Theoretical Framework

To answer the problem formulation, the theories which have been explained before will be used to strengthen the writer’s answers. The first question will be answered by using the theory of setting while the second question will be answered by using the theory of Utopia philosophy and the theory of society in the novel.

The theory of setting is used to giving explanation how the setting in The Giver is described. Then, it will be followed by answering the second question of the problem formulation which asks about how the Utopian idea of society is represented through the condition of social setting in The Giver. This thesis will focus on studying the society in the novel, so the theory of society in the novel is taken. For the idea is more about the Utopian idea, the theory of Utopia philosophy is used to analyzed further about the conception of Utopia itself. These theories are used to understand the similarity the Utopian idea of society and the condition of social setting in The Giver, so it will be drawn the answer of how the Utopian idea of society is represented through the condition of social setting in The Giver as known by the society of The Giver themselves.

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The work analyzed entitled The Giver is the novel of Lois Lowry which is published by Dell Laurel-Leaf Books in 1993 and reprinted in 2002. This novel consists of 23 chapters in 179 pages. The Giver gets a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and an ALA Notable Book for Children, the Winner of the Regina Medal, a Booklist Editor’s Choice, and a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. In addition, as been said by David Mehegan in his article Lois Lowry: A Children's Writer Who doesn't Talk Down, in The Boston Globe, which is published in April 16, 2008 in http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/15/arts/lowry.php that ‘[t]he latter has sold 5 million books in 29 languages, and a movie version is in development.’

(Mehegan, 2008), makes this novel worthier to be studied.

This novel tells the story of Jonas, a boy who lived in a community which seems perfectly in order. The society never recognizes the famine, war, destruction, or even death. There is a group of people called the Committee of Elders, whose the leader is elected every ten years, governs the society.

Jonas, as a citizen in the community, must follow many rules and procedures which are written in the Book of Rules, such us the citizens are forbidden to leave the dwelling at night except for anyone who is in duty, Stirrings –in this novel is described as pleasant dream of another gender– must be

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treated by pills, two children in each family unit – one male and one female–, etc.

If someone break the rules, for three times, he or she will be released which is a terrible punishment. If someone feels not fit in, he or she can apply for Elsewhere, the place where all released people live. There two occasions of release which are not a punishment, the ceremony of Release for elderly and the new children who the committee feels not having a good quality.

There are also the rituals and traditions which must be followed by every citizen, such us morning ritual of telling dreams and evening ritual of telling the feeling of each member of family unit or the importance of precise language.

Every year, there is a big ceremony which is held for two days in December and followed by all citizens. This ceremony is such a public birthday party which important for their next step of life in the community; for example:

the Ceremony of One is the ceremony for one year old toddlers to get name and be put in a family unit, and the Ceremony of Twelve where the twelve year old children get their assignment and trained for certain time to be the official one later.

The Ceremony of Twelve is the last ceremony of this big ceremony and the most important for it is decided their real future. As other eleven year old children, Jonas was worried about the Assignment he would get.

He was surprised and he never thought that he is chosen as the next Receiver of Memory who is the most important elder, whose the duty is giving advices everytime the Committee asks.

Later, it will be revealed that this perfect community is not perfect as seen.

The Ceremony of Release, which has been said as beautiful ceremony, actually is a ritual of killing people by injecting a syringe filled with deadly liquid. Jonas realizes that this ‘perfect community’ has made people have no feeling. By the Giver help, the previous Receiver of Memory, Jonas escapes and runs away to the outer community, to the Elsewhere.

B. Approach of the Study

To accomplish the thesis, philosophical approach is taken so the analysis might not be out from the problem formulation. Philosophical approach is an approach which believes that ‘the larger function of literature is to teach morality and to probe philosophical issues’ (Guerin, 2002). The approaching is done by comparing a particular philosophy with the literary work whether the literary work represents the philosophy values or not. This kind of approaching is not only analyzing ‘the character and passages’ but also ‘the totally of the work’ (Guerin, 2002).

It is most suitable with this thesis because this thesis wants to reveal the Utopian idea of society of a literature work, which in this case is the novel of Lois Lowry, The Giver, and this idea is considered as the value of life that is owned by a society.

C. Method of the Study

The method of analyzing the work is literary research, in which will be done both by books and the sources from the internet. The primary source is the novel of Lois Lowry, The Giver to be analyzed. Because of the limitation of the book sources, the internet is used to help the study which the using of the internet

is chosen whether the sources are trustable or not. This study will follow these following steps to complete the analyzed of the work. First of all, the work which will be analyzed was read carefully. Then, the topic was drawn from it. Third, the problem formulation was made from the topic. After that, the related studies and the related theories were searched for answering the questions of the problem formulation.

The analysis was done after it as follows; first, the theory of setting was used to answer the first question of the problem formulation. The answers of the first question would be used to answer the second problem formulation. Then, the second one was using the theory of society and the theory of Utopian philosophy.

The theory of society in the novel was taken because the thesis studied is more about the society which is described in the novel while the theory of Utopian philosophy was taken because the purpose of this study is to learn deeper about the Utopian philosophy. The last but not the least, the conclusion was derived to accomplish the curiosity how the Utopian idea of society can be represented through the condition of social setting in Lois Lowry’s The Giver.

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS

A. The Condition of the Social Setting Described in The Giver

As said by M. H. Abrams that one of the intentions of the setting is the

‘social circumstances’ (Abrams, 1985: 192), this analysis will focus on the social setting or condition although it might be related with other segment of setting like what have been said by Abcrarian (Abcrarian, 1998: 5) and Hans P. Guth that:

A story creates its own world. It takes us to a setting in space and in time.

In a successful story, that place becomes a small universe of its own, consistent in itself (Guth, 1997: 35).

The condition of social setting in The Giver is described as a well-structured and prosperous society. It has been stated in the novel by Lois Lowry in this novel through what the Giver’s saying that ‘Life here is so orderly, so predictable – so painless’ (Lowry, 1993: 103) for the society. In the other words the society in The Giver feels happy because there is no pain, the life is predictable and all things in good order.

1. Well-Structured Society

A well-structured society means the structure of the society is in a good order. It can be seen from the buildings that are built according to the contribution to the society, the organization which governs the society and the rules which completely influence the society’s life.

It refers to what has been said by Marjorie Boulton that setting refers to

‘urban or occupational groups’, ‘buildings’, and ‘politics’, the following

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sections will be explained further about the three groups mentioned earlier (Koesnosoebroto, 1988: 79).

a. The Buildings in The Giver

‘Buildings’ relate to ‘occupational groups’ which exist in the society (Koesnosoebroto, 1988: 79) because they –‘occupational groups’– need a place to do their activities which is called the building. The buildings are considered as one of the characteristics of a well-structured society through the function of each building as mention in the following. The function of each building which is built in The Giver’s society represents how is this society is orderly structured. In other words, generally, it can be said that a well-structured society has buildings with exact role or function for each of them in order to fulfill the needs of a society. In the novel, it can be found several buildings which have relationship with the governmental activities, the buildings in order to fulfill the supplies for the community, and the buildings which the functions are for caring the people.

i. The Buildings for Governmental Activities

There are several buildings which are needed for governmental activities, which are said as ‘political’ activities in Lostracco and Wilkerson’s theory (Koesnosoebroto, 1988: 79), in The Giver’s society. They are 'the large Auditorium', 'the Hall of Open Records', 'the Hall of Closed Records', 'the Annex' and 'the Department of Justice'. ‘The Department of Justice’ will not be explained further because its function is generally the same that is to keep the people stay with the rules.

The large Auditorium is the place where people usually hold meetings, especially the annual ceremony which is held every December (Lowry, 1993: 27, 41). Its function is a little bit different with the Auditorium in the general sense.

This Auditorium is only used for the formal meetings and usually followed by many people. It cannot be found about the music event like a concert, or wedding ceremonies during the story. Music is never known by the society as stated indirectly from the Giver's special skills -the Capacity Hearing Beyond- (Lowry, 1993: 157). It means that almost everyone in The Giver does not know music as our society does. The wedding ceremonies are not held is derived from the way the society make a family unit, by applying the spouse and the children (Lowry, 1993: 12, 43, 48, 102, 124). There is no particular celebration to form a family unit but application is needed.

The Hall of Open Records is the place where everyone can go freely to see the records related to their life such us how much time they have done the volunteer hours, which will be the decisive factor whether the Elevens get their Assignment or not (Lowry, 1993: 28), and how old they are, because after they reach twelve years old, age is no longer important as Jonas’ mother said. She says:

“Well, it’s the last of the Ceremonies, as you know. After Twelve, age isn’t important. Most of us even lose tracks of how old we are as time passes, though the information is in the Hall of Open Records, and we could go and look if up if we wanted to. What’s the important is the preparation for adult life, and the training you’ll receive in your Assignment.” (Lowry, 1993: 17)

The aim of this building may be for keeping the people from loosing their track of who they are and what they have done.

In the opposite, the Hall of Closed Records is the place for the secret records of the entire member of The Giver’s society’s life. It is said that the Hall of Closed Records is restricted area for the citizens and the one who has the access to open it is the Receivers of Memory. In addition, they do not know whether it was recorded. One of the examples of these records is the recording of the private ceremonies, such us the Ceremony of Release (Lowry, 1993: 147). There is a secret that must be hidden from the society such us the process of the Ceremony of Release so they never know about the Elsewhere, the place where the releasing people are said live (Lowry, 1993: 32). These secrets are still kept in order to keep the memories which can be seen anytime, especially by the Receiver of Memory.

The Annex is the official place where the Receiver of Memory is going to work. It is also the place for the new Receiver of Memory to get the training.

Annex consists of two rooms, the lobby and the work room of the Receiver of Memory.

The lobby was very small and contained only a desk at which a female Attendant sat working on some papers. She looked up when he entered;

then, to his surprised, she stood. It was a small thing, the standing; but no one had ever stood automatically to acknowledge Jonas’s presence before (Lowry, 1993: 73).

The work room for the Receiver of Memory is placed behind the lobby.

Both rooms are separated by the locked door. This is unusual known by the society because ‘[n]o doors in the community were locked, ever’ (Lowry, 1993:

73). This door will be opened if the Attendant pushes a particular button. The work room is described as:

…a comfortably furnished area. It was not unlike [Jonas’s] family unit’s dwelling. Furniture was standard throughout the community: practical,

sturdy, the function of each piece clearly defined. A bed for sleeping. A table for eating. A desk for studying.

All of those things were in this spacious room, though each was slightly different from those in [Jonas’s] dwelling. The fabrics on the upholstered chairs and sofa were slightly thicker and more luxurious; the table legs were not straight like those at home, but slender and curved, with a small carved decoration at the foot. The bed, in an alcove at the far end of the room, was draped with a splendid cloth embroidered over its entire surface with intricate designs (Lowry, 1993: 74).

There is a difference between the citizen’s dwellings and the Receiver’s room. The dwellings for the citizens are not contained the books as can be found in the entire room of the Receiver. It is said that:

…this room’s walls were completely covered by bookcases, filled, which reached to the ceiling. There must have been hundreds–perhaps thousands–of books, their titles embossed in shiny letters (Lowry, 1993:

74).

ii. The Supplies Buildings

The supplies buildings relates to Marjorie Boulton statement about ’diet’

which refers to how the food are produced, stored and distributed (Koesnosoebroto, 1988: 79). The buildings in this novel which are necessary for supplying the community are ‘the Store House’, ‘the Food Production’ and ‘the Food Distribution’. The function of each building is vividly known from its name such us ‘the Store House’ for storing the things, ‘the Food Production’ for producing the food and ‘the Food Distribution’ for distributing the food.

In reality, there are no certain buildings to fulfill the production and the distribution of foods. There are factories but not all foods are made in the factories as in The Giver’s Food Production. The foods in The Giver can be consumed without being cooked further in each dwelling. The prepared foods are distributed to the dwellings in the entire community by cargo planes (Lowry, 1993: 1). It

must be packed first in ‘the Food Distribution’ before they are distributed.

iii. The Buildings for Social Activities

‘The Nurturing Center’, ‘the Childcare Center’ and ‘the House of the Old’

are built in order to take care of the people and ‘the Rehabilitation Center’ is built in order to treat them healthy. These buildings are considered as the buildings for the social activities to show that the ‘physical’ and ‘psychological’ condition, which is mentioned by Lostracco and Wilkerson (Koesnosoebroto, 1988: 79), are kept well.

‘The Nurturing Center’ is the place for ‘the Nurturer’ to treat new born babies until they are ready to be put in a family unit, while ‘the Childcare Center’

is the place for children to spend their rest time after school. ‘The Childcare Center’ characteristic is presented by the existence of the play areas which are built surrounding this place (Lowry, 1993: 2). ‘The House of the Old’ is the place for the elder people to live for the rest of their life until they get the ‘Ceremony of Release’. It is said that in ‘the House of the Old’:

Each room was comfortably furnished, the floors covered with thick carpeting. It was a serene and slow place, unlike the busy centers of manufacture and distribution where the daily work of the community occurred (Lowry, 1993: 29).

The last building in this category, which is also important, is ‘the Rehabilitation Center’. It is the place for sick people to get treatment. In other words, ‘the Rehabilitation Center’ is the hospital for this community (Lowry, 1993: 26). The difference between the hospitals in real community with ‘the Rehabilitation Center’ in The Giver is that there must be no mortuary at ‘the Rehabilitation Center’ because The Giver’s society does not know death.

b. The Organization Structure in The Giver

As said by Marjorie Boulton that setting also refers to ‘politics’ and

‘occupational groups’, in the following paragraphs will be discussed further about the ‘occupational groups’ which refers to the organization structure of this novel (Koesnosoebroto, 1988: 79). The organization structure also represents how a society is considered as a well-structured society because if it is well-ordered, the society which is ruled will be good as well.

People in The Giver’s society are governed by ‘the Committee of Elders’.

This Committee is led by ‘the Chief Elder’ who is elected every ten years (Lowry, 1993: 51). There is an advisor called as ‘the Receiver of Memory’ who always be asked whenever the Committee needs an advice (Lowry, 1993: 14), although the frequency is rare. Usually, the Committee asks ‘the Receiver of Memory’ when they are confronted with something new which they never have experience in it

This Committee is led by ‘the Chief Elder’ who is elected every ten years (Lowry, 1993: 51). There is an advisor called as ‘the Receiver of Memory’ who always be asked whenever the Committee needs an advice (Lowry, 1993: 14), although the frequency is rare. Usually, the Committee asks ‘the Receiver of Memory’ when they are confronted with something new which they never have experience in it