review of the Giver

This book shows a dystopian society that sees itself as being Utopian.  Though, these people would not understand the concept of such things.  They do not feel true pain, starvation, war, or sadness.  No one dies, instead they are simply released into the Elsewhere.  They are not individual, but a society in which every person tends to each other.   They must share their dreams and feeling together every day.  No one marries for love or bares their own children. 

The things that people see as being ordinary and every day for us would be horrible for them.  They do not struggle with dating, instead they are assigned a spouse (after they apply for one).  They do not have to worry about accidental pregnancies or not being able to feed themselves or others.  They do not have our driving forces.  They have the order of the Community and that is all that seems to matter to them. It is what could happen to humanity if we took away the individual.  If we were to assign everyone their family and job, they would become an orderly but passionless world.  So, the debate of the book is whether the order is worth the humanity that is sacrificed for it.