Examples Of Propaganda In The Giver

Jonas does live in a dystopian society. There are many rules and restrictions that seem to take away from the community member’s free will. Throughout the story, there are examples of propaganda, restrictions, worship, fear of the outside world, citizens living in a dehumanized state, and society being shown as perfect. Jonas doesn’t exactly realize just how dystopian his living environment is until he becomes the receiver. Propaganda was definitely shown in the book. One big example of propaganda is the fact that citizens must take pills once they begin to experience feelings (47). This controls the citizens into not being able to create their own relationships with other citizens. Your spouse is chosen for you by the elders (61). This takes away from the free will of the citizens by not allowing them to express their feelings and have any real emotions towards anyone.

One restriction is that you can only have two children (11). You can also only have one daughter and one son (11). Not being able to choose your own child’s name is another restriction (15). The elders choose your job (19). Not being able to choose your spouse is also a restriction (61). Another big restriction is that you must perform volunteer hours from ages eight to eleven (33). Which isn’t even volunteering at that point. It is just forced labor. A piece of information that was restricted from the citizens was release (188). Jonas is shown to learn about release towards the end of the story and he is shocked to find out what it truly is. These restrictions take away from the citizen's freedom. It restricts their thoughts and opinions. Information is also restricted in Jonas’