Are their conflicts in the first third of The Giver? (Chpt. 1-7)?

Question

Are their any conflicts in the first third of The Giver? (The first third of the Giver are chapters 1-7) PLEASE HELP! Could you tell me what the conflict is and what kind of conflict? THANK YOU!

Answer 1

Well, I don't have the book on hand, but I have read it.  The biggest conflict occurred throughout the entire story:  Although the people of Jonas' society created a world in which there was no pain, they wiped out love and joy in the process.  If we don't know pain, how could we know happiness?

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For example:

To remove divorce from life, Jonas' society simply had family units.  There was no love, as husbands and wives were matched up purely based on compatibility and not their true feelings for one another.   "Birthmothers", as they're called in the book, got pregnant by a pill or something, and then the newborns were distributed to proper family units, with only two children allowed per family unit.

In the attempt to eliminate prejudice, color was taken from the society  Everyone looked the same, except for people like Jonas who had "light eyes", as the book called them.  To eliminate the bad that comes from our differences, Jonas' society took out all the good that came from them as well.

Jobs were assigned to everyone in the society.  Pills were taken to stop emotions called "stirrings", or sexual desires.  As long as the people kept taking the pills, they wouldn't desire romantic relationships.

3 infractions of the rules and the citizens were "released".  There was no privacy, because all feelings, as well as dreams, were taught to be shared at a very young age.

Children were hit with the discipline wand if they didn't used the proper word.  Precision of speech, rather than the expression of emotions, was encouraged in Jonas' society.

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To create this "perfect" Utopia, freedom and happiness were sacrificed.  If were do not know pain, how could we know joy?  I guess the major questions is "Is the removal of suffering worth sacrificing happiness?"

That is the major conflict throughout the book, not just in the first third.  You may want to check up on my information.  I'm pretty sure it's all accurate, but it's been a while since I read the book.  I recommend the article about "The Giver" on wikipedia.

Answer 2

The book is about a dystopian society that has people decide their careers at age 12. People have no emotions and can't see color. It is a good read. Try it.