Paralleling The Giver
While the “Giver” is a truly exceptional fictional story, few actually realize the relevance of it. Whether you’re comparing our justice system, National Security, studies, or even the songs we listen to, there’s no escaping how much Lois Lowry’s society mirrors ours’.
For example, the Edward Snowden situation, presented in the article, “Top Secret?” by Suzanne Zimbler and Stephanie Kraus, does indeed parallel the “Giver”. First of all, in both cases, there is a government interference that few are aware of. In the “Giver,” this refers to a purposefully created society, which is engineered to be without our everyday problems. In Snowden’s case, being the secretly collected communications data to “protect” us against terrorism. In both of these, peoples’ rights are being taken away, whether it’s the ability to love, witness animals, see color, have your own baby, or just talk privately with your grandmother. Secondly, the two examples have “whistle-blowers,” or people who set public paradigms straight: Edward Snowden and Jonas. Coincidentally, in both situations, the whistleblowers were unknowingly working to preserve the corrupt way their society was functioning (funny, right?!). But the big difference is- wait for it- awareness. Both Edward and Jonas receive staggering information and try desperately to share it. Edward, as you must know, was successful, but no matter how hard he tries to share memories with his sister, no matter how many times he tries to explain the idea of war to his friends, Jonas can’t get through to anybody. This is what he wants to change.
Another way our world parallels the “Giver’s” is our control. The U.S. justice system, like the “Giver’s,” is trying to keep a handle on our society, but is taking the easy way out. Because incarcerating innocents instead of giving them proper trials and verdicts is “simpler,” because taking away a your peoples’ ability to fall in love, see colors, and truly enjoy life makes a sort of “uncomplicated utopia,” we see both our society and the one in the “Giver” stripping people of the basic things they deserve. Would it surprise you that with 716 of every million people, the United States imprisons more of its population than any other country? It’s truly appalling.
A second example of control that parallels the “Giver” is discussed in Roberto Rodriguez’s article, “Arizona’s ‘Banned’ Mexican American Books.” He writes that, “In the aftermath of the suspension of the Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican American studies department, TUSD has confiscated and continues to confiscate MAS teaching materials.” Sounds familiar? This is exactly what they did in the “Giver” to keep information about the past away from the people. The teaching of Chicano history is being strongly debated in that area for questionable reasons like “Racism has nothing to do with color,” and “Mexico is where Mexican studies should be taught, not America.” It is, of course, surprising that this is what our society has come to: taking away students’ right to read “Chicano! The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement” and “500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures,” but maybe this is what governments have to resort to keep knowledge away from our young.
You could even compare the music we listen to to the “Giver”. Songs like Uprising, The Logical Song, and Bittersweet Symphony definitely relate to it, but I find the simple “Harrison Bergeron” song from a vocabulary-building packet the most suited for this paragraph. It is written about a day when the government decided that everybody should be treated as equals, but this new rule had a very unreasonably profound effect on the way we live. The song has interesting verses- such as, “All across the nation we gave it an ovation/ we stood up and clapped, till they noticed that/ not everyone could stand up and clap like us/ so they weighed us down and kept us handcuffed” and, “They instituted and set up new rules that/ made pretty kids ugly and skinny kids fat”- which really make you think about what equality really means. The “Giver” society had equality, but at what cost? The song’s chorus asks if you are ”Close or aloof to the daily news?” and if you “know what society is doing to you?” These are real questions that need to be pondered. Do we want equality at great costs, or freedom with segregation?
Why we can’t ever have a truly perfect society, it will forever be a mystery. All we know for sure is that no matter how hard we try, no matter what progress we make, we can’t get a utopia. But, what we can do is learn from Lois’s book. It has too many similarities for us to ignore. If our society could dispose of war and hunger like the “Giver’s” did, Imagine how life could be.
Bibliography
Lowry, Lois. “The Giver.” United States: Houghton Miffin, 1993. Print.
Zimbler, Suzanne, Kraus, Stephanie. “Top Secret?” Time June 10th, 2013. Print
Win, Nick. “Here Are All of the Nations that Incarcerate More of Their Population than the U.S.” Huffington Post, October 10th, 2013. Post.
Clinti Rodriguez, Roberto. “Arizona’s ‘banned’ Mexican American Books” The Guardian, January 18th, 2012. Post
For example, the Edward Snowden situation, presented in the article, “Top Secret?” by Suzanne Zimbler and Stephanie Kraus, does indeed parallel the “Giver”. First of all, in both cases, there is a government interference that few are aware of. In the “Giver,” this refers to a purposefully created society, which is engineered to be without our everyday problems. In Snowden’s case, being the secretly collected communications data to “protect” us against terrorism. In both of these, peoples’ rights are being taken away, whether it’s the ability to love, witness animals, see color, have your own baby, or just talk privately with your grandmother. Secondly, the two examples have “whistle-blowers,” or people who set public paradigms straight: Edward Snowden and Jonas. Coincidentally, in both situations, the whistleblowers were unknowingly working to preserve the corrupt way their society was functioning (funny, right?!). But the big difference is- wait for it- awareness. Both Edward and Jonas receive staggering information and try desperately to share it. Edward, as you must know, was successful, but no matter how hard he tries to share memories with his sister, no matter how many times he tries to explain the idea of war to his friends, Jonas can’t get through to anybody. This is what he wants to change.
Another way our world parallels the “Giver’s” is our control. The U.S. justice system, like the “Giver’s,” is trying to keep a handle on our society, but is taking the easy way out. Because incarcerating innocents instead of giving them proper trials and verdicts is “simpler,” because taking away a your peoples’ ability to fall in love, see colors, and truly enjoy life makes a sort of “uncomplicated utopia,” we see both our society and the one in the “Giver” stripping people of the basic things they deserve. Would it surprise you that with 716 of every million people, the United States imprisons more of its population than any other country? It’s truly appalling.
A second example of control that parallels the “Giver” is discussed in Roberto Rodriguez’s article, “Arizona’s ‘Banned’ Mexican American Books.” He writes that, “In the aftermath of the suspension of the Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican American studies department, TUSD has confiscated and continues to confiscate MAS teaching materials.” Sounds familiar? This is exactly what they did in the “Giver” to keep information about the past away from the people. The teaching of Chicano history is being strongly debated in that area for questionable reasons like “Racism has nothing to do with color,” and “Mexico is where Mexican studies should be taught, not America.” It is, of course, surprising that this is what our society has come to: taking away students’ right to read “Chicano! The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement” and “500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures,” but maybe this is what governments have to resort to keep knowledge away from our young.
You could even compare the music we listen to to the “Giver”. Songs like Uprising, The Logical Song, and Bittersweet Symphony definitely relate to it, but I find the simple “Harrison Bergeron” song from a vocabulary-building packet the most suited for this paragraph. It is written about a day when the government decided that everybody should be treated as equals, but this new rule had a very unreasonably profound effect on the way we live. The song has interesting verses- such as, “All across the nation we gave it an ovation/ we stood up and clapped, till they noticed that/ not everyone could stand up and clap like us/ so they weighed us down and kept us handcuffed” and, “They instituted and set up new rules that/ made pretty kids ugly and skinny kids fat”- which really make you think about what equality really means. The “Giver” society had equality, but at what cost? The song’s chorus asks if you are ”Close or aloof to the daily news?” and if you “know what society is doing to you?” These are real questions that need to be pondered. Do we want equality at great costs, or freedom with segregation?
Why we can’t ever have a truly perfect society, it will forever be a mystery. All we know for sure is that no matter how hard we try, no matter what progress we make, we can’t get a utopia. But, what we can do is learn from Lois’s book. It has too many similarities for us to ignore. If our society could dispose of war and hunger like the “Giver’s” did, Imagine how life could be.
Bibliography
Lowry, Lois. “The Giver.” United States: Houghton Miffin, 1993. Print.
Zimbler, Suzanne, Kraus, Stephanie. “Top Secret?” Time June 10th, 2013. Print
Win, Nick. “Here Are All of the Nations that Incarcerate More of Their Population than the U.S.” Huffington Post, October 10th, 2013. Post.
Clinti Rodriguez, Roberto. “Arizona’s ‘banned’ Mexican American Books” The Guardian, January 18th, 2012. Post