Violence Beyond the Utopian Society in Lois Lowry’s The Giver

Abstract

This article discusses violence in a constructed utopian society in The Giver, Lois Lowry's distopian novel. We assume that 'sameness' as the governing system in the novel is the source of violence. Therefore, this article aims to reveal the real conditions beyond the utopian society. Applying genetic structuralism by Lucien Goldmann, we analyze the presentation of society in the novel through the narrative structure and relate them to discourses of American society in 1990s with Author as the bridge of the fiction and real life. The result of this analysis shows that comfort facilities provided by the government in a society is potential to hegemonize people and dehumanize them for the sake of power.