Discussion Topic
The attitude and perspective towards mirrors in The Giver
Summary:
In The Giver, mirrors are rare and discouraged, reflecting the community's emphasis on sameness and conformity. The limited use of mirrors helps maintain uniformity, minimizing personal differences and individual identity. This attitude underscores the society's control over personal appearance and the suppression of self-awareness.
What is the attitude towards mirrors in chapter 3 of The Giver?
In chapter three, Father brings baby Gabriel back to the family home for the first time. Like Jonas, he has blue eyes, a rarity in the community, and Lily immediately points out and teases him about the similarity.
It is here that the reader finds out that it is "considered rude to call attention to things that were unsettling or different about individuals." Everyone should be looked upon and made to feel the same. So in this respect, mirrors could be seen as something that highlights your differences in others. As Jonas states, "Mirrors were rare in the community: they weren't forbidden, but there was no real need of them."
People just aren't encouraged to compare themselves to others like they are in contemporary society. If someone does feel that they look different, they wouldn't want to look in the mirror because they would feel too ashamed. As Jonas...
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says in this chapter, he rarely looks at his reflection because he knows his eyes have the kind of depth that the community frowns upon.
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The people in the community do not have mirrors and do not approve of them.
Jonas comments that he does not really know what he looks like because the people in the community do not use mirrors. Mirrors highlight differences, so there would not be many of them around. Jonas’s comment about mirrors demonstrates the community’s official reason for not having mirrors: that they are not needed.
Mirrors were rare in the community; they weren't forbidden, but there was no real need of them, and Jonas had simply never bothered to look at himself very often even when he found himself in a location where a mirror existed. (Ch. 3)
However, if you look deeper at this “mirrors are not needed” explanation, you realize that the fact that mirrors are rare and Jonas never finds himself someplace where there is a mirror is not a coincidence. The minute Lily sees Gabe, the newchild their father brings home, she comments on his eyes. His light eyes are different, like Jonas’s. Jonas’s different eyes are a source of consternation for him.
The purpose of mirrors is for us to look at ourselves. We highlight differences in mirrors. We choose outfits, look at them in the mirror to see how they fit and look on us, and compare ourselves to others in a mirror. The community discourages and forbids all of these things. Everyone dresses alike. There are no colors. Differences are not mentioned, and are outright prevented as much as possible. When they do occur, like Jonas’s eyes and Fiona’s hair, they try not to talk about them.
When Jonas first notices colors, the thought of having choices occurs to him.
I was just thinking: what if we could hold up things that were bright red, or bright yellow, and he could choose? Instead of the Sameness." (Ch. 13)
At first, he is excited about choosing. Then it occurs to him that choice has been taken away because people might choose wrong.
This comment about mirrors is a telling one about the community. It is a sign that the community controls every little aspect of a person’s life, right down to their appearance. You do not even get to know what you look like, and you are not supposed to care.
What is the perspective toward mirrors in Chapter 3 of The Giver?
Mirrors are considered unnecessary and most people do not have one.
In Jonas’s community, everyone looks alike and everyone dresses alike. Sameness is a high priority in the community. Jonas is unique in that he has special light colored eyes, that are somehow a different shade than most other people in the community. When he sees the newchild Gabe, whose eyes are also light, he remembers that people have sometimes commented on his eyes, but he never really sees them himself, because he never looks at his reflection in a mirror.
Mirrors were rare in the community; they weren't forbidden, but there was no real need of them, and Jonas had simply never bothered to look at himself very often even when he found himself in a location where a mirror existed. (Ch. 3)
You would not need a mirror if you wore the same clothes every day, and they were the same as everyone else's. Also, everyone’s hair is the same and meticulously maintained. All decisions are made by others. In fact, one of the reasons for having a mirror is to promote individuality. People look at and reflect on themselves in the mirror. You can see why the community would not want to promote that.
Jonas accepts the fact that there are no mirrors, but it is another subtle message that everyone is the same. You do not deserve individuality, the community is saying, so you do not need a mirror. When Jonas begins to see color, he comments that it would be nice to choose different colored clothes.
"Well ... "Jonas had to stop and think it through. "If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?"
He looked down at himself, at the colorless fabric of his clothing. "But it's all the same, always." (Ch. 13)
He tells The Giver that it doesn’t really matter what you wear, because clothes are not important, but in actuality, as The Giver points out, "It's the choosing that's important…” (Ch. 13). In eliminating colors, the community has removed the ability to express individuality. It is another way to keep people from being different.
A lack of mirrors is just one minor way that the community keeps control of its members. They have subtly eliminated any way that people might distinguish themselves from others, except for the necessary ones like names (even though people also have numbers). Being a part of the community and a contributor to the group is more important than being an individual, and people are reminded of that daily- from getting dressed.