Sunday, March 6, 2011

The Giver....

The Giver is an interesting book. Focused on a boy named Jonas, in a society where there is no pain, no hunger, and hardly any death. A 'unique' society. These people are living in a town, where there is no color but black and white, and no pain. This is controlled by a group called 'The Committee'. The group controls everything about Jonas's and the other citizens life's. Ever since I have started to read the book, millions of questions had popped into my head, but I have been assigned a new question:

Why is interdependence fostered in the community?

In a 'unique community', where there is no pain, no hunger and barely any deaths. People still depend on each other to keep safe... Ever since the community, had created their 'unique' design. Young children had been taught how they can depend on others, to complete an assignment. Some depend on the other to complete simple tasks, for example, tying bow ties, helping to finish a sentence, etc. From this, people are able not to get into fights about small things. Therefore, creating a safe society.

All of these rules are enforced by a powerful group called "The committee". When a rule is enforced, the 'ragdolls' (community) follows. This shows that the society depend on 'The Committee' to know what there is to do. An example from the book; "He remembered the cheerful voice calling out, "I want my smack!"
The other Threes, including Jonas, had laughed nervously. "Snack!" They corrected. "You meant snack, Asher!" But the mistake had been made. And precision of language was one of the most important tasks of small children. Asher had asked for a smack." (Page 55) This shows how mistakes might be taken as granted, and sooner, punished.

Interdependence may have variables. Albeit small, they can be important. Jonas's community, has shown that they have a very controlled society, and look into the new rule before they publish it. What might go wrong is, if they don't look into the question, there might be some type of variable. Therefore, creating mischief or pain for the citizens. So if the committee is not careful, they might lose their status as the leaders.


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