Examples Of Sameness In The Giver

A society where everything is the same. Forbidden land far away. One individual who stands from the rest. The Giver by Lois Lowry explores what the world would be like with little to no uniqueness, or in other words, plain and simple. Jonas, or the main character of this novel, is our guide throughout the book, so we see his perspective and feelings towards the society he lives in. A common theme that occurred throughout the story was a feeling of not fitting in or not being accepted for being individual, which Jonas felt after he started to receive memories. This essay will go over three main points, all for the theme of sameness, why the community decided to eliminate color, terrain, and weather, what it would be like in our society if

The Giver tells Jonas, “ ‘We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with differences,’ ” (95). The Giver is simply explaining that many years prior to his birth, the community was formed, and they eliminated anything that could harm one’s self. Earlier in the text, Giver explains to Jonas why they don’t have snow anymore, “ ‘... unpredictable weather made transportation almost impossible at times,’ ” (83-84). Lastly, Jonas becomes outraged when he discovers colors, “ ‘I was just thinking: what if we could hold up things that were bright red, or bright yellow, and he could choose,” (98). Jonas feels that the world would be better if he and everyone else could choose the color of what they wanted to wear. Though Jonas’ society gave up many qualities that we enjoy today, they believed it was for the best of the

The Giver once told Jonas, “ ‘We’ve never completely mastered Sameness,’ ” (95). Although his community seems to be in perfect balance, there are some tweaks that need to be worked out, such as, “ ‘Hair like Fiona’s,’ ” (95). Next, Jonas thinks to himself, “In his own dwelling, there were the necessary reference volumes that each household contained,” (74). Ths thought occurred to him when he first visited the Giver. Now, if we all had the same clothing, as many private schools already do, it would lead to less judging of others. “... the colorless fabric of his clothing . ‘But it’s all the same, always,’ ” (97). Jonas refers that everyone wears the same type of clothing, and that it has no color. This means that there was no way of expressing yourself through your clothing. Though this could be viewed as bad, it is a gain for being the same as everyone