Dystopian Society in Lois Lowry's The Giver Essay Example

Do you live in a dystopian society? A dystopian society is a society that is not perfect. In the Giver by Lois Lowry Jonas is a boy that lives in a dystopian world. Everyone in the community is given an assignment by the elders of the community. The elders take care of the community. Jonas was really nervous of what his assignment was going to be. Jonas was given his assignment of the receiver of memory. Receiver of memory is getting all the memories that the elders decided  to take away from people. The Giver was someone who got assigned the receiver of memory before Jonas and has all the memories the elders took away. The elder took painful memories,happy memories and many more. Now since Jonas is assigned receiver of memory The Giver has to transfer all the memories to Jonas to keep. Jonas learns things he has never seen before or heard of. The author was trying to warn her reader about a lack of individuality in the community by representing it in her dystopian novel through not choosing your assignment, everyday having to talk about their feelings,and not choosing who your spouse is.

The first example of how the author was trying to warn her reader about a lack of individuality in the community by representing it in her dystopian novel through  not choosing your assignment. An assignment is like a job. Everyone in the community has one. The elders of the community pick your assignment. They pick your assignment for what they think you would be good at. Jonas is a person who was going to get their assignment soon. Jonas was talking to his parents about it because he was nervous. According to the text “Though he had  been reassured by the talks with his parents he hadn't the slightest idea of what assignment the elders would be selecting for his future or how he might feel about it” (24) This piece of evidence proves that there's a dystopian world because there's a lack of individuality in the community. You do not get to have a choice of what assignment is yours. Whatever you get is something you have to do.  

Another  way of how the author was trying to warn her reader about a lack of individuality in the community was by representing it in her dystopian novel through everyday having to talk about their feelings. Each evening each person in your family has to talk about their feelings. They have to talk about their feelings because it's a rule in the community. They have to say if they were happy, sad, angry, or however they felt. Jonas was talking about what the evening telling of feelings was. According to the text “It was one of the rituals the evening telling of feelings…their parents of course were part of the ritual;they too told their feeling each evening” (6) Based on this piece of evidence you can conclude that there's a dystopian world because there is a lack of individuality. You do not have a choice not to tell your feelings because it's a rule in the community so you have to even if you would not want to.

Lastly, the author was trying to warn her reader about a lack of individuality in the community by representing it in her dystopian novel through not choosing who your spouse is.In the community if you wanted a spouse you had to apply for it. The elders of the community pick who it is. They thought long and hard about it making sure they had the right match. Jonas was explaining how the elders choose who your spouse is. According to the text “Even the matching of spouses were given such weighty consideration that sometimes an adult who applied to receive a spouse waited months or even years before a match was approved and announce”(61-62)This piece of evidence illustrates that there's a dystopian world because there is not a lot of choices in the community. Whoever the elders pick to be your spouse it will not change and you can not have your own freedom to make your own choice.

Not choosing your assignment, everyday having to talk about your feelings, and not being able to choose who your spouse is, are some ways Lois Lowry creates a dystopian society in The Giver. In the novel there is a dystopian society because of the lack of individuality. Not being able to choose your assignment is the first example of how Lois Lowry created a dystopian society. Another way that a dystopian society is shown is everyday having to talk about how they feel. Lastly, not getting to choose who your spouse is also a way Lois Lowry created a dystopian world. If you barely had any choices in life how would you like your world?