The Giver Analysis

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Famous American novelist, William Gaddis once said, “Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt power.” This quote states that it’s humanity that is corrupting the value of power and not the other way around. This quote shows what happened with the leaders in the dystopian novels “Examination Day”, The Giver, and “Harrison Bergeron” who were and are normal people, like every other person, until they got a truckload of influence and power and they realized they could do whatever they want and use it against humanity and take control. They don’t know what to do with their power so they use it to create a society that is equal but as time passes the idea becomes more extreme and this results in oppressive societies that do not value and appreciate…show more content…
This piece of evidence talks about how Gabe, a baby boy who stays with Jonas’s family for a while and how he fails his maturity test. “Gabe is a sweet baby who failed his maturity test two times now, we can’t ask for an extension he has to be released” (Lowry 7). This shows that the government wants people in their society to live up to certain standards and if a person is not good enough they will “release” or kill them. Jonas’s family is talking to his mom during dinner at “feelings” time and she tells them about one of the people she judges and that person will get released if he makes one more transgression. She feels frightened for a man she had to punish because he commits an offence against the society for the second time and she knows that if he breaks the rules for a third time, he will be released. In this society the word “release” is to kill (Lowry 8). This shows that if anyone is to violate the strict rules set to minimize emotions, feeling, and other humane personalities they will receive a warning for their “transgression” or crime, and if they make three of them they will be “released” to “protect” humanity. Jonas had a Stirring which is basically an emotional dream, or emotional feeling that comes once they’re at a certain age. Which is…show more content…
Examples like “Examination day” supports this because the government stays in power by having strict laws which limit citizens intelligence. The Giver supports the claim because the government limits citizens knowledge by wiping memories and limiting their emotions. “Harrison Bergeron” supports the claim because the government there controls society through strict rules which limit uniqueness so they are “average”. With all this evidence and analysis we will ask this question, do people really want a government that controls society and do the horrible things stated above or should our goal be to help citizens and have a government that doesn’t restrict

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