The Giver

Jonas' community appears to be a utopia, but, in reality, it is a dystopia. The people seem perfectly content to live in an oli-garchy — a government run by a select few — in which a Community of Elders enforces the rules. In Jonas' community, there is no poverty, starvation, unemployment, lack of housing, or prejudice; everything is perfectly planned to eliminate any problems. However, as the novel progresses and Jonas gains insight into what the people have willingly given up — their freedoms and individual-ities — for the so-called common good of the community, it becomes more and more evident that the community is a bad place in which to live. Readers can relate to the disbelief and horror that Jonas feels when he realizes that his community is a hypocrisy, a society based on false ideals of goodness and conformity. As Jonas comes to understand the importance of memory, freedom, individuality, and even color, he can no longer stand by and watch the people in his community continue to live under such fraudulent pretenses.