training with an old man called 'The Giver ', he begins to receive memories of the real world that the rest of the community is hidden from. As the giver begins to show Jonas the important memories, he learns not only of love and family, but also of pain, war, and all the unhappy

In the dystopian society, which jonas lives people are confined by the unfair strict orders. Everyday people were expected to follow the rules and go about their life that way. Following the same routine everyday with everything being “perfect”. These rules didn’t allow individuals to think, speak, or do what they choose. It didn’t entitle people to their freedom. For example the author states “It was against the rules for children or adults to look at another’s nakedness; but the rule did not apply to new children or the Old. Jonas was glad. . . . He couldn’t see why it was necessary. He liked the feeling of safety here in this warm and quiet room; he liked the expression of trust on the woman’s face as she lay in the water unprotected, exposed, and free”(Lowry 24). The woman represents the society’s lack of freedom. It represents this because this is the one time the old woman

Joana’s gets an assignment of the Receiver of Memory. He meets the old Receiver, The Giver who shows him beyond his society and gives him memories of our society. The good and bad. Eventually The Giver and Jonas come up with a plan to escape, so the community can receive the memories Jonas has. Although the society in The Giver is, in some ways, similar to modern society, the differences in feelings, choice, and individuality between the societies make The Giver's society a true dystopia.

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 book The Giver by Lois Lowry takes place in a very futuristic society where there's no pain, war, concern or hate. Their society has eliminated memory all at once. Jonas, the eleven year old protagonist of the book, he is intelligent and sensitive. He has weird powers of perception that he does not perceive. Jonas is chosen to be the new receiver of memory once he turns twelve. Even before Jonas starts his coaching to become the receiver, he's thoughtful and has abundant concern for his family and friends. When he begins his coaching, Jonas’s universe becomes more advanced. His new awareness of lovely colors, robust emotions, and suffering makes him terribly addicted to the globe around him and also the happiness of individuals he loves. Jonas experiences emotional growth as a result of the memories he receives from the Giver, however that very same emotional growth makes him feel anxious and angry.

The Giver strives to be a utopian society but the still can’t be perfect. The Giver is a book with the main character being Jonas, Jonas has no last name; however, no one else had the last name in their society. The Giver is a Dystopian because they get their memories erased, they are all equal, and they get assigned jobs when they are 12.

The Giver Imagine a world without freedom, love, or color. Jonas, the protagonist in, The Giver experiences this everyday. Comparing Jonas’s society to modern day society you can tell that they have very little in common. Their society is trying to create sameness to keep from making bad choices, but is that worth the risk, trying to make a dystopian society into a utopian society?

Jonas discovers what is really beyond his community, beyond all the rules and policies they have to follow; he decides to leave and give all of his memories to the rest of the community so they would know about what they have not seen or experienced before. Jonas discovers that the community has decided too many things for everyone. He realizes Sameness is not right, that it cannot last any longer. He thinks of all the what-ifs. What if the Elders choose a wrong spouse? What if the Elders choose the wrong job for someone?

The dystopian novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry is about a boy called Jonas becoming the new Receiver-of-Memories. Throughout the novel, the protagonist, Jonas matures as knowledge is gained, and begins to understand the deepest, and darkest secrets of the community he lives in that is seemly 'perfect'. The author has successfully analysed a variety of social issues present in today's modern world in the novel. Some issues implied are: lack of individuality which allows for easy control, the abandonment of emotions and the importance of memories.

What if in our world we were all lied too, just so you could be protected by the awful memories and events that occurred in the past? Well, in the book The Giver by Lois Lowry, the protagonist Jonas lives in a life full of lies. The most important differences between utopian society in The Giver and dystopian society are families, ceremonies, and release.