Lois Lowry's The Allegory Of The Cave

The utopian society described in Lois Lowry's The Giver is very similar to the form of government described in the Republic by Plato, especially The Allegory of the Cave. Both are descriptions of totalitarian dystopic governments included the separation of people by professional class, assignment of profession and purpose by the state, and the absence of traditional family units, replaced by state-organized breeding. If Jonas, the leader, is the man released from the cave, then his obligations as a leader and his obligations to knowledge are the same. The only morally justified decision is to leave the Community. Jonas lives in a "perfect" world. The Community has eradicated war, disease, and suffering. Everything is in order; everything is under control. The people have no worries or cares. The Community strives for "sameness," in which everyone and everything are the same and equal. Each member is assigned a position in society to help the
He understands that the only way for him to teach his fellow prisoners the truth is to force them to see as well. The Philosopher-King as described by Plato should be intelligent, ambition in things of the mind, diligent, disciplined, temperate, and reliable. Only citizens who posses all of these required qualities should be considered candidates for a philosopher-ruler. Jonas knows the enlightenment of the Community will be difficult and painful. The "Giver" remains with the Community in order to help them through the challenging times ahead. This is the best thing Jonas and the Giver could do for them. They realize it will be a lot of work to lead the other citizens into the light of knowledge but the business of rulers is not to make themselves happy. Their happiness is to be realized in the happiness of citizens in the ideal state and the people of the Community do not have enough knowledge to know