Diversity In The Giver

These days, everyone is telling kids and adults alike to “be themselves” and be happy with who they are. Although there are a lot of differences, it creates diversity and appreciation for others. In the novel The Giver, author Lois Lowry creates a society that is built upon the fact that nobody is different. There is hardly any individual choice, freedom, and definitely no individuality. This creates a peaceful, orderly community, where everyone seems happy to let others decide things for them, and the only ones in charge of anything are the authority. However, I think that it is not worth sacrificing freedom, choice, and individuality for peace, contentment, and ease because without those three, you cannot have real peace, or real contentment,

For example, Jonas, the main character of The Giver, is given the chance to experience things outside the community as the Receiver of Memory. As he realizes that there are a lot of things he is missing in life, he understands that the choice to do away with those things was not necessarily a good one. “‘ … We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with differences.’ He thought for a moment. ‘We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.’ ‘We shouldn't have!’ Jonas said fiercely.’” (p. 120-121) Peace, contentment, and ease aren’t necessarily give-or-take concepts. True peace would be getting past our differences and contentment and ease would follow. But here, they’ve completely taken away differences, as if to say, “There. Now there’s nothing to fight about at all.” What comes from that isn’t peace, it’s control. It’s obedience. Jonas realizes this, too. With Sameness, to get one thing to happen, you had to give away the other, and that’s not the right way to do things. Also, The Giver shows us that when Jonas receives memories from The Giver of times where people had the freedom to do what they want, he starts to yearn to have that freedom,