Compare/Contrast Essay 'The Giver'

Zoe Cook

Compare/Contrast Essay - The Giver

Chadwell

February 14, 2023

The Giver Life in the Giver’s community is described in a very positive manner. Everything is set out for you. Everyone living in The Giver’s society, “the community,” is given the same opportunities. You are taught the acceptable and proper emotions and you’ll be given everything you need. No one person shall be superior to another. In the community, key themes such as precision of language, release, and choice can be both compared and contrasted with modern-day society.

To start, the idea of precision of language and the resulting limitation of emotion can be greatly contrasted from modern-day society. In The Giver, children are taught from a very young age about the

This is first introduced when the plane first flies over the community and an announcement is made that the pilot shall be “released.” “For a contributing citizen to be released from the community was a final decision, a terrible punishment, an overwhelming statement of failure,” Jonas thinks. (See page 3.) Throughout the community, it was known that the only release that was not a punishment was the release of the old and the release of a newchild. While it was unusual, Jonas had never really questioned release; until he was selected as the Receiver of Memory. When Jonas took a first look at his rules on page 68, he was shocked. Rule number 3, “From this moment you are exempted from rules of governing rudeness. You may ask any questions of any citizen and you will receive answers.” Jonas was taken aback with this and he was not compelled to take advantage of it as he was, “so thoroughly accustomed to courtesy within the community.” Later when Jonas begins his training with The Giver, he uses this new authority to ask about release. This is when Jonas is exposed to the more gruesome realities of release within the community. Similar to how today we might say “Passed away,” The Giver’s society would use the term “release.” These euphemisms both express a softer effect on the reality of death. Release of the old can also be related to how we may use the phrase “They’re in a better place.” Also the use of using “release” as a punishment is similar to the modern day sentence of death after being convicted of a crime. Criminal convictions in countries such as Iran, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, accounted for 80% of executions worldwide in 2021. To sum it up, both modern day and The Giver’s community recognise death as a punishment for criminal conduct (though applied more liberally in the dystopian community), and the community’s euphemism of “release” is similar to modern day’s euphemism of “Passed