Brainwashing And Censorship In Lois Lowry's The Giver

Every society needs a governing power, but where is the line drawn in order to keep everything fair? In Lois Lowry’s The Giver, the main character Jonas lives in a world controlled by The Committee of Elders. Though the government aims to promote sameness in their community and rid the people of harmful feelings the committee is abusing their power and taking away the society’s free will. The Committee of Elders actions exemplify the contemporary anxiety that comes from being oppressed by a totalitarian government through acts such as brainwashing, the use of a surveillance system, and censorship. The act of brain changing is the same as brainwashing and it is sometimes used in our current society. Brainwashing is generally used for military …show more content…
The citizens of the society are required to follow a strict set of rules and if they get out of line the Committee will know because of the surveillance system set up in the community. When Jonas broke a rule an announcement was made specifically for him and afterwards, “No one had mentioned it, not even his parents, because the public announcement had been sufficient to produce the appropriate remorse” (Lowry 23). The Committee sees all and when citizens act up an announcement is made to the community in order to correct the wrongs a person made and inform others what not to do. The surveillance in the community is used to perfect citizen’s actions and make sure that everyone complies with the rules. Since the people are always being watched, it puts some citizens on edge. While Jonas tells The Giver that he likes the memory of love, “He glanced nervously at the speaker on the wall, reassuring himself that no one was listening” (Lowry 126). The people in Jonas’s society are careful about what they speak about because the surveillance system picks everything up and can get them in trouble. Since the speaker system restrains people from saying anything they want their freedom of speech becomes