WHY THE GIVER IS A DYSTOPIA

EVIDENCE OF A DYSTOPIAN SOCIETY

• 1) Citizens are kept in the dark about important aspects of government activity.
• 2) Civilians are under constant surveillance.
• 3) The society is an illusion of a utopia.
• 4) Civilians are treated as if they are less than human beings.

REASON 1 EVIDENCE

• Citizens are kept in the dark about important aspects of government activity.
• Only a select few community members know what release is.
• No one knows where or how food and supplies is given to them. They only know that it comes in by plane.
• People who make terrible mistakes just happen to disappear just like the person with the name that will never be used again.

REASON 1 QUOTE

• "...he asked,' what happens when they make the actual release? Where exactly did Roberto go?'" (Lowry,32)
• Instead of knowing what happens to the old when they die Jonas has to ask"...Where exactly did Roberto go?" (Lowry 32).

QUOTE ANALYSIS

• This quote shows that both Jonas and Loretta don't have any idea what actually goes on behind the scenes such as death by lethal injection used on the young and old or that the only way someone leaves the community is through death.

REASON 2

• Civilians are under constant surveillance.
• Elevens are under constant supervision for their assignments.
• If a citizen breaks the rules, the speaker knows immediately.
• All places in the community have a loudspeaker in or near them at all times.
• Patrols happen after dusk when residents are supposed to be in their homes.

REASON 2 QUOTE

• "This one had a switch, which the man deftly snapped OFF. Jonas almost gasped outloud." (Lowerly, 79)
• As Jonas gets on the bed, he notices the Giver approach the wall and approach the ever present intercom, but "this one had a switch,which the man deftly snapped OFF" (79).

ANALYSIS

• Jonas is gasping because he knows that every place in the community has one and is monitored. Having the ability to turn it off is unheard of. He is so used to being watched and monitored for his whole life that this tiny bit of freedom without big brother looking over his shoulder is an amazing thing.

REASON 3

• Jonas's community has its citizens duped into thinking it is a perfect utopia.
• Harsh rules and regulations restrict citizens freedom.
• Everyone is the same and stripped from all emotions.
• Citizens believe that the rules keep them safe and content, but in fact, they are their demise.

QUOTE

• "Jonas hesitated. He was afraid that his father wouldn't like it, if he watched something so private. 'I think you should,'The Giver told him firmly." (Lowery, 147)
• Because of all the lies that Jonas was told which conceived the community as a great place "He was afraid that his father wouldn't like it if he watched something so private"(147) but The Giver knows that the only way this illusion can be lifted is by seeing a release, so he responds with "I think you should" (147).

QUOTE ANALYSIS

• This quote shows perfectly how the Community paints this illusion of a perfect society over all its citizens eyes. Only a few people like The Giver know of its malicious insides and He feels a need to tell Jonas the truth by showing him what release actually is.

REASON 4

• Citizens are treated as if they are less than human beings
• Unfit infants and the elderly are killed like animals by a lethal injection which is inferred as incredibly painful.
• This process is known as release is told to be a "celebration."
• The only way someone leaves the community is to be put down like a animal.

QUOTE

• "'He killed it! My father killed it!' Jonas said to himself, stunned at what he was realizing. He continued to stare at the screen numbly." (Lowery, 150)
• Because Jonas couldn't believe the inhuman actions before him all he could do was "to stare at the screen numbly" (150).

QUOTE ANALYSIS

• Jonas is in so much shock of what just took place in front of him. He just watched his father, who seemed like such a caring person, kill an infant with no remorse and joke around with it when he was finished. He also realizes that this disregard for human life is happening almost everyday, and Gabe could be just lake a lamb to the slaughter of he doesn't do something.

CONCLUSION

• The community portrayed in The Giver is a dystopian society because citizens are kept in the dark about important aspects of government activity, civilians are under constant surveillance, the society is an illusion of a utopia, and civilians are treated as if they are less than human beings.

CONCLUSION CONTINEUD

• Lois Lowery is trying to convey a message through this dystopia, and that message says that we could end up just like Jonas's community if we take equality and sameness to seriously. We need to keep hold of what makes us different and never let it go. That is what makes people people.

CITATION

• Lowery,Lois.The Giver.New York:HoughtonMifflin,1993.