Reading Assignment 3: It's More Than Just Rain or Snow

In Lois Lowry’s The Giver weather plays a part in helping describe the setting and living conditions of the story. The book takes place in a future society where the government controls almost all aspects of life. Everyone is a complete equal and individuality does not exist. The weather is very mild representing the lack of change in the characters’ daily lives. They get up every day and go to school until they are twelve. When they reach that age the government assigns each student a job. They then attend this job for the rest of their lives, waking up, going to work, coming home to their family, eating dinner, discussing their day, and repeating. No rain or snow ever falls on the community in this book. There is a lack of beauty and emotion that the characters don’t even know they are missing out on. Emotion and even the ability to see color is withheld from the citizens in attempt to keep the dystopian society functioning.