Examples Of Perfection In The Giver

Perfection. At least that’s what they think it is. In The Giver, by Lois Lowry, the community is supposedly “perfect”, where no one knows the truth, except the protagonists, Jonas and The Giver. Jonas’ community is far from perfect and is a dystopian society. They severely punish people for breaking minor rules and in an unfair manner, they take important memories from the citizens, and most importantly they kill babies that don’t meet their standards.

Certain rules can be broken and it isn’t that big of a deal, but in Jonas’ community you can get severely punished. Once you have three transgressions you get released, which means killed. Jonas’ father breaks a rule by looking at the Naming sheet. “His name-- if he makes it to the Naming without being released, of course is to be Gabriel”(12). However, Jonas’ father did not get punished for breaking this rule. His wife, Jonas’ mother, works in the justice department where her job is to punish people for breaking laws. It is unfair that certain people are severely punished for breaking minor rules and other people are not. If it was a utopian society the punishments would be the same for everyone.

You know everything about the past and the present from your life, but the citizens of Jonas’ community don’t. Everything is hidden from them, except for Jonas and The Giver, who have all

the memories of the past. “ ‘I liked the feeling of love,’ he confessed… ‘I wish we still had that’ ” (126). Stolen and gone. Love was taken away from their community just so they could be flawless. No one knows that love ever existed because the committee stole it from the citizens. The committee lacks wisdom because they aren’t making the right choices.

Death does not sound good, nor does the thought of it. Imagine being brought into this world not meeting anyone's standards. That is how life in Jonas’ community is. When you are born and don’t weigh enough, you are killed.“ ‘This one’ he handed one, after rewrapping it, to his assistant ‘is six pounds even’... ‘and you little guy, you’re only five pounds ten ounces. A shrimp!’ ”(148). “His father began very carefully to direct the needle into the top of the newchild’s forehead… the newborn squirmed and wailed faintly… ‘He killed it! My father killed it!’ ”(149-150). The baby didn’t weigh enough so he was killed. Imagine living in that world, where differences are a bad thing. The community is obviously not a utopia because they kill you if you don’t meet their standards.

The committee will do anything to make sure that the community is perfect.

Utopia means a place of perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions. That definition does not match the society in The Giver. The punishment for breaking minor rules is too much for how little the rule is. Certain people get punished for breaking the rules which is unfair. If it was a utopia everything would be the same. They hide the past of your life. The most unbelievable thing is that they kill babies that aren't good enough for them. Shocking, right? Ponder this;, if you lived in a utopian society, do you think would it be like

this?