The
Giver is an interesting story that shows just how much control a government can
have over people. In Jonas’s community every aspect of their lives is
controlled from the clothes they wear to their emotions. What surprised me the
most was that their government also seems to control what they learn. In
chapter two when Lily is given her stuffed animal or comfort object Jonas says,
“Many of the comfort objects, like Lily‘s, were soft, stuffed imaginary
creatures. Jonas’s had been called a bear.”(18)
These two quotes sort of imply that that they don't know what an animal is. I also realized that Jonas has not mentioned anything
about pets. Which makes me wonder, why would the government take away this sort
of knowledge from them? What’s wrong in knowing about animals?
That's a really great question to be asking..."why?"
ReplyDeleteI think the key to the answer is the part where you say, "why would the government take away knowledge..." It seems like the Elders just want a general lack of knowledge on things that aren't part of the community. Ignorance is bliss, perhaps?