The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver is write in the perspective of Jonas, an eleven year old boy who lives in what seems to be  utopian society in the future. There is no pain, no fear, no hatred or prejudice. The society seems actually very creepy to me because everyone acts, talks, dresses and interacts the same. There is very little differentiation between individuals and there is no real freedom to make individual choices. It seems as if every member of the community is being controlled. Even jobs, spouses/ families and lifestyles are dictated by the society they live in, not the individual themselves.

Jonas is going to be given his job assignment in what is called a ceremony of twelve. Because he has certain powers that others don't he is given the job of The Receiver. In this job he keeps the memories of sadness, anger, madness, pain or any other emotion the people in the community might remember.

Overall, I thought the ideas in The Giver were really creative and imaginative. I was trying to think of what a society like this would look like and the only thing that came to my mind was the beginning of the Sylvester Stallone movie Demolition Man where there is a future society of people who live in complete harmony without fear, or violence. In theory this type of society sound wonderful, but I think it takes away individual expression, freedom and joys of life. I'm interested to see what happens to Jonas and the community he lives in.