A Character-Drien Dystopia--The Giver
...what it is. This feeling of empathy is increased greatly when he sees the recording on his father releasing Gabriel. Lowry’s utopian setting draws us into the emotional climax when Gabriel is released. At first the community seems so simple. All the complexities that plague our lives is expunged. The community’s climate is controlled, people wear the same clothes, evenings are filled with the same routines, professions are chosen for the people. Then, when we see Gabriel murdered, or as the community euphemistically puts it, released, we are horrified that this simple existence could be capable of doing something so horrible. We rode the same emotional roller coaster that Jonas did during the transference of memories, but our emotions soar to new heights with this scene. Everything that Lowry set up becomes a lie. Jonas’s father lies, and his affect belies his real actions. Jonas can’t handle the realization that life is not as simple as it appeared; his newfound grasp of real emotions causes him to rebel. We are right with him, appalled at what this society is capable of doing. Like most science fiction stories, stories of utopias/dystopias in particular, The Giver has modern societal issues embedded in the story. Permeating the story is the idea of being different and possessing a self-identity. The society’s geneticists have changed people so that everybody is the same, a theory called Sameness. Sameness strips identity from people; nobody makes their own choices in the society. The elders chooses what people will wear, what people are allowed to do, what people should learn, what jobs people have. This is so everybody looks at everybody in the same way. Lowry is making a social commentary of today’s society. We are hung up on differences. We place labels on people based on race, religion, gender, nationality, etc. Instead of differentiating people because of their differences, we should be celebrating. Our culture would be bleak if everybody were the same, like the community in the novel was. We should be proud that we have the diversification that makes our society colorful. Otherwise, we would have the same lackluster one in which Jonas lived. 2. Questions 1. Most books of utopias/dystopias make a commentary on modern life. What is Lowry trying to say about our society? What social commentary does she make? 2. Jonas’ community places much attention on the precision of language. Yet, when Jonas asks his father about love, his father tells him that word is imprecise. Do you feel our words for emotions are weak ones because they are imprecise, or are they strong ones? 3. Is life in Jonas’ community better than the one we have in our society? Why or why not? 4. What are the possible endings for The Giver? Choose one, and explain why you believe that to be the “correct” ending. 5. What evidence do we have that shows that the society in The Giver is no better than the one in which we live? 6. What does Jonas do that makes the Giver decide to he...