Miles Friedman

10/14/16

How the Elders Have Power

Imagine a community where there is no difference and the leaders use sameness to have and maintain power. This is what the community is like in The Giver by Lois Lowry. Jonas is a twelve year old boy who lives an ordinary life until he becomes the Receiver of Memory. He receives this job at the Ceremony of the Twelves where all children that are twelve receive a job in the community. Jonas receives his training from the Giver who is the previous receiver of memory. During Jonas’s training with The Giver, he realizes that there is a lot more to his community than he previously knew. The Elders are the leaders of the community, and they are hiding information about life from the whole town, including information about the outside world. The Elders used many tools to keep its citizens in order and maintain a utopia. Two ways they did this are by making complete sameness in the community, and getting rid of all the difference they can find.

One of the tools used by the Elders to maintain order was sameness. Jonas understands that the rules of the community are very strict and straightforward. Most of the rules are about sameness. For example, children are raised the same, everyone wears the same cloths, and the whole society dresses the same. In Jonas’s community it is considered rude and uncomfortable to talk about difference. At one point Jonas says, “Always better, less rude, to talk about things that were the same,” (Lowry p. 38). This quote shows that it is rude to point out differences in people. This quote also shows that it is very uncomfortable to talk about difference. It can be uncomfortable to talk about differences because it is recognized as a terrible thing. It is recognized as a terrible thing because difference is supposed to be eliminated in Jonas’s community. Jonas’s community has almost forgotten what difference is. Although Jonas’s community strives for sameness there is still some difference in it. Jonas’s community has lost so much by removing differences.

Another means of maintaining a utopia for the elders was eliminating difference. In eliminating difference, Jonas’s community has become bland. Without differences Jonas’s community has lost individuality, the positive, unexpected aspects of life, and all color. Because of the lack of difference, Jonas’s community is predictable and boring. One way that it is predictable and boring is that they do not even have differences in color. One day the Giver explained this to Jonas, “‘We relinquished color when we relinquish sunshine and did away with differences.’ He thought for a moment. ‘We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others,’” (Lowry, p. 82). This quote shows that Jonas is learning the story of his community and how the Elders made choices about what they believed was best for their community. Although the Elders believe they made the right choices, their choices led to losing good things. The decision to take away difference led to power for the Elders. No one in the community knows how to make a choice for themselves and the people have to look to the Elders for choices. The Elders want to keep the people in the community powerless by removing differences in the community.

The Elders’ goal of this community is to be in control of everything. They also do this by keeping everything absolutely the same and eliminating all difference and wrongs in the community that  people could use to question their authority. Pointing out any differences is considered rude or damaging because it takes away from the Elders’ power.  Individuals are not allowed to make choices, leaving the Elders to become almost like dictators of the mind. This power almost makes the Elders radical. In this book, Lowry shows us that sameness may look a good choice, but it actually can lead to even bigger problems for the community. People become almost robotic followers of the rules. The people become easier to control and the Elders’ power gets considerably bigger. This is why it is important in a community to allow for different voices to be heard and a true democracy can flourish. People can learn to think for themselves as thoughtful human beings. This kind of leadership is what a dictatorship is. 

This is my Giver Essay. We spent about a month on it and I am very proud of it. I am proud of it because I worked very hard on it. I also feel proud of it because I got stuck a couple of times and I got through it also I got good grades.