A Perfect Day Analysis

Both in the novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and the poem, "A Perfect Day" by Carrie Jacobs-Bond, themes of Utopia and the changing of ideas of the ideal are presented in many ways. Utopia is generally used to describe an ideal, or perfect place and as shown in The Giver, Sameness in the community is used and maintained as a form of their Utopia. The concept of joy in "A Perfect Day” can also be viewed as perfection with how only someone’s happiness is important and joy is always felt. Utopia tends to last temporarily and has been -and still is- not achievable due to different ideals and beliefs clashing together in the process of creating it. This type of destruction happens to the ideals in both the novel and poem as the story progresses.

In The Giver by Lois Lowry, everyone accepts Sameness with how there is no conflict and everything is equal. Furthermore, the strictness of Sameness even goes as far as flattening all hills and mountains, keeping and maintaining all ages with certain rules and responsibilities, and taking away every person in the community’s feelings and emotions. However, by having everyone be the same, conflicts about differences can be avoided, and the government can
remain in power. People in the community also do not question their situation, leading to Sameness act as a Utopia for everyone. As the story continues, however, Jonas, who has been chosen as the new Receiver of Memories, learns about what the world was like before everything was the same.

By being introduced to the new memories, and by enjoying and wishing for the past to return, Jonas soon begins to question and detest the concept of “Sameness” itself.

Once he learned that there were colors that no one else but him and The Giver can see, he also starts to ask questions such as “Why can’t everyone see them?” Also, after seeing a memory reflecting the feeling of “Love”, Jonas then announces “I still wish we had it… I do understand that it wouldn’t work very well. And that it’s much better to be organized the way we are now. I can see it was a dangerous way to live… Still, I did like the light they made. And the warmth.” This thought shows that even though there can be more conflicts by giving emotions to everyone, and even if it can be dangerous, Jonas believes that it is better to survive through that type of world than one where the government makes everyone be the same.

Joy in “A Perfect Day” by Carrie Jacobs-Bond, can also be described as a form of Utopia with how the speaker views happiness as perfection. For example, the speaker’s original view of Utopia was based on living life to the fullest to achieve his/her own happiness. Although, by looking over and depending on joy, the speaker was not able to acknowledge

or

see the consequences of his/her choices.

Once the thought “Do you think what the end of a perfect day/ Can mean to a tired heart?” is asked, the speaker then starts to realize that there is always an end to everything. By realizing this, the speaker also learns that you can not be happy forever, which is shown when he/she talks about dear friends parting at the end of a perfect day. Near the end of the poem, the speaker begins to look over all of his/her memories, appreciating both the good and bad. The speaker also says “For mem’ry has painted this perfect day,/ With colors that never fade,/ And we find, at the end of a perfect day,/ The soul of a friend we’ve made.” It is apparent that the speaker has changed by accepting the fact that their limit is near and that the end is never truly “the end.” The fact that new and old friends will remember him/her proves that he/she has made an impact on their lives, as well as their death at the end of the

poem.