The Giver Comparative Essay

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What is a utopia to you? Is it a place where weapons are removed, as well as parks and beaches scattering the community, or is it where everyone must follow a strict schedule to keep the utopia orderly? Both M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village and Lois Lowry’s The Giver both attempt to create utopian societies. While they are very different in what they see as a utopian society, they both present the themes secrecy and corruption.
They both isolate themselves, which is the reason I chose the theme secrecy. The Village utopia lives in an old pioneer style even though it is during modern times, in a forest. They are enclosed within by a wall, which beyond that is a nature reserve, where the rest of civilization resides. With the community of The Giver, they are in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of miles away from any civilization. They live a more advanced lifestyle than current times and don’t allow anyone to “spy” on their utopia. This is clearly shown, as it is “against the rules for Pilots to fly over the community.” (1) They also hide secrets from the people in the community. When a boy named Jonas from The Giver discovers how people are “released.” It is stated he “felt a ripping sensation inside himself, the feeling of terrible pain clawing its way forward to emerge in a cry.” (154) Hiding secrets never does good for …show more content…

Something that occurs in both utopias is that there is always one person that discovers secrets of the community. The Giver utopia becomes corrupted because that one person doesn’t like how it is and wants to change it. Jonas discovers secrets of his utopia and asks “what should [he] do? [He] can’t go back! [He] can’t!”(157). He soon breaks the laws of the community to completely change it. In The Village, it’s different, as a girl named Ivy discovers secrets but oddly, does nothing to try and change her community. The two communities are both utopias, but one succeeds at staying as a

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