The Giver

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 Community function as a cohesive unit. When Jonas turns twelve, the Community selects him to be the new "Receiver of Memories." Only the "Giver" knows the truth and memories of the past, and now he must pass these memories on to Jonas. Lowry subtly creates an uneasy feeling that something is wrong with this "perfect world."

The Community's advisors intend to establish security within utopian society, but they really establish a stifling dystopia. To protect people from the risks of making poor or wrong decisions in life, the advisors plan and dictate the lives of the people. In effect, the citizens have no freedom of choice; they do not choose their job or even their spouse. Moreover, the advisors inhibit the people's ability to feel because they want to spare them from the hardships and pain of life. For instance, individuals must take a pill everyday, which suppresses passionate feelings. The citizens do not know or experience true emotions like love. One of the goals of the Community is to achieve "sameness" so that no one feels embarrassed or excluded for being different. However, this limits individuality and freedom of expression because everyone conforms to a certain desired image. Finally, to relieve the population of the horrors and devastation of the world and the past, the advisors isolate the Community from the rest of the world and give the burden of holding the memories of the past to a single member of society: the "Receiver." Therefore, the Community lives only in the present, and the people have a narrow perspective of life because they only know their community and way of life. They are naive; they do not gain knowledge or wisdom from the memories.

While receiving the memories, Jonas learns a different and better way to live and realizes what he and the Community have been missing. He decides that something must be done to change the current conditions and enlighten his community. He decides to leave the Community with a newborn, Gabriel, who had been chosen for release because he has trouble sleeping. By escaping the community, all of the memories that Jonas has received from The Giver will be transmitted back to the citizens in the Community, forcing them to experience feelings and emotions and to remember their past. Jonas travels for days and days with Gabriel, who is dying from starvation and the cold weather. Finally, they come to the top of a hill where there is snow and a sled. They get on the sled and ride downhill toward music and Christmas lights.

In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, prisoners sit in a cave, chained down, watching images cast on the wall in front of them. They accept these views