This essay examines Lois Lowry's The Giver as a dystopian rather than utopian novel, arguing that the society's attempt to eliminate pain through suppressing memories and emotions actually creates a foundation of lies and deception. Through analysis of the Ceremony of the 12, Jonah's discovery that lying is institutionalized, and the unnatural burden placed on the Giver, the paper demonstrates how Lowry reveals the flaws in a system that sacrifices truth, freedom, and authentic human experience for a false image of perfection. The novel ultimately critiques the dangers of sacrificing individual liberty and emotional authenticity in pursuit of a manufactured ideal.
Lois Lowry's The Giver is a futuristic work of science fiction about a society that is devoid of memories and emotions. The reason this society represses these vibrant expressions of life is that it perceives them as too much of a burden on people. To that end, the society believes that it is actually helping people by relieving them of memories and emotions, given that many are associated with pain. However, a close examination of this book reveals that ultimately, this society is only masking what are in fact important aspects of human life through a beneficent conception of "sameness." Instead of creating an ideal world in which there is no pain and suffering because of emotions and memories, this society has actually created a world based on lies and deceptions in which only a few people know the truth—an effective dystopia, instead of a utopia.
As in most science fiction works, The Giver features elaborate rituals and customs that demonstrate the fictionalized nature of the world and its inhabitants. Lowry, however, cleverly manipulates many of these differences to emphasize that the community is dystopian rather than utopian. For instance, the Ceremony of the 12 is a coming-of-age ritual in which adolescents assume responsibilities they will maintain through adulthood. In this ceremony, the novel's protagonist, Jonah, is given the highly valued position of the Giver, who is responsible for preserving all of the collective memories of the entire society. The reason one person has such a charge is to protect people from evil and bad memories, effectively keeping them blissfully unaware of the past.
However, the metaphorical lie implied by such a process—wherein people believe life is good because they have no memories of anything else—is literally demonstrated to Jonah when he receives his instructions as the new Giver. Jonah is shocked and thinks to himself, "What if others—adults—had, upon becoming Twelves, received in their instructions the same terrifying sentence? What if they had all been instructed: You may lie?" (p. 71). This passage indicates that the society is so concerned with presenting a façade of an idyllic, peaceful society—the perfect utopia—that it is willing to lie to maintain such a false image. The fact that this society is not perfect but instead is pretending to be perfect makes it dystopian, as Jonah discovers when he is told that lying to people as the preserver of all of their memories is acceptable.
The fact that Jonah decides to attempt to give everyone in the society their memories back illustrates that he believes the false ideal of perfection is wrong. Memories and emotions are simply a part of life and a basic part of humanity. While there are negative feelings and remembrances, there are just as many positive ones and those combining both positivity and negativity, which help balance each other out. Still, the fact that only Jonah and the old Giver can access all of the memories of an entire society illustrates how perverse such a practice is.
The unnatural difficulty placed on those in the positions of givers is evident in a conversation between Jonah and the old Giver. Jonah tells him, "...why can't everyone have...memories...it would seem...easier if the memories were shared. You and I wouldn't have to bear so much by ourselves..." The Giver sighs. "You're right," he said. "But then everyone would be burdened" (p. 112). This quote demonstrates the psychological burden and strain of bearing the memories of an entire society. Such an occurrence is not natural and makes things difficult for those who must carry bad memories, which is another reason why Jonah's society is dystopian and not utopian.
"Lowry reveals dystopia beneath utopian facade"
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