Students,
We live in a world full of memories, good and bad, and one in which human experiences are marked by joys, pains, discomfort, pleasure, etc. Imagine a world such as Jonas's, a utopian world that is devoid of differences, pains, and... choices.
Consider this passage:
"But why can't everyone have the memories? I think it would seem a little easier if the memories were shared. You and I wouldn't have to bear so much by ourselves, if everybody took a part."
The Giver sighed. "You're right," he said. "But then everyone would be burdened and pained. They don't want that."
Would you want to live in a world in which decisions, memories, and feelings were removed? Argue your stance and provide evidence for your decision. What would the pros and cons be if you decided to live in a utopian society?
DUE Friday, April 27.
I wouldn't want to live in a world in which decisions, memories, and feelings were removed. I think that being loved, being able to make choices, and remembering the past is worth pain and grief. Even making wrong choices is something I would give up if I had to give up feelings, memories, and decisions. It would be nice to live in a Utopian society, because every one receives what they need and is protected. Also, everyone is equal. But to make a society where everything is "perfect" means you have to give up some things that many wouldn't want to give up. Beautiful things like color, hills, and the sun would have to be given up. Also one wouldn't be able to remember the past if it had been imperfect, and feeling and decisions would be removed. Though hate is a bad feeling that might be okay to give up, love would also have to be given up. Maybe the decision to steal might be a good decision to have remove, innocent decisions like what color shirt you will wear is also removed. The big decision for me is weather the bad decisions, memories, and feelings outweigh the good decisions, memories, and feelings, and I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteEvan Pattinelli
#27
4/20/12
I would not want to live in a world in which decisions, memories and feelings were removed. I would not want to live there because everything would be the same and I would want to feel happiness. If you do make a bad decision it will go away sooner or later. I would want to have memories of the past because I could share them with other people. I would like to see things in color and to see hills. If I could not make any decisions then my life would become boring. In all, I would rather live in a world with memories, decisions and feelings.
ReplyDeleteI would not like to live in a utopian society because if you decisions, memories and feelings were removed you would not be able to express yourself well. Since I play music, not having feelings would make it impossible to play. Memories can cheer yourself up when you make a wrong decision and make you feel bad when you do something wrong. And if you aren't allowed to make choices because you might make a bad choice is an unreasonable rule. If you want to do something and you choose to do it, that is a right decision because you want to do it. But if there is no differences, there is no fun or adventure. And if you don't have those things, there is no point in living.
ReplyDeleteI would not want to live in a world where all choices are removed. No one would have their own character. Everything would be a colorless, bland place. A Utopian society would have some good to it, because people would not have bad decisions. But, in order for there to be no bad decisions, you would even sacrifice the smallest things, like what color and style your clothes are. Yes, that could be a good thing, for instance, there would be no vandalism or fires, but no beautiful things either. There would be no seasons, or snow or sun. I wouldn't see things like the snow frosted mountains ion the winter, the fresh buds of the spring, the heat of the sun of summer, or the brilliantly colored leaves in the fall. So i would rather live in a place with good and bad, than a place where everything is "Perfect".
ReplyDeleteIf I had to choose what world to live in, I would clearly choose the one with choices, memories, and feelings. There are some cons to choosing that such as a bad choices which could lead to vandalism or rudeness. In a Utopian society, everything is perfect, and that just seems too unrealistic. I think that everyone should have to, at least once, fight against pain, fear, and love. Also, I think that all people everywhere should be able to form their own future. That includes choosing their own job, choosing a wife/husband, and even choosing which clothes you wear. Luckily for the people in "The Giver," the Committee of Elders (ad least it sounds like it)do a good job choosing jobs and partners that fit well with that person's personality. Even though The Committee of Elders does a good job on choosing jobs and partners, people should be able to express their feeling more by choice of clothing, and time when you're supposed to be at school or other important things. So between the two, I would definitively choose to not be in a Utopian society.
DeleteI would much rather prefer to live in our "imperfect world" than Jonas's utopian society. Because of the fact that choices and decisions are taken away from such a place, a utopian society isn't "perfect" at all. Life is about taking your own path, doing what you choose, and following what you desire. A controlled and perfect society would ruin that concept. You would never know the meaning of words such as "sled" or "snow", taking away from you the true meaning of life. Although a Utopian society might remove pain or fear, it conceals what it is really like to be in a world. Experiencing pain or fear, you would gain wisdom and find valuable meaning in life. A "perfect" society might hide all bad memories and things, but it will also hide the good ones. Therefore, you may never have the chance to truly enjoy life. When choices are made for you or when everything is the same everyday, there is absolutely no diversity, or interesting events going on. All people would be the same, all families would be the same, and "uniqueness" wouldn't even exist in the world. Without choices, there aren't any chances in life to fulfill you dreams and goals. Be that as it is, I would easily choose not to live in a drab utopian society.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't want to live in a Utopian society because I would want to make my own choices both good and bad. If everything was the same than yes everything would be perfect but people wouldn't make mistakes. This is a problem because if you never made mistakes you wouldn't be able to learn from your mistakes. The pros of living in a Utopian society is you would never make any mistakes and there would be no conflicts. The down side is you wouldn't learn from any mistakes and you wouldn't be able to question life and without questions there are no answers.
ReplyDeleteI would definitly want to live in our world much more than Jonas'.Living in a utopian society means there are no choices and you could never be able to make your own decisions. Also, you could never really be able to have dreams you work hard for and you would want to persuit when you get older. In Jonas' Community, everyone's future in planned out and you have no say in what job you would like to work at. On top of that, there would be no feelings, colors, or memories. everthing would be the same day after day, and I would much rather prefer our "imperfect society" we have today.
ReplyDelete~Sophia LePera
I would hate to live in a world without memory, because you wouldn't be able to have the joy of saying, "remember that time when..." Everybody has to go through hardships, so a painful memory isn't as bad as a broken leg or skinned knee. without memory than nobody would know the histery of the people before tham making it hard to learn from the mistakes alredy made in life. for example, without the memory of ww2 nobody except the elders would be able to stop that from happening again, so i beleive that it would be better to have a few painful memories than no memories at all.
ReplyDeleteI would much rather live in our world today than a utopian society because it would be very boring to not have any colors, or choices. In Jonas's community, everyone is band from making their own decisions about life, like jobs, and they get partnered up with spouses. In our world we get to choose our jobs, choose what we would like to wear in the morning, and we actually have colors in our society. In a utopian society no one would experience actually living life with funny or sad memories. People in a utopian society couldn't have hopes or dreams in life. But one pro is not to have pain, but then again people also would not experience joy and happiness. I would personally not want to live in a utopian society.
ReplyDeleteLindsey Uteda
I would not want to live in a utopian society with no color, no feeling or no choices because it would be it would be the same every single day. Also there would be no snow or skiing which I love. Also I want to be able to choose my own job and spouse. I would want color because I can't imagine living without it and one of the worst things that we would lose would be hills and all the excitement that comes with them. One pro of living in a utopian society is not having pain, poverty or danger. Some of the cons are no color, feeling, hills, weather or choices. In my opinion I like our life now better.
ReplyDelete~ Conrad
I would like to live in the world we live in today. This is because I would not like people making other choices for me. Because the Elders assign jobs and give spouses and kids to people, you would have the right to be independent and make your own choices. Also, it wouldn't be nice to have to wear the same thing every day like everyone else and live where everything is perfect. Colors, scenery, and weather can be the best memories you have and you won't be able to see that. Also, you don't have memories that are good and bad and without memories you can't pass on memories. Good things about living in a utopian society is that you can't make wrong choices and everything is perfect so that nothing goes wrong. Still, I rather live in an imperfect world.
ReplyDelete-Taryn
I think life as it is today is wonderful and well balanced even though there are wars, fights, and hunger all the time. I'm sure that if we all lived in a utopian society, life would be much different and diffidently safer but it would be a very sad and would be a dramatic change. Possibly if i was born into the community and never knew any different i would be perfectly happy. For instance if i never knew what murder, pain, and war was i would feel much more secure when i'm home alone for a little while, etc. Also options are always important, but again if knew no difference i would feel grateful for having someone make decisions for me. Not being able to see color would be depressing also and would be frustrating if you knew and saw what it was (Jonas). Even though life in utopian society would be much simpler, i would rather live in our little dangerous world ;P
ReplyDeleteI think that it would be boring because they were sameness .
ReplyDeleteAnd as one of the Celp principles say... diversity is good.
I would not want to live in a Utopian Society because everyone and everything is the same. I believe that everyone should express themselves in their own way. Not everyone should be exactly the same. Another problem is that no one would be able to see color, feel warmth, to experience the feeling of love. Since I've experienced all these things I would not want to to live in a Utoian Society. Even though the world at the moment is going through difficult times, we humans need to embrace our probelms and not have a single person weighted by our issues. Having choices plays a big role in our society. Everyone gets to wake up and choose what they want to wear and what they want to eat for breakfast. These little choices don't mean a lot to us, but to people like Jonas making decisons is a big deal. Living in a utopian society does have benefits though. There is no crime or murder. People living in a utopian society are much safer though they aren't really enjoying life. You should decide your own life and no one should be able to to tell you what to do.
ReplyDeleteSEBASTIAN d.
ReplyDeleteI would much rather live in the world that we live in now, even if it meant going through some hard times. Sure, nobody wants to puke all over the place and feel pain, but we really cant think of life without that. Also, a world devoid of color is ghoulish and wrong. Imagine going to Europe and smelling nothing in the vast field of grey tulips, or bathing in grey water. Also, Change and Difference are needed in this world of ours. Everyone has a skin color, whether it be white or brown or dark skinned, it adds to everyones personality. Finally, who would want to have a spouse chosen for them, because I would sure hate that, especially when your spouse could be someone you don't like! What person would want to live with someone who they don't even love? Any advantages to a Utopian society such as Jonas', no pain, suffering, no memory, and no choice, all are checked and balanced by real life advantages. I dislike some memories, such as when I got hit in the face by a pool toy by Brian Liang, Or fell off of a tree, or lost my brother Tobias, but life wouldn't be the same without that ache in my nose, or the bruises that once covered my body when I fell, or the hole in my heart for my brother, so I would never sacrifice the beautiful world that we have.
Alina Giapis
ReplyDeleteOur home, and they way we live, is much different from a Utopian Society in many ways, but that is how I like it. It is almost painful to try and think of how life would be if we all looked the same, if everything were the same color, if there were no weather, and if some words could not be used. I would also get bored of saying, for example, "I apologize to my classmates for not using precision of language." " We accept your apology, Alina." I mean, sometimes not using perfect language is fun, and most people do not speak with precision anyway. Weather can change a person's moods, and I personally love looking at a clear blue sky and hate looking at a gloomy, cloudy one. And I have to admit, it is nice to be able to make your own choices, although life might just be a tad easier if you didn't. My grandparents, and not able to be "loved", would really be something I would miss with all my heart. Anger can sometimes relive a person of a burden, weighing down their chest, and happiness can bring out the best in a person. Feeling are important, and when you get hurt, it is not a mistake to cry. Crying can also help a person release their anger without a fight or screaming. Life, with its advantages and disadvantages, is fine just the way it is. I can't imagine a day without getting a least a little hurt or being happy at one point. because a person should be able to judge themselves, and know what is best for them, and that is just perfect the way it is.
A Utopian Society is much different from our modern lifestyle. I think that I have the same wish for the society as Jonas and that is to transmit the memories to everyone as he did with Gabriel. I would much rather have life stay the same because I think that in order to LIVE, you must be able to see color, experience feeling, and not always use precise language. I do not think that it is appropriate that every time you do not use precise language you have to apologize. The thought of no color is very depressing because color is what brings hope and vibrance to the world which means no bright blue skies, no endless green fields of grass, and no deep red roses. Without color, the world would be a lifeless as death. I know that pain hurts but imagine never experiencing it. So lets say that I am riding my bike and I slip off. I will not break, sprain, twist, scrap, or anything, but instead I will feel perfectly fine. Can you imagine no pets and animals? You would only have the thought that they were mythological creatures that don't exist. Also I love taking a vacation to the mountains and playing in the snow. I could not imagine a world that hadn't allowed snow and is hiding the memory. Agreeing with Alina, I think that feelings should be embraced, not punished. I do not think it is right for them to use the obedience stick with the young if they cry and even with the Elders at the House of the Old. How would you feel if you had to marry an individual that you neither cared for or loved, let alone choose? I don't think that it is right for people to take pills to hide love and cover it up, instead it should be expressed. I would hate not having the opportunity to choose my occupation, instead the Chief Elders did. For example if you had the dream of becoming a world famous musician and you got the job of Nurturer, wouldn't you be dejected? Utopian Society should never exist if it were up to me because nothing should ever be perfect and without life. As I read on I feel a lot more grateful for the colors I see and the many decisions I am able to make on my own. I have a very firm answer that life should stay the way it is in order to stay in perfect balance.
ReplyDeleteI would rather live in our world today. If our world consisted of "Sameness", everybody would do the same thing everyday and never be able to make their own choices. In that way everyone is kind of like robots. For example, if you are late to school, you would have to apologize every single time, saying the exact same thing. I think it makes more sense for everyone to share happiness and pain, so they can all comfort each other, rather than holding in all the pain and not being able to share it. True, the Giver gets younger and less tired as he gives memories to Jonas, but then Jonas gets older and tired, and the cycle goes on and on. Also, I'm sure kids picked to be the Receiver don't want to give up their life to a job they have to do for the rest of their life, now that they can't apply for release. Overall, I think I would want to live in a world like ours, allowing everybody to be their selves, free of speech, religion, and much more.
ReplyDelete-Emily
Jade W.
ReplyDeleteI think we should have a world with memories and colors because I think it is important to feel pain and to make bad mistakes so you can learn from them. Also to have color in the world gives living a whole different meaning and gives the world life. I would not like to live in a Utopian world because they don't experience these things. The people that live there have never gone on adventures and don't learn anything about life. Another thing is that nothing in this world is perfect so again we can learn and strive to try to be perfect. But in the Utopian world everything is perfect so they won't come up with ideas to fix a problem or a situation and won't learn from it.
Michael V.C.
ReplyDeleteI would much rather live in the world that we know, even though Socialism is supposedly "Utopian," and there is no true pain. Even though Communism assigns everything, and can prevent foolish choices, I enjoy waking up in the morning and choosing between a red or blue tunic/shirt, though I do support uniformal systems. Also, no one can be wealthier, or better off than others, which I think should be an earned luxury. Another item of fact is that everyone is issued things, like food, a spouse, and a dwelling place. Two last negative thoughts of the Society, are that all power lies within the hands of the "government," and there is no religion, and no god or theory is believed by the people, because they are taught not to question authority. All in all, I hate "Utopia!"
I would much rather live in an imperfect world, where you can make choices, have memories, and have feelings. This is because in a "perfect" world, you would be told what to do, who to marry, and what your vocation would be. In this world, you can make your own choices, bad or good. Even bad choices are good for you, once you make them, you learn from your mistakes and gain wisdom. I cannot see how not having to make choices can make our lives too much better. I can see how without having to make choices, there would not be jealousy like there is now. Everyone would be equal, there would be no murder or poverty,but the world wouldn't be right. There would be nothing to achive. Like if someone wants to be rich, and chase their dreams, they wouldn't be able to. They would have their jobs chosen for me, and I don't think that is right.
ReplyDeleteNicholas D.
ReplyDeleteLike others, I would perfer our imperfect world over the Utopian society. I have learned that many fun things in life come from the choices we make. If I was forced to do what people thought was good, like a job, I may be good at it, but I may not have a good time. Also, applying for a wife and children, is something that could have its flaws, like having to wait for long amounts of time. Having no color would be boring and it would be harder to tell things apart. There being no currency per hour, mean some will work harder than others, but will have the same things. Even Jonas realizes that although his world has no misery or pain, things may have been better before Sameness.
I believe that a world without memories would be worse. This is because memories should be part of everyone's life because they make a person's mind morre experienced and able to handle situations more well. The pros of living in a world without memories are no pain to bear or remember, and the past not clouding the ability of people's futures. The cons are that thre would be no good memories such as birthdays, everyone would be missing out on the great moments in life. There would also be no feelings of any kind in Jonas's utopian world. All people in this society feel no pain, which can be considered better, but people would not feel the touch of sun, and the feeling of the ocean breeze. Overall, I would rather live the way we do now, with no limits to what a mind can hold.
ReplyDelete-- Roland
I believe that a Utopian society has both advantages and disadvantages, such as not being able to choose what you want to eat, or what job to get, but the advantages is that you don't have to worry about rain ruining a party or crimes. Personally, I would want the current world more than a Utopian one, for at least you have choices and the chance of something not going as planned. Also, in Jonas' world, there are decisions, memories, and feelings. An example of having memories might be when Jonas was selected as Receiver, the Chief Elder asked him if he remembered squishing his finger in the door, and an example for decisions might be what are you going to do for the holiday that's coming up, and an example for feelings is, obviously, the sharing of feelings at the end of each day. P.S. the site template doesn't show properly on Macintosh when not logged in. (I deleted the above comment to for slight edits.)
ReplyDeleteI would want to live in a world where you get to decide everything that happens to you. In a Utopian society everything is decided for you, your memories, feeling, meals, your spouse, your job, and everything else that happens to you in your regular day. You also don't know what warmth feels like or what sunlight is. You can't see colors or see anything in your own perspective. The only good thing in a Utopian society is that you don't have to live in pain and know about war, murders and other horrible, dangerous things. I would want to live in a world where you have a say in things even if are bearing your own burdens and pain.
ReplyDeleteOlivia W.
ReplyDeleteI would much rather live in an “imperfect” world than a “perfect” one. Without feelings, the world would be a boring place, always doing the same things each day. There would be no joy, and to me joy is what we live for. Jonas’s life before he became the receiver was not only monotonous, but without laughter and color. The only advantage to living in a utopian society is that there would be no pain, embarrassment, or arguments. Disadvantages of this would be no color, sun, hills, or love. If everyone did live in a utopian society, everything would be the same and there would be no choices, even small ones like choosing which color shirt to wear. This also means if you don’t agree with the way things are, you will be punished. I believe our world is much better than Jonas’s because of all of the choices we make and feelings that we sometimes take for granted.
Tyler R.
ReplyDeleteI would prefer to live in a world with diversity, a world where there are choises, I would like to live where I could be independant and choose my path in life. In the Utapian community the people only have experienc in there assignment.
I would prefer to live in a world like to today where everyone is different. The problem with sameness is that eventually it would get really boring and there would be no fun in the world. Even though our world has a lot of problems a perfect world is more imperfect. Choices are good and diversity is good.
ReplyDeleteI would prefer to live in a world like today. The reason for this is because I would hate to not have choices, especially if I knew that there were some, like Jonas at the beginning of his training. After a while of that "sameness" I would just become very bored. I would like to live in a world where I could be independent and take my own path in life. "Diversity is good." -Celp
ReplyDeleteI would much rather live in the present world today, with freedom. In that world the six senses are almost useless. You listen to the same things,see the same things, and hear basically the same things too. If i lived in that world i would not have met allot of friends that i have, for they are either twins or have multiple siblings and would be released. I would hate to live there, in a place where no feelings can touch your soul. You can't feel the warmth of the sun,the cold of the snow,and most of all you can't feel the love.
ReplyDeleteI would not want to live in a utopian society where there is no love, joy, happiness, and so on. Even though there would be memories of pain and suffering, "sameness" would be worse. Nobody would be able to make choices and everyone would be the same, there would be no differences. In a utopian society like Jonas's nobody's able to see color, people have assigned jobs, and there are rules of how much information you know. A few things that are good about living in a perfect society is that you would not feel pain, suffering, and starvation. What's bad is that if you had a sister either you or her would be released same thing would happen if there were two brothers. I would say that I would rather live in a society like today instead of a utopian society.
ReplyDeleteApril 26, 2012 7:08 PM
I would rather live in an imperfect world rather than in an utopian society. Today we can make choices and can experience love, happiness, and have memories. We can also see colors and hear music. There are good things about living in a utopian society like not feeling pain, anger, and sadness. In a utopian society every thing is planned for you such as your job and spouse. The idea of sameness is very important to the community. I would not want to live in a world without choices or feelings.
ReplyDeleteConnor S.
ReplyDeleteI would rather live in a diverse world than a "perfect", because in the utopian society of Jonas's world, everyone is practically a stereotypical robot, with no feelings, other than Jonas, and The Giver. You wouldn't be able to choose anything, and would be remote control (practically, by the leaders of the community. If you made any mistakes, you would be punished, no matter how small. The only good thing about this so called "utopian" society is the fact that there is no pain, hunger, and war, although those things also make life.
Thank you, students. A fine, fine job all around!
ReplyDeleteThis blog post is now closed. Have a great weekend!
I would not want to live in a utopian society for many reasons. the fact that you can't make decisions, you don't choose what your job is or anything. Also when it says they can't see color, the fact that you don't know what color something is would be horrible to not know what color you clothes are or roses or something like that would be horrible. If you are assigned even if they choose wisely what if you get a job you don't want and you can't even change it. In theory no war or pain is great but in everybody's life there should be pain you deal with and things like war make this world because there is no perfect to everybody.
ReplyDelete