Thursday, May 2, 2019

The Giver: Utopia or Dystopia?



        Is The Giver movie and book by Lois Lowry about a future community a utopia or a dystopia?  Or maybe a failed utopia?  The people who live in a place called The Community have tried to create a perfect world (utopia) where there is no more choice, love, pain, suffering, sickness, war, emotions, or death.  But is this really a utopia? They still have death but they call it "release to elsewhere."   They "release" (kill) old people and unhealthy babies with an injection.  Young people take an injection every morning to control  the "stirrings" that give them natural emotions and sexual feelings. Everyone in The Community is assigned a role (job) by The Elders who control The Community.  A young man named Jonas receives the role of The Receiver of Memory. He trains with an old man called The Giver and finds out about the past, before The Community, back and back and back. Jonas decides they need to bring back all these things from the past. He escapes from The Community with a baby that is going to be "released" because it is too small and unhealthy. He ends up "saving" The Community. So maybe The Community is a failed utopia, or a dystopia, depending on your perspective. The book and movie are quite thought provoking, as we think what the world will be like in the future.