THECONCEPTOFDYSTOPIA

TheGiverisaworkofdystopianfiction.
DystopiaisawordcoinedbyJ.SMilltodescribeastateofaffairscompletely
oppositetoutopia.
UtopiawasoriginallythenameofanimaginarysocietycreatedbyThomasMore.In
thiscity:
Everymanhasarighttoeverything,nomanispoor,noneinnecessity,
andthoughnomanhasanything,yettheyareallrich.
ThesocietyofUtopiaisanidealsociety.Itis,inotherwords,asocietythatoperates
inthebest,thefairestandthemostpeacefulway.Inshortitisagoodsociety.
ActivityOne:
Intheboxbelowrepresent(throughwordsorpictures)whatyoubelievearethe
characteristicqualitiesofagoodsociety.

ActivityTwo:
Themostconventionalwaytodefinedystopiaistosetitasthepolaroppositeof
utopia.However,dystopiasandutopiasshareagreatnumberofsimilarities.Youjob,
nowistocompareandcontrasttheexamplesofutopiaanddystopiainthefollowing
twopages.
Inyourexercisebooksdrawalinethroughthepage.Ononesidewillbeasection
detailingcharacteristicsofutopias,andontheother,asectiondetailingcharacteristics
ofdystopias.
Circleorhighlightthesimilarities.
ActivityThree:
WhatcharacteristicsofutopiaanddystopiaexistinthesocietyofTheGiver?

Choosethreeofthesecharacteristicsandgiveevidenceofthembydrawingfromthe
text.WriteaPEELparagraphforeachoneofthethreecharacteristicsyouhave
selected.

SCENESOFUTOPIA

PeaceableKingdombyEdwardHicks

FromTheBookofIsaiah,Ch.11:69
Thewolfwilllivewiththelamb,
theleopardwillliedownwiththegoat,
thecalfandthelionandtheyearlingtogether;
andalittlechildwillleadthem.
Thecowwillfeedwiththebear,
theiryoungwillliedowntogether,
andthelionwilleatstrawliketheox.
Theinfantwillplaynearthecobrasden,
andtheyoungchildwillputitshandintothevipersnest.
Theywillneitherharmnordestroy
onallmyholymountain,
fortheearthwillbefilledwiththeknowledgeoftheLord
asthewaterscoverthesea.

FromBookIIofMoresUtopia:

FromImaginebyJohnLennon
Imaginethere'snocountries
Itisn'thardtodo
Nothingtokillordiefor
Andnoreligiontoo
Imagineallthepeople
Livinglifeinpeace...
YoumaysayI'madreamer
ButI'mnottheonlyone
Ihopesomedayyou'lljoinus
Andtheworldwillbeasone
Imaginenopossessions
Iwonderifyoucan
Noneedforgreedorhunger
Abrotherhoodofman
Imagineallthepeople
Sharingalltheworld...

InUtopia,whereeverymanhasarighttoeverything,theyallknowthatifcareistakentokeepthe
publicstoresfullnoprivatemancanwantanything;foramongthemthereisnounequaldistribution,
sothatnomanispoor,noneinnecessity,andthoughnomanhasanything,yettheyareallrich.

SCENESOFDYSTOPIA
FromthefilmMetropolisbyFritzLang

From1984byGeorgeOrwell
Howdoesonemanasserthispoweroveranother,
Winston?
Bymakinghimsuffer,hesaid.Exactly.Bymaking
himsuffer.Obedienceisnotenough.Unlessheis
suffering,howcanyoubesurethatheisobeyingyour
willandnothisown?
Theoldcivilizationsclaimedthattheywerefounded
onloveorjustice.Oursisfoundeduponhatred.Inour
worldtherewillbenoemotionsexceptfear,rage,
triumph,andselfabasement.Everythingelseweshall
destroyeverything.
Inthefuturetherewillbenowivesandnofriends.
Childrenwillbetakenfromtheirmothersatbirth,asone
takeseggsfromahen.Thesexinstinctwillbeeradicated.
Procreationwillbeanannualformalityliketherenewal
ofarationcard...Therewillbenoloyalty,exceptloyalty
towardstheParty.Therewillbenolove,exceptthelove
ofBigBrother.Therewillbenolaughter,exceptthe
laughoftriumphoveradefeatedenemy.Therewillbeno
art,noliterature,noscienceTherewillbenocuriosity,
noenjoymentoftheprocessoflife...Butalwaysdo
notforgetthis,Winstonalwaystherewillbethe
intoxicationofpower,constantlyincreasingand
constantlygrowingsubtler.Always,ateverymoment,
therewillbethethrillofvictory,thesensationof
tramplingonanenemywhoishelpless.Ifyouwanta
pictureofthefuture,imagineabootstampingonahumanfaceforever.

Definitionexercise.
QUESTIONStodowiththegiver
Describe,drawingonthetextforevidence,
Somepagenumbers.
Combarableto

ConsidertheconversationbetweenJonasandTheGiveronpages127128ofthetext:
NowthatIcanseecolours,atleastsometimes,Iwasjustthinking:whatifwe
couldholdupthingsthatwerewerebrightred,orbrightyellow,andhecouldchoose?
InsteadofSameness.
Hemightmakewrongchoices
Oh.Jonaswassilentforaminute.Oh,Iseewhatyoumean.Itwouldntmatter
foranewchildstoy.Butlateritdoesmatter,doesntit?Wedontdaretoletpeople
makesafechoicesoftheirown.
Jonassdilemmaisnotbetweenbadrulesandgoodrules,butbetweenriskyrules
andsaferules.