Why the Community Is Dystopian

An essay about The Giver.

“And here in this room, all alone, I re-experience them again and again. It is how wisdom comes and how we shape our future ” (78). The Giver, who is the previous Receiver of Memory before Jonas, said that quote. The community in The Giver has been changed from an accustomed community, like taking away colors, feelings, and choices. In other words, a dystopian society. The community cannot feel pain or happiness because every single memory gets abolished from that person’s head and goes straight to the Receiver of Memory. The Receiver of Memory has to take in all the memories of the world so nothing can be completely forgotten. The community is dystopian for many reasons.

    In the first place, the community lost and forgot about color which is the main reason why the community is dystopian. Except for the Receiver of Memory who can see colors, the community is dull. The Council of Elders in the community took away all of the citizens’memory of color. Because the memory of color of memory has been taken away, everything is in  shades of gray, but since the colors are gone, there are fewer choices to be made. For  example, a little girl would not be able to choose between a blue bike or a purple bike because all colors are the same (black, white, and gray). Jonas,the Receiver of Memory, is able to see all colors because he has all of the memories of color like a rainbow after an excruciating  sad, rainy day. “ But suddenly Jonas had noticed, following the path of the apple through the air with his eyes, that the piece of fruit had-well, this was the part that he couldn’t understand- the apple had changed “ (24). This moment was when Jonas first saw color. Without colors,the society is definitely not utopian because a  perfect, unblemished imaginary world has everything happy and warm, including colors.

    Furthermore, the community is dystopian also because the Council of Elders took  away all feelings from the citizens from the citizens of the community. the Stirrings are an example of how they take human-being feelings away. Stirrings are when somebody feels the urge  to hold somebody’s hand.When  they get Stirrings, the person has to take pills to stop them from coming. “ Very briefly, a little guiltily, he tried to grasp it back.  But the  feelings had disappeared. The Stirrings were gone “ (39). Since the memory of pain has been taken away, the community is unable to feel pain. “ They have never known pain, he thought “ (110). A human-being should be able  to feel feelings, and a person who cannot feel feelings have been dehumanized.

    To summarize, the community is dystopian. After reading this book, Lori  realized how blessed she is to be able to see color and to feel feelings.