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The Giver A Dystopian Society

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The Giver Essay

Imagine living in a community lacking color, emotions, and differences, or where choices are banned. Imagine being tricked into believing you’re living in a perfect world, but really, your community is hiding both life changing secrets and terrifying truths from all its people. In The Giver by Lois Lowry, the characters have to take on these problems and limitations. The setting is takes place in a community that the characters believe to be a utopian society but is actually a dystopian society. The community is run by a council and the Chief Elder who make all the decisions. The main character, Jonas, is an eleven year old boy who undergoes a series of changes after he is selected to be the Receiver of Memory during the Ceremony …show more content…
Jonas shows obedience because he listens to the community's rules. In the beginning of the book, Jonas was remembering the day that a plane had flown over the community. In his memory, Jonas recalls how the speaker had ordered everyone to drop their bikes and go to the nearest building and stay there. Without hesitation, Jonas did so which shows that he obediently does what he is told. In addition, when Jonas receives his rules for training, he actually feels uncomfortable with them because the rules had given him permission to lie and to be rude. “He was so thoroughly accustomed to the courstasy within the community that the thought of asking another citizen an intimate question, of calling someone's attention to an area of awkwardness, was unnerving.” (p.69) This clearly shows how loyal Jonas is to the community's rules doesn't feel comfortable with breaking them. However, as the book progresses, he becomes rebellious through his training to be Receiver. Jonas learns things he had never known before, and th Giver reveals to him some of the community’s secrets. An example of Jonas being rebellious is when he decides he wants to change the community’s rules. The Giver had explained to him that they have a receiver to hold all the pain from the memories so that the people wouldn’t have to feel any pain. Jonas had disagreed angrily and said that …show more content…
For example, Jonas changes from being apprehensive to being brave through his training and the Giver’s guidance. Jonas was apprehensive about several things, but one of them was his training. When he was selected to be Receiver, Jonas mentions how he was nervous about what this training would be like, and what would happen to him. He was basically apprehensive about starting his training. Also, even before he knew he was going to be the new Receiver of Memory, he was apprehensive about the ceremony of twelve. Jonas kept thinking about the ceremony and worrying about it. “But there was a little shudder of nervousness when he thought about it, about what might happen.” (p.4) This shows that Jonas is apprehensive because he is worrying about the upcoming ceremony of twelve and was nervous about what might occur in the future. However, when Jonas starts his training as Receiver, he begins to know pain from the memories. At first, he didn’t think he could handle so much pain, but through the memories he grew braver. For example, Jonas knew that escaping the community was dangerous, especially leaving at night because he could be caught, but he was confident in his abilities and was brave and accomplished the task. He is even brave when the plan that he and the Giver had so thoroughly thought of, is unexpectedly changed. When Jonas learns Gabriel was going to be released the next morning, Jonas instantly flees the community along with

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