Prison vs. The Community

Colorless, cold, lifeless; these all describe life in the community of The Giver. Never standing out, never standing up for yourself; because that’s what life is for you.  In the community the citizens don’t get to choose what they do, it’s chosen for them- much like life in prison.  Forced to stick on a schedule, being released at a certain time, and being the same as the person next to you. I believe that life in the community and in prison are similar in many ways.

            What would life be like if you knew what was going to happen? No ups and downs, no surprise, and no chance of living life to its full potential. Every day you would wake up and know your schedule.  You would have no free time, except what was included in your agenda for the day- but is that really free time? We all at one point just want to sit down and relax, and not worry about missing our next event.  In our lives, we’re all busy.  Sports, clubs, and different activities fill our calendars, but these are things we chose to do. For some of us, this is our free time; it’s how we like to express ourselves.  In the community or in a prison, you have to stick to a plan. A plan that decides your life for you.

            You do your time, and you’re released. Released from prison, released from the community, released from your life. When you become old, or just want to leave the community, in The Giver; you can be released.  Being released means leaving what you’re used to.  After living in a prison for possibly 50 years, the outside world is abnormal to you, as is elsewhere- where you go after living in the community.  Everything is so strange, you are able to choose things, and you are able to be an individual.  In the community it is chosen for you when you get to be released. If they feel like you are old enough to die in the near future, they release you.  In prison, when you have served your time, you can leave.  It is chosen by a jury on how long you will be forced to stay in four walls; and when your time is done, you can leave.

            Imagine a world where everything is the same. Everyone wears the same clothes, everyone eats the same food, and everyone acts the same way.  No one is their own person, they’re all alike. In the community, the citizens’ main rule deals with sameness.  Everyone gets the same amount of stuff, weather that is food, money, or even kids. They all dress alike and keep no secrets to themselves. Prison is the same way.  Everyone gets the same food, the same clothes, and the same attention. No one is different; in fact difference is not welcome. I think that the reason these two are so similar is because you are blindly following the rules of sameness.  You know you have to obey them, so you don’t think any further into them.  No one in prison questions being the same, because they know that they have done something wrong to deserve being there. In the end; being the same stinks whether it’s in the community or in prison.

          
             Living in the community would be a life full of enforced rules, and knowing when you’re released.  Knowing that everything must be the same; knowing what you’re supposed to. I think that if you have to live in the community you are being robbed from the chance of living your life the way you want to.  Not everything has to be chosen for you, because you know yourself the best.  No one else knows what you want to do in life except you.  Living in the community, or prison, makes you have a life full of the same things every day. A life full of boredom and misery; a life not worth living.