Giver Essay
Imagine if you were told everything you knew was wrong. This is the Giver, by Lois Lowry. In the Giver, a boy named Jonas as he discovers he has lived a lie.. Jonas must keep the huge secret from his family and friends. The fact that the world is imperfect. Through the story Jonas’s world becomes turned upside down, and never again will he look at the world the same. This society is a dystopia because Elders keep people in the dark, and don’t allow uniqueness and difference, which is true imperfection.
To keep the community a utopia, the Elders choose everything that everyone does. The Elders keep everything perfect through daily rituals, releasing those who do bad, and only they know what the world is truly like, giving them the power to do anything they want. The utopia hides everyone from pain and imperfection. When Jonas sees the truth, what the world is truly like, he then comes home and sees his family laughing and he thinks: “They have never known pain,” (Pg.94) This is important because he’s finally realizing that Elders are only trying to keep the community perfect, while they are only blinding the citizens from the real world. The Elders keep everyone in the dark, keeping them ignorant and keeping things in check. Jonas is now realizing that the place he lives in may not just be not a utopia, but maybe even a dystopia.
Jonas’s community is a dystopia because of the terrible things those in power do to those in the community. Jonas’s community is a dystopia hidden in a “perfect” place. The Elders actually have these poor people living in a dystopia. While the Elders mean well and keep everyone out of harm, if there is the rare case that someone gets hurt, it would scar them. “He fell with his leg twisted under him, and could hear the crack of bone.” (Pg.93)
This is one of Jonas’s memories of pain. The Giver shows this to him, partially to remind him that the world isn’t perfect, but also to prepare him for the pain of the truth. The fact that there is no such things as perfect, and that the world is not a pretty place. Jonas can see things clearly and realizes that perfect doesn’t exist. He understands the world better and has as much power as the Elders. All he needed was the truth.
Jonas’s society is simply an illusion. Not perfect, but imperfect. A dystopia. The Elders attempt to keep citizens safe, by hiding them from the truth that would destroy them to see. The community has dug itself in a hole that they can never dig themselves out of. Is being perfect worth hiding people from the truth? The community ruins people’s lives without the people even knowing. The people are like puppets, and the Elders are the puppeteers. In the end, after you see all the terrible things the Elders do, can you really call it a utopia, or can you see the truth?