The Variant, By Robison Wells

Dystopian novels take place in highly restrictive, futuristic societies in the future. The rules are often corrupt and unjust. This is the type of society that takes place in both, The Giver written by Lois Lowry, and the Variant written by Robison Wells. The Giver is a dystopian science fiction novel, where a utopian society seems to have no pressing issues or concerns, such as hunger, war, or inequality. Their society has no memories of its past, except for the person known as the Receiver of Memory. Citizens are not given freedom or choice, and the consequences of mistakes are harsh. The Giver teaches that too many rules in a society can cause people to resist and rebel overtime. In the novel, the Variant, a young foster child named Benson

The Variant teaches us that freedom is important because it allows people to build lives of meaning and purpose. While these stories share similar social settings in the way of rules forced upon a society, they each convey a different theme to readers. One of the similarities between the two stories is the social setting, in both stories, their society restricts freedom and individuality. There are many rules in place that must be followed. In The Giver, some social norms are that the Committee of Elders assign family units to everyone, they assign jobs to children once they turn 12 years old, and things like strong emotions, lying, and rudeness are not allowed. They live in a very remote community in the future, with lots of technological advancements. If you break any of the rules that are in place, there are very severe punishments, one being death. The author writes, “The Giver shrugged. ‘Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with differences.’ He thought for a

The power in the school is not in the hands of Benson, the protagonist, and he does not get the chance to make his own decisions or choices. As the book states, “ ‘No phones either, oh, and make sure you don't try running away. Even if you think they aren’t, they are always watching.’ ” (Wells 15). The students don't have a choice, which shows how freedom is not valued. This shows how both authors help readers think more about the importance of individual choice, and further, both stories face conflicts about what happens when these choices are taken away. In contrast, the themes of both of these stories differ. In The Giver, too many rules in a society can cause people to resist and rebel overtime, while in The Variant, freedom is important because it allows people to build lives of meaning and purpose. In the novel The Giver, the rules and restrictions of their community causes the protagonist, Jonas, to become isolated and eventually over time he rebels. An example of this is that everyone in the community is forced to take pills, yet Jonas and the giver decide to stop taking them. “Stirrings had returned, and he felt a little guilty and embarrassed about the pleasurable dreams that came to him as he