The Giver: A Reflection Paper

Embodying the entirety of a perfect world, “The Giver” reveals the opposite – of the
continuous cry that drives us away from illusions and echoes realities towards us in search for
truth and knowledge. The movie displays that above us lies a Utopian community surrounded by
clouds and mists, separated from humanity, and bounded by sameness and perfection.
Fortunately, there is one young man, by the character of Jonas, who perceives differently from
his community but similarly to the memories of the past which tells us more about the real world.
It has been tough for him and the old man to deal with people whose minds and actions are being
controlled by the Elder Chief and whose emotions and other innate characteristics are being
taken away from them. Until it came that the young man has successfully transcended from the
boundary which caused memories to be fully restored once again. Preserved for a long time,
truth has finally prevailed. But what kind of truth? How is it different before and after the
sameness? Is truth only one or may vary depending on whether it depicts the real or the perfect
one? How is this movie relating towards a philosophy where subjectivity is eliminated to
preserve the truth and purify one’s thoughts?

From these questions, we can relate the study behind correct and good reasoning, of all
disciplines, and of the truth itself. Logic seems parallel to the Utopian community in the movie
embodying its plan for sameness. While the characters follow a set of rules and need to act
accordingly, logic is also highly restricted in terms of its use and structure. Similar to the
grayscale scheme which is presented as the mood for most of the scenes within the movie, logic
has been thought to be seeing only the black and the white – no other colors involved. There is
also an involved pattern where logic, just like most of the characters perceive, is being
manipulated by its governing principles in order to achieve precision towards everything,
particularly in terms of one’s reasoning. Without achieving the plan for sameness, the characters
in the movie might have relied on unaided reasoning which makes them immediately believe
without proof. In return, they might have been in chaos because the characters might have
misinterpreted everything else. This instance is also being viewed in logic. Fallacies occur
because people might have lacked awareness towards determining what information tells the
truth and the lie. Also, we are subject to our personal biases. Emotions such as pain and
excitement directly affect our tendency to reason badly and incorrectly. This is what both the

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.
Using this work for profit and changing the work in any way without proper attribution are highly prohibited.
plan for sameness and logic want to achieve – to create a perfect world. However, this is not
always the case for the latter.

It has been realized first by Jonas and then by the whole community in the movie that the
plan for sameness is not what everyone needs. It is the reality, being kept for many years as a
memory of the past in order to avoid untoward incidents to happen, to which everyone must
experience. In the real world, order, precision, and other principles that govern the plan for
sameness are still possible to achieve. Similarly, some people might be confused but it has been
argued and justified from time to time that Logic is a human invention. However, it can only be
applied to the academic discipline but the ability itself is natural to us. Even though purely
objective among its forms, logic works based on how a person observes the real world.

To further explain, logicians are thought to be always objective. They devote most of
their time to check for the consistency of truth which epistemologists look for. Most of us know
that being objective means not being dependent upon what people think or feel. A logician is not
solely influenced by feelings and does not give opinion without subscribing to facts, as we may
all know. However, it is not always this case that a logician is purely objective. Let us view this
from the perspective of Jonas. Although not a logician, he possesses some of a logician’s
attributes. He searched for the truth behind the memories that most of them are unaware and his
unusual tendencies which drove Jonas towards his goal. It is further revealed by him that truth
also transcends beyond being objective. Feelings, emotions, and passion are contributing factors
towards preserving the truth and there are no reasons for these tendencies to be not considered.
For example, the moment after Jonas kissed Fiona and asked his parents about love, these
tendencies Jonas felt are part of the truth of the real world. These seemed alien to others because
they did not know anything about it or not aware of it. Knowing that most of them are unaware
that their actions are inhumane as compared to what are real, it follows that the feelings and
emotions being kept for a long time to achieve a perfect society in disguise are the truths which
would have set them free at the first place.

This is the golden rule that logicians, even us, must remember: we were born to be real
and not to be perfect. The laws of logic prescribe the way our minds ought to think but it is also
important that we should be aware of the context. In this way, we can better understand what
revolves around the truth and what limits truth from knowing it. Likewise, “The Giver” reminds

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.
Using this work for profit and changing the work in any way without proper attribution are highly prohibited.
us that being vulnerable is all right, but it does not change the truth within us. Precision and order
might not be fully preserved here but the truth, which concerns most of the logicians, can be.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.
Using this work for profit and changing the work in any way without proper attribution are highly prohibited.