The Giver Utopia

When presented with the decision of living in a utopic or dystopic society, one may lean towards the utopian civilization- thinking that a utopia is the definition of a the most perfect place to be. However, what people may not realize is that there are great lengths to achieve the type of paradise-like society, and after all is said and done, the utopian society is not actually what is said to be. In the novel The Giver by award winner Lois Lowry, the author explores the idea of one’s perfect world. She garnered information on what people would consider their ‘perfect utopia,’ with the knowledge that such thing can never be achievable without its drawbacks. Lois wrote and introduced the process and daily operations needed to be taken by communities-

Love and compassion for one another in families is a crucial component, as the bond between child and parent can never be stronger. Yet, in The Giver, there is no trace of love in between the members of what they call their ‘family unit.’ To name a family something so formal sounding without a trace of warmth can only mean for a more reserved gathering of people. Plus, Jonas, the protagonist of the novel, refers to his parents as Mother and Father, furthering the formality between parent and child. Additionally, the idea of equality is also crucial to all aspects of their society, meaning that no family can be any different than another. Unlike today’s society, a household cannot possess as many children and members as the guardians choose. Explaining the regulations of the capacity of children to be in a family unit, when his sister, Lily, wants to adopt a brother, Jonas pronounces the rules by reciting, “Two children-one male, one female-to each family unit” (Lowry 8). Furthermore, rather than the traditional way of bearing a child in a family, one must instead send in an application, and be approved by the Elders. Children are received from surogates, and watched over for the first year of their life by Nurturers. Recalling the time Jonas’ mother had sent her application for Lily, she described the time as, ““The year we got Lily, we knew,

The Release in The Giver is a heavy topic, and weighs such importance in the novel. It is illegal for an aircraft to fly over a community, and when an pilot had unintentionally had flown over twice, he was sentenced to the Release. Like the death sentence in our society, the Release is an euthanasia that kills the victims of the injection. However, the novel’s perfect society is clueless of the whereabouts of the injection, and instead think that the Release is the sentence to Elsewhere- what they believe their utopia is. Public humiliation is also another from of correcting one from their mistakes. Jonas had once enountered this form of punishment, and when wanting the teach his sister a lesson about her hair ribbons, he thought, “He turned toward Lily and noticed to his satisfaction that her ribbons were, as usual, undone and dangling. There would be an announcement like that quite soon, he felt certain, and it would be directed mainly at Lily, though her name, of course, would not be mentioned. Everyone would know” (Lowry