The Strange Utopia of The Giver Givers Essay Example For Students

The Strange Utopia of The Giver Givers Essay The Strange Utopia of The Giver Imagine living in a world where you cant choose your job, where at the age of twelve you are assigned an occupation by some group of elders. Imagine a world in which you cant choose that special person to be your wife or husband, a world where nobody is special. Visualize a place where you cant have your own children, where you have to take care of somebody elses children. In The Giver by Louis Lowry, this place exists every day. Its a perfect world, a utopia. A job is, for many people, one of the most important parts of their life. If its so important, you have to enjoy it, and to enjoy it, you have to choose it yourself. In this utopia, created in The Giver you dont get to do that. Other people choose the activity you are going to do for the rest of your life. For example, Fiona was assigned Caretaker of The Old, a job she really wanted, but dont you think that maybe later in her life, she could change her mind and not want to do her job anymore? She cant do that because she lives in a world where she doesnt have a choice, where she cant run her own life. You have the power to think what you want. No matter what the circumstance is. No one can tell you what to think, you have a mind of your own, and repressing your thoughts wont do any good at all. I want to give you a quote from the book. I heard about a guy who was absolutely sure he was going to be an engineer and instead he was assigned sanitation laborer. He jumped into the river and swam to the closest community, no one saw him again. This demonstrates that the elders can be wrong. People defending Sameness can say that all the jobs are made for the people getting them and that they will like them and be an active part of the community. I am going to respond to that with a life story. Before I was twelve, all I wanted to do is be an architect. I always spent my time sketching buildings and structures, and if I would have been assigned a job it would have been that of an architect. Later when I turned 13, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer; I dont know what made me change my mind, but the point is, this can happen to anyone and it demonstrates that people can be wrong, even the Elders. People change over time. As people change, their choices change. If this is true, shouldnt we be free to demonstrate when we change our minds with actions? Oscar Wilde once said, A world without love is like a sunless garden where flowers are dead. Picture a world where you cant feel anything for anyone, where you cant love your friends or your parents, where you cant have a girlfriend because you are assigned a wife. The first human principle is that of choice. In this case the choice of the person who will be next to you for the rest of your life. The premise of the community is that people can be perfectly matched, but as I mentioned before, people can change their minds and likings from one day to another. They can start to dislike each other. In life, sometimes two people think they are made for each other and get married, but after a few years, sometimes after decades, they get divorced. Why? Because theyve changed and they dont longer want to be together. A very good example of incompatibility is my parents. My father is twenty years older than my mother, they grew up in different places, at different times and they dont like the same things. They have been happily married for 22 years and they havent had a single serious problem in those years. .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639 , .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639 .postImageUrl , .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639 , .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639:hover , .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639:visited , .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639:active { border:0!important; } .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639:active , .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639 .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u83656301529a71462b1e76ace2d16639:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Child Abuse Essay This union wouldnt have had a chance in Jonas community because they simply wouldnt have been assigned to each other. Love like my parents .