After reading the book, "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, I am confused and puzzled whether the community is utopia or dystopia. Some of the ways of life in the society are utopian, some are not. The main character in "The Giver" is a boy called Jonas. His opinions change throughout "The Giver". First he sees it as a utopic community, but as he learns more about the community he lives in, his opinions change.
The idea of everyone not seeing colours is utopia and dystopia; it makes everyone equal, therefore no racism by skin colour, which is utopia. This can also be dystopia; no one can see colourful rainbows so no one can be mesmerised by the rainbow's beauty.
In December there is a Ceremony, some of the parts of the Ceremony are dystopic and some are utopic. The Ceremony is a celebration of everyone's Birthday. In one part of the Ceremony the Elders chose Assignments for the new Twelves. Most of the time the Assignments that the Elders chose are the right job for the right person. Before the Ceremony, Asher told Jonas that one guy got chosen to be a Sanitation Labourer. He hated this job and released himself. Jonas thought that this was just a story that someone made up. This probably was just a story, but I'm pretty sure that a Twelve has been disappointed in the past about the Assignment that they got picked for but didn't show their disappointment too much. Although the Elders occasionally chose the wrong Assignment, Assignment choosing is mostly utopic.
The community has order and routine. This is good and bad in many ways. No one has many choices, everything is decided for them. It is a rare occasion that someone makes a mistake by a wrong choice. Every year is the same thing. The Ceremony is always organised the same way every year.
Everyone and everything in the Community is the same. This is quite dystopic. There is not any individuality or uniqueness. There aren't any birthdays that celebrate individuality; instead the people in the Community celebrate everyone's Birthday in December, whether or not they are actually born in December. There isn't any individuality at all. Everyone wears the same clothes, has the same hair style and lives in the same type of dwelling.
Most of the rules and laws in the Community are fair and utopic. When someone breaks the rules three times they are released, this is a bit dystopic as release is death. So this would be just like getting a death penalty in some countries. When someone breaks the rules in a small way, they have to formally apologise by saying,
"I apologise for..."
This is the proper way to apologise in Jonas' Community. There are a few rules and laws in the Community that are dystopic and a lot of rules and laws that are utopic.
Death in the Community is called release. Release is very dystopic but a tiny bit utopic. No one in the Community except a few people knows the true meaning of release. Release is a quick and unpainful way of dying. When a new child isn't growing properly or not sleeping well, the new child is released if it doesn't improve in those areas. This is quite dystopic as new children die for no real reason. The only utopic bit about release is that it is quick and unpainful. Release is better than drowning, being tortured or most other ways of dying. Release is mostly dystopic as the members of the Community kill for no real reason.
In the Community there is an n Assignment called Birthmother, I think that it is very dystopic. A Birthmother has three children, all of which she isn't allowed to see, then she is a labourer for the rest of her life. This is unfair and dystopic as other women cannot have children if they haven't been chosen to be a Birthmother. The Assignment Birthmother has nothing utopic about it.
Rudeness is not permitted in the Community; this is utopic as everyone becomes very Christ-like. It would be amazing if everyone in real life had the same manners as the people in "The Giver". The world would a much better place to live in. If someone is rude they would apologise right away and the person they were rude to would forgive them immediately. If everyone forgave each other like the people in the Community then everyone wouldn't argue as much.
In the Community only a few are allowed to lie. This is very utopic as not lying is really Christ-like just like not being rude. The few people that can lie only lie about things that keep release and other things a secret.
Some of the parts of the Community in "The Giver" are utopic and some are dystopic. The Community has dystopic things such as, release, Birthmothers and sameness. There are also a lot of utopic things such as, not being rude, not lying, rules and laws. I think that the Community in "The Giver" is mostly utopic.