Grade 10: The Giver

Utopia: A place, state, or condition that is ideally perfect in respect of politics, laws, customs, and conditions.

vs. 

Dystopia: A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system.

Characteristics of a Dystopian Society

• Propaganda is used to control the citizens of society.
• Information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted.
• A figurehead or concept is worshipped by the citizens of the society.
• Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance. • Citizens have a fear of the outside world. 
• Citizens live in a dehumanized state. 
• The natural world is banished and distrusted. 
• Citizens conform to uniform expectations. Individuality and dissent are bad.
• The society is an illusion of a perfect utopian world.

Types of Dystopian Controls

Most dystopian works present a world in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through one or more of the following types of controls: 

• Corporate control: One or more large corporations control society through products, advertising, and/or the media. Examples include Minority Report and Running Man.
• Bureaucratic control: Society is controlled by a mindless bureaucracy through a tangle of red tape, relentless regulations, and incompetent government officials. Examples in film include Brazil.
• Technological control: Society is controlled by technology—through computers, robots, and/or scientific means. Examples include The Matrix, The Terminator, and I, Robot.
• Philosophical/religious control: Society is controlled by philosophical or religious ideology often enforced through a dictatorship or theocratic government.

The Dystopian Protagonist 

• Often feels trapped and is struggling to escape.
• Questions the existing social and political systems.
• Believes or feels that something is terribly wrong with the society in which he or she lives.
• Helps the audience recognizes the negative aspects of the dystopian world through his or her perspective.

From readwritethink.com

Check out SparksNotes and LitCharts for a summery and breakdown of the story.  

Getty Images/Taylor Hill

Lois Lowry's first book, A Summer to Die, was published in 1977. Since then, she has written over twenty novels for young adults and has won numerous awards, including two prestigious Newbery awards, one for Number the Stars and the other for The Giver. Lowry doesn't rely on awards to determine her success as a writer but, rather, on how well she communicates with her readers about individuality, life, and relationships. Her books portray sensitive, intelligent, witty protagonists who are faced with challenges and choices in life. She writes about topics that range from the humorous escapades of Anastasia Krupnik to Jonas' serious realization in The Giver that he has been living his life like a robot.

Lowry was born on March 20, 1937, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Robert E. Hammersberg, a United States Army dentist, and Katherine Landis Hammersberg. Because her father was a career army officer, Lowry often moved during her childhood. From Hawaii, her family relocated to New York, and during World War II, she, her mother, and her older sister, Helen, lived with her mother's family in Pennsylvania while her father was stationed overseas. During this time in Pennsylvania, Lowry's grandfather showered her with attention and affection, but her step-grandmother merely tolerated her. Because Lowry was a shy, introverted child, she sought companionship and entertainment in the wonderful worlds that existed within the books she found in her grandfather's library. After the war, Lowry and her family joined her father in Tokyo, Japan, where they lived for two years in an Americanized community.

Read more about Lois Lowry here.