The Giver Vs Pleasantville Analysis

Perfection is something that people have been trying to achieve since the beginning of humankind. The Giver and Pleasantville are two of the many fictional societies that try to reach this so-called perfection. Both societies limit or eliminate differences and freedoms of their fellow citizens. This usually leads to the downfall of a society, making it a dystopia. The Giver has ideals such as no bad weather and hard decisions are made for the citizens while Pleasantville has no extreme weather. Issues like fire are practically non-existent. In both stories, the protagonists reject their society by breaking laws. The communities in The Giver and Pleasantville have their similarities and differences, making each society one-of a kind.

In The

Giver, there are many ideals but as the story goes on, readers and the protagonist, Jonas, start to see the flaws that are embedded, and eventually reject the society. “‘Why don’t we have snow…he asked[Jonas] ‘Climate Control. Snow made growing food difficult , limited the agricultural period [The Giver]’” [Lowry 83] Jonas and the Giver both talk about why there is no snow in the society and the Giver tells him because it left humans at a disadvantage. Some may consider this an ideal because without snow or extreme weather, people can grow food without issues. This means that more food is produced which reduces the amount of people starving. With the help of the memories given to Jonas by the Giver, he starts to see major flaws in his community. “The next morning, for the first time, Jonas did not take his pill. Something within him, something that had grown there through the memories, told him to throw the pill away.” The pills that Jonas did not swallow are pills that are supposed to be taken every day. This is one of the major rules. So Jonas not taking this pill means he is breaking a law established by the society, in other words, he is rejecting his society. This rejection reveals one of the many major themes: blindly following rules. In Jonas’ society, no one questions the rules that have been established. Hence, they are blindly following the rules without knowing if they are harming someone or themselves. This is an issue that Lowry addresses and uses her novel to spread the message: people should not follow laws without understanding them and sometimes questioning them.
Bud, the hero of Pleasantville, is another character that realizes the flaws of his society through the perfections that exists. One scene in the film shows one ideal: When Bud goes to play basketball with his peers are school. He notices that none of them miss a basket when they try to score a point, even if they try. This is impossible in modern-day society and this scene shows that everything is always ‘perfect’. Another event is when the audience sees that firefighters do not fight fires, but they rescue kittens because fire does not exist in Pleasantville. The audience and Bud begin to realize that catastrophes such as forest fires do not exist. The weather in Pleasantville is always 72 degrees Fahrenheit. In one’s society, that is considered ideal temperature. This means that extreme weather, like snowstorms, do not exist. This perfection is similar to The Giver because they do not have extreme weather as well. But as each ideal is revealed, flaws begin to pop up everywhere. Things such as freedom are limited, making the protagonist reject his society. When Bud helps the Soda Shop owner paint a mural on the wall in Main street. They do this right after the law that colors cannot be used, is passed. This shows Bud rejecting his society by breaking laws. And when Bud declines society, the viewers begin to see a major theme, which is similar to The Giver: blindly following rules and the consequences. The citizens of Pleasantville just follow the rules without truly understanding why they exist. This oppresses the civilians. Another theme that is shown through this scene is not being afraid to try new things. The residents are do not paint with colors because they are afraid. This fear limits what they can do overall decreasing the amount of enjoyable moments in life. There are multiple perfections in Pleasantville but these ideals show the flaws that are hidden, causing Bud to reject his society.
Both communities have their ideals but the protagonists reject their society by breaking important rules. It is important to understand what exactly a dystopia is and what factors create one. Though there are enjoyable and ‘prefect’ factors in Pleasantville and in The Giver, it is very important to see the flaws that are buried deep inside. These societies may not seem similar to one’s world but many elements reflect the factors in current day communities.