Dystopian Themes In 'The Giver'

The Giver is a dystopian novel that plays out a world with no pain, suffering, and conflict, this world is meant to have total peace and harmony. Jonas is like any other eleven-year-old boy that lives in his community on the surface, until the day he receives his assignment. Jonas is intelligent and perceptive, sometimes even more than his peers. He enjoys experiencing and learning new things, enjoys the freedom of choice, enjoys connecting and learning about other people, and craves human contact within societal limits. Jonas though is not like any other eleven-year-old boy in his community, he has unusual colored eyes, and can see unexplainable things change. Jonas at the ceremony is singled out from his peers receiving the job as the new Receiver, this is where Jonas’ journey or adventure begins. Jonas must train with the giver to give and
The memories he receives are rich with sensory and emotional experiences, wanting to possess these memories he must also experience the hard, sad and emotional memories. Jonas struggles with the harder memories, but can push through and continue his training. After a year Jonas had become extremely sensitive to pleasure, suffering, beauty, passion, and love, adapting to his new environment. Jonas had a hard time pushing through the harder memories, but began to know that he needed them to keep that burden off the people and only within himself. Jonas pushing through these memories is a big step towards growth. The Giver is there for Jonas to train and guide him through his transition. Though the giver may look older than he truly is, the giver has aged through seeing and doing many things that have haunted him (such as memories of suffering and pain). The Giver must pass on his wisdom and haunting memories to Jonas, this eases some of the Givers pain but pushes it on to Jonas. The Giver must assist Jonas to become the person he needs to