Examples Of Totalitarianism In The Giver

Everyone was once thought that the Jonas’ society was the most brilliant place in the universe. No war nor death could be found there. In the most extreme case, in order to protect people there to be having a right choice, the way for them to achieve it was not by education, but to restrict them from choosing. Do you want to be living in such a place without the freedom of choice? I guess no one does. Therefore, I learned that freedom is also an important element to build up a balanced community.

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

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

In today’s society there are many authors who write dystopian novels. They write these novels to give knowledge and to tell how our world is very different from dystopian life. Lois Lowry shows readers how people can suffer in dystopian society. In The Giver, Jonas’ community appears to be a utopia, but in reality it is a dystopia because everyone is under the illusion that there is freedom, dehumanization, and their strict regulations.

To most kids in our society, the changes in Jonas’s world would be difficult to accept because we in America value our freedom to choose and to voice our desires. Did the creator’s of Jonas’s community truly improve society as we know it today?

Have you ever heard of or read the book “The Giver” by Lois Lowry? The book is about a boy named Jonas living in a world of Sameness. In “The Giver”, the government system in Jonas’ Community is totalitarian because their government (called the Committee of Elders) controls every aspect of the civilians’ lives, shapes them from birth to be the same, and even goes so far as to dehumanize them.

While they didn’t have to deal with any of these problems and society today couldn’t imagine a life without these key factors to help with their decision making and everyday life, the people in The Giver have never had any of these things so they easily adapt to their way of life. Although living a life without color, or love, or even a real family seems harsh, a life without homeless people; or pain; or hunger introduces a new perspective about a complete different society, this society can be found in The Giver. While reading the novel the protagonist, Jonas, articulated throughout the book his questions he had about his society including “Or what if… they chose their own jobs?” (124) or in his thoughts he thought to himself “He killed it! My father killed it!”

He sees that the people have neither freedom nor choice over their actions; they see in monochrome and cannot enjoy life’s emotions such as happiness, love, and sadness. The people have no individual souls and are not living a life of fullness. Thus, a manipulated utopia is not a utopia at all and Jonas grows increasingly disgusted at the daily proceedings of a supposedly perfect society; which is the reason why he chooses to rebel against it. It must be remembered that to maintain a utopia in the status quo, all of the previous criterion should be met, as emotions must be dulled, and thoughts must be strictly governed in order to maintain a social synonymy. By today’s standards, such a

Such as the utopian society could have evil dictators, just like in the past. For example, in The Giver their community is run by the Committee of Elders, and they make all the rules, so there is no democracy. The novel states that on page 80. In Jonas’s society you can not pick your spouse or job. People have lost their freedom in the past, and it could happen again.

A dystopian novel is a subgenre that means the protagonist and his/her friends are living in an environment that is not a good place to live (ie a desert or in a dictatorship.) Sometimes the world they live in is fine but there is an authoritarian regime that is in power at the time that the book or movie takes place. They usually want to make the protagonists’ lives worse than it already is in the society. The Fire sermon is about a character named Cass who wants two groups of people called the Omegas and the Alphas be equal. She tries to find other omegas and form a resistance.

By definition totalitarianism means “ a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state” according to Google. Jonas’ community implements this type of government by the community having everything to do with rules. They practically have to be perfect in order to stay alive. In the novel if they break a rule you get chastised and also if you collect three mistakes you get released. The citizens of the community get virtually no freedom. I believe a life without freedom is not a life worth living. Another thing to take into consideration is the citizens don’t really know anything else besides Jonas and The Giver. If I were in the citizens situation I would not rebel and stay put so I would not be released.

Imagine not being able to choose freely, to not be able to pick what color shirt you want to wear in the morning. Well in Lois Lowry’s The Giver people don’t have the right to choose what shirt or pair of pants they want to wear. They have no rights, no power, and no freedom. The committee of elders in the community have taken everything away from them to have a “utopian” society.

I think that the world of the giver would be a dystopia because everything in there world is not perfect. For example, they kill babies if they don’t achieve a certain level of health or weight. Another example is they can’t choose anything for themselves or they can’t make any decisions on their own. My last example is that they don’t have any pain, illness, or even any feelings. My first reason why it’s a dystopia, they kill babies if their not healthy enough.

The concept of totalitarianism is first developed by the Italian fascists, primarily Giovanni Amendola in the 1920's. Totalitarianism is the total claim that totalitarian regimes make on their population (Arendt, 1973). In this context, totalitarianism is best described as an ideology that is against human rights where the way superior governs a state is only advantageous to only one party; who is the ruler. This is because the society has a limited access of freedom and there is no choice in making decisions because all control of public and private life is government-run without the conformity or will by the society. Terror is the main control tactic to govern the state without diplomacy being used.