Advantages and Disadvantages of sameness in Jonas’ community
'It wasn't a practical thing, so it became out of date when we went to Sameness.' The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is told from the perspective of a twelve-year-old boy named Jonas growing up in a Utopian society. At the Ceremony of Twelve, where every Twelve receives their life long occupation. Jonas finds out he has been selected to be the Receiver of Memory, the most honoured of Elders. The current Receiver, called Giver by Jonas, transfers memories of pain, joy, feelings, and colour to him. As he receives each memory, he craves for a life outside of the one he has been trapped in for so long. This book proves that being "perfect" is not as great as it sounds. The Sameness, what the Utopian society Jonas lives in was based upon, has no real benefits to the community because there are no feelings, no diversity, and no choices.
Everyone in Jonas' community feels the same way towards each other, which means that they have no feelings. This makes it harder for them to have empathy. " 'It was your first Stirrings...you're ready for the pills. He swallowed the pill, the feelings had disappeared. The Stirrings were gone." This quote is evidence that there are no feelings in this society. The Elders even make more emotional citizens (teenagers and adults) take pills to subdue their feelings. " 'Love.' It was a word and concept new to him." When Jonas is shown the memory of love, he perceives the feeling and repeats the word to himself because he has never used that word before, let alone known what it meant. This is yet another fact that proves that the community cannot benefit from not having any feelings. Without feelings, you cannot have empathy. Empathy is important; it helps us understand what the other person is feeling and helps someone learn how to deal with a problem independently. But if the other person isn't feeling anything, then you cannot have empathy. Not having empathy also makes it...