Obstacles In The Giver

Jonas trusted his community; that was a mistake. He let them do all the thinking; that was a mistake too. However, the biggest mistake that he and his community made was believing that there was such thing as a perfect society. The ceremonies that happen every year up until the age of 12 make sure that everything is the same, from the clothes, to houses to how they talk, no one is different.

The final reason that I think the Giver portrays a dystopian society is their method of release. They may think that they’re sorting out good and bad, but what do they know? If they don’t know anything about love, why should they know about pain, suffering, death, and war? Everyone outside of the releasing room thought their dear friend was going Elsewhere… but the people inside that horrid room witnessed, or committed, the murder of innocents. There were no such things as identical twins; the lighter one would be killed. The people had no perception of death, for all they know that little baby, which just happened to be 3 ounces lighter than his brother, could really be going Elsewhere. Even if they’re traveling there through a garbage chute. Not only children were released though, as Jonas’ mother tells them it can happen to the middle aged too, “‘You know that there’s no third chance. The rules say that if there’s a third transgression, he simply has to be released.’” (pg.9). Some people were so ignorant on the subject that they used the word as a joke, like the speaker when the pilot flew over the town, “NEEDLESS TO SAY, HE WILL BE RELEASED, the voice had said, followed by silence. There was an ironic tone to that final message, as if the Speaker found it amusing…” (pg.2). Who wants to

As humans, we have an emotional depth unlike the people of Jonas' communtiy. Everything is already done for them but with this, there are many flaws such as not feeling love, compassion, empathy, fear, and sadness. One example of having no real depth of feelings is when at the Telling of Feelings session, Lily explains how she “felt” angry when a boy from another community was not following the rules of her community. Jonas’ family reassess this by telling

At the Ceremony of Twelves, the children get their job; they are given a specific job that fits their actions and by where they had spent most of their volunteer hours. Everything is chosen for you, you can’t make a choice that’s important by yourself, and someone else is to choose for you. The Release of the Old and the Release of some of the unfortunate infants may seem very benign but it isn’t. Other folk believe Release to Elsewhere would nice but what they think is wrong. The workers actually use a syringe and inject fluids into the innocent elder, infant, or voluntary victim to kill them. Jonas’ father had to Release the innocent twin brother because he was identical but was smaller than his sibling. Jonas believes that the people that Release others have no feelings; that they have no regard that they are killing an innocent life just because they were born that way or that they were getting too old.

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?

Death, for example, is treated with a casual irreverence, turning from a tragedy into simply another function to be used in the Community. The killing of another human being is surprisingly common within Jonas's world, though it's not immediately understandable to the reader. All death is couched in different, more pleasant terms – Loss, for the tragic accidents, and Release, when the death of a human being is deliberately invoked. It should be said that Release is a far more common element within the Community, used for punishment, population control, or even simply to reduce inconvenience within the society. The horror of Release does not dawn upon Jonas – and subsequently the reader – until Jonas's father is witnessed killing the smaller

Jonas is just another member of his community. He spends his life following the rules that his community has imposed him. In all his life, he has blindly followed the rules and has never questioned them. For that reason, it comes to a shock when he receives new instructions that go against everything he has been taught:

Jonas has to learn more about death and pain than he already has. Death was something that wasn’t talked about in the community. The community “releases” members when they are old or if there is a set of twins or something wrong with a baby. Release is something celebrated within the community. Jonas had no idea that what release really means is to murder someone. He watches the release of a baby boy who was part of a set of twins born into the community. His father is the one performing this release because his father is a nurturer. This knowledge left Jonas devastated and in shock that his father could do something so terrible. He leaves the Giver’s and tells him that he can no longer continue receiving the memories. He takes a few days and collects himself. Fiona, his childhood friend talks him into to going back. Love is another emotion new to Jonas. He falls in love with Fiona. Falling in love is a big step that usually happens in adulthood. Another thing Jonas does that proves his progression in maturity is he decides to leave the community. When you grow up, you leave your mom and dad’s house which is how I connected this part of Jonas’ life with that of a real life

One reason why Jonas hates this community is because of the rules. If you make one small mistake, you can get in serious trouble, also known as being released (killed). “ When an unidentified aircraft had overflown the community twice….Needless to say, he will be released.” (pg. 13) This suggests that the rules in the society can have a major impact on someone if they make just a slight error. The fact that the person did not follow the directions well enough and got killed is appalling. These unpleasant and ridiculous rules support a dystopian novel because they show how unpleasant living in this community can be.

Jonas’s community is a dystopia because the citizens have no choices. For instance, in The Giver it states that seven year old girls have to wear hair ribbons in their hair. Because of this they are not allowed to go anywhere without the hair ribbons in their hair. Another example is that the children need to do all of their voluntary hours. In the text it states that they have to do the voluntary hours in order to receive the ceremony of Twelves. Meaning that if they didn’t do enough hours of voluntary work then they could not

This community is a place where everything is chosen by the elderly. Jonas is a young kid that seems different, at the same time feeling so much like all the other kids in the community. Jonas does all the things all the other kids in his community do, share feelings, take stirrings, dress the same, so how could he be any different? All of his questions come into perspective after the ceremony of the twelves. Jonas was very apprehensive about this ceremony.

In the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry Jonas’s society and the American society have different ways of viewing death and families. Death very misunderstood in Jonas’s society. They celebrate death and think it is a joyous occasion. The government controls when you die and kills you by lethal injection. Death in babies and children are not celebrated.

In Jonas' society some rules and punishments are that you have to ride a bike or walk. Vehicles with engines are out of the ordinary. When they see a plane they panic and go inside (pg. 1,2). They also pick people in society's wife or husband for them.

Has anyone ever met a society with extremely strict laws? If they have not then they have never heard of Jonas’ society. In the book The Giver, by Lois Lowry, there is a society that is very harsh when it comes to rules and tries to be a utopian society. An adolescent named Jonas receives the job of the Receiver of Memory. This job shows how the strictness of rules limit their civilization, how far the society goes when it comes to rules, and how the society limits their knowledge of the truth.

“‘And when did we, in the past? Did my parents have sleds when they were young? Did you? (page 83).’ ” This means Jonas is realizing that there is other weather and communities than theres. This matters because now Jonas is more intelligent about his surroundings outside of the community.