What was the goal of the community’s founders when they created this Utopia?
The community in The Giver iscreated in order to achieve a Utopia. By examining the community’s rules and procedures it is clear that one of the goals of the creators was to create a society where all citizens are equal. One way the community ensures equality is by providing everyone with identical belongings. Even homes were appointed with identical furnishings. When Jonas visits the Giver’s annex for the first time, he compares the Giver’s furnishings with those in his own family’s dwellingnoting that “furniture was standard throughout the community: practical, sturdy, the function of each piece clearlydefined” (44).With everyone owning identical possessions, each citizen feels equal to every other citizen and no one feels like he has less.
Equality is also promoted through the practice of “sameness” where individuals are encouraged to be like everyone else and citizens learn from an early age that differences are not acceptable. At the Ceremony, when she is addressing the group of children about to receive their jobs, the Chief Elder acknowledgesthat the children have“spent [their] years till now learning to fit in, to standardize [their] behavior, to curb an impulse that might set [them] apart from the group” (58).Clearly the community values “sameness” in order to ensure that all citizens are treated equally. The community founders must have felt that in order to create a perfect world where everyone belongs,equality must be attained.
Introduction and conclusion (topic sentence is in bold)
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WHAT NOT TO DO:
The creators of the community had certain goals in mind, and I think that one of the goals was to have equality. My first reason to support this goal is the rule that everyone dressed the same. The quote I have to support this idea is on pg.5 where it says “’I apologize to my classmates,’ Asher concluded. He smoothed his rumpled tunic and sat down.” This quote shows that people wore the same clothes so they were equal.
My second reason is that there is an unspoken rule that it is rude to point out differences. My quote to support this is when the book says, “it was rude to call attention to things that were unsettling or different about individuals (pg. 20). This quote shows that it was not kind to notice someone’s differences. In conclusion, the rules of the community show that the goal of the creators was to have equality.
Note that this “essay” repeats ideas; it does not develop them.