Examples Of Dystopian In The Giver

In the novel ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry, a community is created, it is quite a divergent society of people where pain, war, and hardship have been eradicated. The question; ‘Is the community created in ‘The Giver’ utopian or dystopian?’ doesn’t have a straightforward answer. At the beginning of the book, the community is presented as utopian, but later in the story, the book reveals that something is wrong with this supposedly faultless society. The community of ‘The Giver’ could be regarded as utopian as it is crime free, hardship free, and everyone is treated equally. However, the reader is acknowledged through the main character (Jonas) that the people of the community live in a world without the delightful things in life, without being able to make choices of their own. The world they live in has no humanity and they are controlled, almost as if they are living in a virtual world.

They are trapped inside this community, not knowing that there are many other places and things in the world. This is shown when the Giver tells Jonas about memories of the whole world, and Jonas replies with “the whole world? I don’t understand.” It is evident that he does not know there is a whole world out there, neither do any other members of the community. Furthermore, as those in the community have been blocked from experiencing the exciting things in life – extreme happiness, sadness, love, hate, grief, bereavement, rain, rainbows, and different cultures, their lives are extremely stereotyped and