Hello! I'd like to talk about a class discussion we had on the Giver =). The Giver is a book that seems to portray a utopian society but as it goes on, it becomes more apparent that Lois Lowry wants to present it as a more dystopian kind of society. There are some features about the society in the Giver that we discussed in class. I'll give my thoughts on a few =D.
Firstly, the society is very formal and in a way, rigid. Children address their parents as Father and Mother and their teacher as Instructors, babies as Newchildren and so on. Precision of Language is highly expected and there is a "standard apology phrase" to be said when one makes a mistake. Through all this, the bond between people is diluited even though it is very polite and respectful.
Secondly, there is no privacy or allowance for personal space. Doors of dwellings are never locked or bolted and families cannot have their quality time or family time (although it is not as if love exists=D). Moreover, everyone has to share their feelings and dreams with the family as it was against the rules to hide one's dreams and feelings. Everyone, (even joint twins in our day's context) deserves personal space.
Thirdly, the society is very structured and well-planned. To start off with, babies' or newchildren's names are determined even before they are born! Only 50 people are born in a year! A Ceremony is conducted for everyone from year 1 to year 12 and when they become a Twelve, they are assigned a job each according to their abilities and character and not their interests. Everything is decided for them and they don't have the liberty to choose! Although, I must say, these pre-plannings and structures help to keep the socirty organised and neat and this improves the clarity of the mind=).
The Community strives to achieve perfection. This concept (the one on acheiving perfection) is probably not new to us and the fact that ultimate perfection can never be achieved is also an important fact that most of us have learnt through trial and error. Well, it is the truth. The people in the Community however, fail to realise this and do not perceive the negative side of their deeds and actions They fail to realise that pleasure comes with pain and that every action has a reaction. I'm hoping they would have realised it after Jonas and Gabe left.=D Well, ta-ta for now!
2 comments:
I agree with Joveena that Jonas's society is indeed very well-planned and organized. From the examples that Joveena has listed, we can tell that the Elders in the society had everything planned out and they made sure that everyone had a place in the society. For example, children and teenagers like Jonas would go to school and do their volunteer hours while the adults, like Jonas's parents, would go to work. What they work as, however, would be determined by the Elders. This ensures that all the positions and roles in the society are filled in so that the community would be able to function well.
I also agree that ultimate perfection cannot be achieved as I have learnt through past experiences. Many a times, when I was in the midst of completing my school assignments, I strived for perfection. Whenever I made a mistake, I would start all over again. However, I soon learnt that mistakes are inevitable, and instead of trying to be be perfect, I should just learn from my mistakes and move on. Trying to achieve perfection would just be wasting my time. Hence, I agree with Joveena that ultimate perfection can never be achieved as mistakes are inevitable. (:
Yo Jo! I posted about the features of a Utopian society too!!! Anyway, I like your post... Well, firstly, I agree with the fact that the society is very rigid. It has SO MANY rules and regulations. For instance, you have to say the the standard apology phrase if you were rude to someone or if you were late for school! Can you imagine me standing in front of the whole school, in the Quadrangle, during Assembly, saying, "I apologize for inconveniencing my learning community,"? All of you would HOWL with laughter. Jonas' society is so rigid with so many rules that may not be suitable to be applied in our society.
I didn't think of the fact that the citizens don't have privacy?! It is true that there was no privacy, relating to the Sharing of Dreams and feelings. Yet, it might be a good factor as it allows the rest of the family to learn from each other's actions. for instance, when Lily said that she felt angry when a boy (from another group of Sixes, from another community) visited her school but didn't follow the queue for the slide, the rest of the family ponders over the reason he could have done that. They eventually reason that the boy might not be familiar with this community's rules, hence he might have not followed the. Not only does Lily benefit from the Sharing of Feelings, but the whole family does. However, how do you know that the dwellings were never locked, Jo?:D
I TOTALLY agree with the fact that the community aims for ultimate perfection and I think that it's not working. Ultimate perfection can be achieved only through trial and error, whereby you learn from your mistakes. However, since the community (except Jonas and the Giver) don't have any memories to learn from, they are not able to achieve perfection.
That's all I have now, Jo! Bye Bye!!
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