When we first make the acquaintance of Jonas and his Community, the society is presented as a utopia- a place of peace, fairness, and equality. Of course, anyone who is familiar with dystopian literature knows that this is just going to be a big facade. I knew what was going on the moment I saw the elderly being "retired" to Elsewhere... not unlike pets going to "the farm". Shades of Logan's Run. Basically, this is a means of population control: each year, a certain amount of babies are produced, and an equal number of elderly people must be euthanized- er, retired. This is also why Jonas' father kills one of the twin babies... they have one baby too many, so one just has to go. It's simply a matter of overstock. So how did this type of society come about? At the start of the film, Jonas refers to an event called The Ruin far in the past- "back and back and back". We aren't told what this was exactly, whether a war, or some other kind of man-made disaster, and, since they've had their memories taken away, no one in the community knows what it was either. Whatever it was, it left the earth in ruins, and as they rebuilt their society, the community organizers decided to guard against such a horrible occurrence ever taking place again. They decide that the cause of all this destruction was the flawed and corrupt nature of man, and come up with a way to get rid of these flaws- their plan for "sameness". This plan takes pretty much every facet of life into consideration- and under control- even the weather. We learn that there is never any snow in the community, though Jonas sees in his memory that there used to be. The climate of the Community is controlled because, as the Giver explains, one of the causes of strife is hunger and starvation. Winter weather shortens growing seasons, limiting the production of food... so no more winter. There are no animals in the Community- pets or livestock- and Jonas' father mistakenly refers to Lilly's "comfort object," a plush elephant, as a hippo. From this we can infer that they're vegetarians, another reason why the farms must be kept in use year round. Violence and strife can also be caused by inequality, resulting in envy and greed. To prevent this, a policy of "sameness" was instituted... everyone gets what they need, and no more. Everything which could cause inequality is removed from their society. There is no jockeying for position, or for higher paid jobs, because all employment is assigned by the Elders based on ability and the needs of the community. Everyone lives in the same type of dwelling, rides the same type of bicycle, and wears the clothing assigned to those of their profession. Anything which could cause one to prefer certain people over others is removed; colour is taken away, for without it there can be preference for skin tone. Also, there are no last names, because that might encourage clannishness, favouring family over others in the community. For this reason, "families" aren't even related to each other: they're assigned by the Elders, much like their employment. Husbands and wives are decided upon by committee, and babies, born to the artificially inseminated birth mothers are raised in the nurturing center until they are assigned to their family units. Of course, the primary cause of conflict is emotion, so that is something which is also eradicated from their lives. Feelings are acceptable- contentment, happiness, displeasure, etc- but stronger, deeper, potentially violent emotions must be suppressed. This is accomplished by the means of a daily injection taken by all community members which inhibits strong emotion. The strength of the injection is adjusted to each person's requirement- for example, it is strengthened at the onset of puberty. Because, of course, nothing has more potential for causing troubling emotion than sex so that has also been eliminated, all urges, or "stirrings" quickly suppressed with medication. After all, no longer needed for procreation, it's merely a needless complication which could cause competition, strife, or favoritism. It is not enough to suppress these things: even their memory must be done away with, because if they can be remembered, they can be experienced. To that end, the memories of all these things- colour, emotion, weather, etc.- have been erased from the minds of community members, as well as the result of them. The people of the community have no knowledge of history... all they know is the here and now. Instead, all the collective memories of the world are contained in the Receiver, the person chosen to retain all this knowledge. Each generation a Receiver is chosen to be given all these memories from the previous Receiver, so that they can use their knowledge to advise the Elders on any issues which they have not encountered before. As we see, however, in the smoothly run community, such things rarely pop up, so the Receiver is not often consulted. His main purpose now is to contain all the memories, because as we eventually learn, if they were released, everyone would once again experience them- and the Elders certainly don't want that. In addition to all of this, to maintain a smoothly running, well ordered community it is also necessary to control the behaviour of the people. To that end, there are stringent rules about everything in their lives- nothing is left to chance, or choice. There are rules governing what they can wear, where they can go, what they can say. Not only must everyone ride bicycles, but the age at which they may do so is strictly controlled. There is a curfew- for everyone- and a designated time for sleeping. Physical contact with persons outside your family unit is also not permitted. These rules are maintained through constant vigilance... there are cameras everywhere, inside and out, which monitor and record everything happening in the community. For example, after Jonas and Fiona slide down the solar panels and tumble into the grass, he grabs her hands and helps her to her feet. Immediately there is a public announcement reminding citizens that it's "impolite" to touch those outside of your family. There is no expectation of privacy, either out of doors, or in your dwelling. Repeated flouting of the rules will lead to a person being released to Elsewhere. Basically, people are not to think of themselves as individuals, or even as individual families, but as members of the community. They should not think of their own good, but what is in the best interests of the community as a whole. It is for this reason that, as each graduate is assigned to their employment, the Chief Elder says, "Thank you for your childhood," as though it was a service which they provided to the community. Because that it how it is regarded: they have been in training to spend their lives serving and maintaining their community. This has resulted in a society which is peaceful and productive, where each person knows their place, and there is no poverty, hunger, or crime. People are not driven by emotion or envy or greed, and are unfailingly and painstakingly polite, swiftly apologizing to each other for anything which could be considered rude or inconsiderate. Surely it is worth the loss of personal liberty, if the result is such an exemplary society... or is it? Part III will outline exactly what I think is wrong with this "perfect" way of life.
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