The Giver Sameness Quotes

“I’d never just want to do what everybody else did. I’d be contributing to the sameness of everything.” -Captain Beefheart. In The Giver, by Lois Lowry citizens are forced, without knowing, to live according to the Committee of Elders’ standards. They choose what the people do, say, wear, etc. This is truly unfair for the Committee of Elders to use sameness to completely control the community. This is shown in the lack of authentic relationships in the family unit, the concept of sameness, and the absence of free will and choice.
The relationships among family members were shallow and insincere. ‘“Jonas, Jonas,” they would say loudly, the Giver would lead the chant, together they would let Jonas’s presence in their lives fade away as they said his name in unison more slowly, softer and softer, until he was disappearing
They became vulnerable, because not having any experiences, did not let them learn from their mistakes and make better choice, instead their choices are made for themselves. “‘Two children – one male, one female – to each family unit. It was written very clearly in the rules”’ (8). This quote from The Giver, shows that the Committee of elders is extremely controlling toward everything the people do, say, etc. They have a strict policy for how many children in each family and the genders. This quote made clear that free choice is not acceptable in the community, if you break the rules more than twice you will be killed. “‘Like the Matching of Spouses and the Naming and Placement of newchildren, the Assignments were scrupulously thought through by the Committee of Elders”’ (48). This quotes explains how the Committee of Elders chooses the spouses, the jobs, and babies to families. This really shows the control that they have over the people. They choose everything precious about a person’s life, and not by acknowledgement. Control is simple when you are governing the