Date of Award
2020
Publisher
North Dakota State University
Document Type
Master's Paper
Degree Awarded
Master of Arts (MA)
Program
English
Department
English
College
Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Faculty Advisor
Graham-Bertolini, Alison
Description
This paper considers the topic of government control through the context of young adult dystopian literature. The novels The Giver (1993) by Lois Lowry and Matched (2011) by Ally Condie are specifically considered in their connection to governmental control over an entire society. The novels The Giver and Matched both provide views into worlds where such basic human experiences as language use and memory are controlled, so that the protagonists—Jonas (The Giver) and Cassia (Matched) –find themselves torn between trusting what they have been told all their lives by their respective societies and what they have come to understand through their own experiences apart from the controlled environment of the government. Through these novels, we are shown the complete stagnation of the human experience possible when government structures are allowed to control all aspects of life in a culture, society, or country and no one challenges their decisions.
Recommended Citation
Haley, Deborah Faith, "The Dangers of Power: Government Control in the Worlds of Condie’s Matched and Lowry’s The Giver" (2020). English. 89.
https://digitalcommons.ndsu.edu/english/89
Rights
NDSU policy 190.6.2
Rights Link
https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf
Handle Identifier
https://hdl.handle.net/10365/31502