Book Review: The Dangers of Conformity in "The Giver"
Originally posted on August 15, 2020 on Facebook Notes on my Facebook page
In seventh grade Language Arts class, my classmates and I were assigned to read "The Giver" written by Lois Lowry and I loved it so much. Then, I had to read this book again for the Children's Literature course that I took at Bucks County Community College and write an essay about it. For my essay, I chose to write about the book's theme of the dangers of conformity and since the disability/disabled/differently-abled community can relate to this social issue that exists in reality too, I am uploading my essay like I do with all of my other relevant essay assignments for school. I highly recommend reading "The Giver"!
TRIGGER WARNING: If you experience suicidal thoughts, this blog post and the book that this blog post is based on may be triggering. If you need support right now, please seek help from a therapist or other mental health professional or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada.
The manipulators create a lot of conformity in the setting. The world is only seen in black and white instead of color due to the characters being color blinded at birth. This along with many other laws that community members must conform to is because the setting takes place in what starts out as seeming like a utopia. However, throughout the story, readers will later learn that it is actually a dystopia also known as the good place where everything is perfected. The main con of utopias and dystopias is that they are also a negative prefix for nonexistent. In reality, utopias and dystopias cannot exist because it is impossible for anyone and anything on Earth to be perfect.
The characters also experience a lot of dangers as a result of conformity. The Giver is written in third person limited point of view and the main character, Jonas, is twelve years old. Jonas lives with his unbiological mother, father, and seven-year-old sister named Lily. His family is unbiological because no one is allowed to choose their families, spouses, names, siblings, schools, jobs, clothes, and homes. The manipulators choose them for everyone and there is also a going-out curfew that everyone has to follow. The manipulators also "release" anyone that is different meaning they kill them with an injection of poison (Lowry, 1993, pg. 2). They also erase them from everyone's memory and this is done out of discrimination when everyone of all differences should be treated equally. When Jonas is assigned his career, he is given the job occupation of the Receiver of Memory, which is considered to be the most important job in the community. The Receiver is the only person in the community who is allowed to have access to memory and other books besides ones from school and the rulebook in every home. An old man who prefers to be called The Giver trains Jonas in his new job occupation. The Giver gives Jonas a variety of memories including but not limited to color, hunger, and war. He also mentions that there was a Receiver before Jonas too who he along with Jonas' parents refuse to say what happened to her. Eventually, The Giver opens up to Jonas that the previous Receiver was his daughter named Rosemary, but she died by suicide. Rosemary died by suicide because she could not handle all of the negative memories affecting her mental health as another danger of conformity. The Giver states that he plans to eventually release himself too to be with Rosemary again.
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In addition, there are a lot of things that represent symbols related to the conformity issue in The Giver's plot. There is a river that runs through the community and out to Elsewhere. This river symbolizes escape from the dystopian community along with foreshadowing the potential freedom that is implied at the end of the story. The dystopian results in a lot of toxicity, especially in Jonas' life. Jonas dislikes most of the laws, enjoys analyzing the memories of the good times, and venting about the negative memories of the past and present with The Giver. Some of the laws that he dislikes are having to live with unbiological families because Lily is too much of a chatterbox, which annoys him, and he does not like discussing dreams. It is implicit that through his discussions with The Giver that he wishes that he and the rest of the community were not forced into conformity. Another thing that symbolizes freedom is Jonas' bicycle that he rides into Elsewhere in the middle of the book. It represents freedom to choices and even independence so that while people needing to do things they do not want to do is important in some cases, they can also be free to do what they want according to what is best for their styles. Another symbol in the story is the newborn infant named Gabriel who stays with Jonas' family at night time. Jonas' father works at the Nurturing Center and starts bringing Gabriel home after requesting that he be given a chance to grow when he was originally going to be released due to his small size. Gabriel symbolizes the angel of annunciation also known as the relayer of news. This is because his symbolizes exhibits hope and starting over in Elsewhere. His eyes are also blue, which is a rare eye color; so Gabriel's eyes represent uniqueness and people of all differences.
Overall, the dangers of conformity that exist in reality are exhibited very well in Lois Lowry's The Giver. Conformity takes away people's rights to independence and being individuals to express their uniqueness. When the manipulators started dictating the community, they brainwashed everyone by erasing their memory of the past; so, no one really knows if they are happy because they do not know any different. They do not know if they like the things they are forced to do due to the brainwashing. They do not know who they originally came from, how to establish any relationships, or how to be independent because they are always being told what to do. It severely affects Rosemary's mental health, which caused her to take her life due to not being able to handle the negative memories. Overall, conformity is against human nature.
My other blog posts about books and movies with mental health/disability representation include:
If you or a loved one is struggling with suicidal thoughts, remember that you are not alone and there is hope. If you or someone you know needs support right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada.
You can also visit The Mighty's hotline resources page by clicking on this link: https://themighty.com/suicide-prevention-resources/
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Citations
1. The Giver. Lois Lowry. 1993.
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