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  • Essay / How Rules Govern Society in "The Giver"

    Table of ContentsIntroductionRules in Jonas's CommunityRules in Jonas's FamilyHow Missions Control and Organize CitizensConclusionWorks CitedIntroductionThe Giver by Lois Lowry is a novel about a teenager named Jonas. Jonas lives in a utopian community, where there is no pain, no fear, no war or crime. In this community, no one has the right to choose their spouse, their family or their job. Everything and everyone in the community is the same. “No one thinks to ask questions. Everyone obeys. Life in the community where Jonas lives is perceived as perfect, this results from the rules that govern the community. Lowry demonstrates the theme of rules governing society in three ways: the rules in Jonas's community, the rules in Jonas's family, and the way missions control and organize citizens. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The Rules in Jonas's Community Lowry effectively demonstrates the rules and how Jonas's community is strictly governed by rules through Jonas's experiences and thoughts throughout his daily life. “At first he was just fascinated. “He had never seen an airplane up close because it was against the rules for pilots to fly over the community.” Later, the reader hears about the pilot's fate. This quickly establishes that this community is very structured and rule-based, and breaking this rule results in penalties. Lowry then introduces the emphasis on precise language that allows the community to avoid speech habits or slang that can set someone apart. “Two children, a boy and a girl, in each family unit. It was written very clearly in the rules. When the parents of a family unit feel ready, they must contact the Commission for a child. Their application is reviewed and a match is found, associating a new child born that year with each family whose application was approved. New children are handed over to their designated families during December rituals, some of them are still babies, while those born earlier in the year can walk. Each new child has a name when placed in their designated family unit. When Jonas' father brings Gabriel home, everyone in the family unit, even Lily, must sign a contract stating that they will not stay with the new child and will be willing to abandon him to feed him once the additional contract completed. There was no way Jonas' family could keep Gabriel because they had two children in their unit. These examples show how people's actions are controlled by the rules that exist. Jonas Lowry's Family Rules emphasizes that the rules of each family unit were also very important. In this community, Jonas has school books and each family must have three books. “But the most notable difference is the books. In his home were the necessary reference volumes that each house contained: a dictionary and the thick community volume which contained descriptions of each office, factory, building and committee, as well as the book of rules. The main book of the community is called Rule. It contains all the necessary rules that citizens must follow in the community. There are many rules because there is a rule for everything. If you break the rules you will be punished and break all three rules and you will be released from the community. When Jonas sees the books for the first time, he can't imagine what all these books arecould contain. “Jonas was looking at them. He couldn't imagine what those thousands of pages contained. Could there be rules beyond the rules that governed the community? Could there be more descriptions of offices, factories and committees? Every evening, around the dinner table, each member of Jonas's family (Mother, Father, Lily and Jonas) must share their feelings, the family shares their dreams in the morning at breakfast. “Who wants to be first tonight, for feelings? » asked Jonas's father after their evening meal. It was one of the rituals, the evening telling of feelings. Sometimes Jonas and his sister Lily argued over who would go first. Their parents, of course, were part of the ritual; They too talked about their feelings every evening. But like all parents. All adults, they did not fight or argue for their turn. Sharing emotions seems to be a great ritual in which families share and help each other to resolve problems and problems maturely. Jonas' family seems to care about each other. However, the focus is on the rules. How Missions Control and Organize Citizens Lowry effectively demonstrates that all members of the Jonas community are organized and controlled by their mission (received during the Ceremony of the Twelve). In The Giver, most first twelve year olds receive a gift. One-year-olds are given a name and placed in a family unit. From the age of four, they are given coats that button at the back to teach them interdependence. At the age of seven, the children were given a buttoned jacket. At the age of eight, they were given new clothes. while ninth grade children received bicycles. In the tenth year, children get their hair cut. In grade 11, they receive less sexist lessons. Finally, from the twelfth year onwards, children are assigned a job within the community. » Jonas laughs. It was one of the few rules that wasn't taken very seriously and was almost always broken. The children all received their bikes at Nine; previously they were not allowed to ride bicycles. But almost always, the older siblings secretly taught the younger ones. Jonas had already thought about teaching Lily.” This is the rule regarding cycling. Children are not allowed to ride a bicycle until they are nine years old. However, this is a rule that is commonly broken, and there has been discussion about changing it, but it is difficult to change these rules in Jonas' community. Jonas realized that some rules were unrealistic, but he always gives people suggestions on how to act from those around him. He's okay with breaking the cycling rules because others are doing it, but he's not breaking the nudity rule. Additionally, Jonas realizes that in his community everyone is the same, and everyone obeys when Jonas hears the announcements: "The missions continued, and Jonas watched and listened, relieved now by the wonderful mission that had been entrusted to his best friend. But he grew more and more worried as his day approached... thinking about the training that awaited him. For a studious man to have been chosen as a doctor, a woman as an engineer and another for law and justice would represent years of hard work and study. Others, such as laborers and birth mothers, would have a much shorter training period. In the community, the beginning of adulthood is marked by the integration of every twelve year old into the labor market. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our editors now.). (2011)..