Modern Society In The Giver, By Lois Lowry

Jonas’ society is run completely by the government, where people have no rights. The book The Giver, by Lois Lowry, depicts a dystopian society that a child named Jonas lives in. This society shares many similarities with modern society, but is also very different. Family units in the society featured in The Giver are extremely strict. This is shown on page 8 of The Giver, when Lowry states “Two children - one male, one female - to each family unit.” (Lois Lowry 8) Furthermore, each family member must share the events and feelings of their day, and their dreams of the previous night. Lowry shows this when she states “It was one of the rituals, the evening telling of feelings.” (Lois Lowry 4) In modern day society, there can more than two
The Committee of Elders, the government in Jonas’ society, set a law in place to take away the feeling of love. The Elders give people pills to eliminate love, or “The Stirrings” as they call it. The Giver shows this when it states “Now he swallowed the small pill that his mother handed him… The Stirrings were gone.” (Lois Lowry 38-39) Furthermore, these Elders banished almost all books because the talked about ways and things of past times. This rule is clearly shown by Lowry, when she states “...the books are forbidden to citizens.” (Lois Lowry 102) To enforce their many rules, the government puts the society under constant surveillance so nobody does anything wrong, or anything to harm one another. In today’s society however, everybody has feelings of love, pain, and much more. It’d be impossible to take away feelings in the modern day. Also, books are available to almost everybody that wants one. The government in modern day society sets many rules to ensure safety for citizens. Both of these societies’ governments set rules in place to keep people safe. On the other hand however, Jonas’ society has rules forbidding love and books, while as in today’s society people are encouraged to love one another and to read books. This is a stark contrast in the societies’ rules, but they are also similar in how they try to protect their citizens and
This is shown when Lowry says “Jonas has been selected to be our next Reciever of Memory.” (Lois Lowry 60) This job is an important role of society, and he advises the government in decisions if they’re not sure what to do. Furthermore, the government gets to decide what job all of it’s citizens get as well. This is clearly shown when The Giver states “...the Assignments were scrupulously thought through by the Committee of Elders.” (Lois Lowry 49) This shows just how much power the Committee of Elders have, and how little say citizens have. However, in modern day society people have to work hard to get a job, and get to choose a job that they want. People are not guaranteed the job they want, but if they put in enough effort they will probably get it. Also, the government’s officials are chosen by the citizens in today’s society. The fifteenth ammendment of the United States constitution states “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” (US Const. Amend. XV, Sec 1.) Although this is true, some of the officials of the United States are chosen by representatives. For example, Judges of the Supreme Court are chosen by the President of the United States. Both societies have governement elected officials, like the