It seems that the community created by the author in the novel The Giver was a kind of utopia when I read it for the first time. In this society, food is provided for every family, every has his or her own job, everyone has what they need, and there is no pain, no death, no death penalty. Intriguingly, every mistake people make is broadcasted, and no one would like to be so, the only punishment which is mentioned in the book is release, that is used to punish people who have committed great mistakes at least three times. Actually, I was a little perplexed and disturbed with one part of the book that discussed “bidirectional broadcast?” This aspect gives me a sense that the citizens are under surveillance. This is when I realize that the community is totalitarian. Therefore, I doubt now that it is a utopia. But since people seem to enjoy their lives there, it is difficult to say it is not a complete dystopia either. Also, at the beginning of the book, I don’t think a release it a bad thing. Seriously, if it can keep people from committing crimes, then it can’t be bad.  

However, the community in the book does begin to change after the Ceremony of Twelve assigns Jonas his job as the Receiver. It is then I discover what their world is really like from Jonas’s experience. Beginning from memory, I learned there were no colors in their community, which it is definitely a bad sign. Then, the story tells me that no one knows the actual pain of society, which is good for everyone except the Giver and the Receiver. But the most troubling part is that people in this world don’t even have their own emotions, they don’t know love, the strongest human feeling, and they even use medicine to inhibit the feeling of love. They also lack many conceptions like death and engage in activities that I would call murder. As more memories are given to Jonas, he starts to get angry about the community he is in, but he also feels helpless. He decides that he wants everyone in the community to have feelings, especially love. He also learns what “release” is by watching a ceremony. The direct cause of his escape it the release order for his younger brother Gabriel. But the root cause of Jonas’s escape is society itself. When he runs away, he arrives at a place he experiences in his memory, and then the most unbelievable part comes, everyone receives his memory and the story ends with no information about Jonas or Gab. 

At the end, I suppose that both Jonas and Gab are dead, for the end of the memory that Jonas receives is the sudden hurt on his way out, perhaps death comes to them pretty soon. I am not sure whether the author wants to convey the irony of socialism, but it is a possibility because it was published just two years after the Disintegration of the Soviet Union. Also, the community it describes is like a socialist country. The only difference is that society controls its citizens’ minds, perhaps it could also be an irony towards China’s policy and the event happens in China on 4th June, 1989. But, if that is the case, it is quite the opposite than what really happened. Most people who had experienced the event all thought that it was the only way for the Chinese government to stop potential violence.

Ultimately, to me, Jonas’s actions are good! He had given people emotions. But, the question remains, why is memory only given to the receiver instead of to everyone? Just think about the world we are now living in, wars happen every day for the interest of a few people, and crimes are committed selfishly. Just like in the book, we question if our world can be peaceful? But, it is hard to tell. So, Jonas’s actions are well worth it to everyone. All the things we can do now is to build up a better world and try not to prevent our next generation from getting into a situation like Jonas does.