Dream-telling serves several important purposes in the community. As family members retell their dreams to each other, the adults are given opportunities to explain or reinforce community expectations for behavioral patterns. In a society based on "sameness" with highly regimented procedures for most aspects of daily life, the process of instilling the correct behaviors and responses for every situation is paramount.
Probably even more importantly, dream-telling allows adults to monitor the children they are raising for the beginnings of "the stirrings" - the thoughts and emotions that indicate that a child is becoming aware of sexual differences and feelings. Such emotions and any possible actions that might be caused by such impulses must be immediately eliminated, as indicated by Jonas's mother explaining the daily pill he must start taking on the very first occasion of his reporting a dream that had sexual overtones.
What is the significance of dream-telling and feeling-discussion in The Giver?
On the surface, these customs might appear to...
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be simply rituals to promote mental health and help individuals understand the workings of their psyches. Indeed, the regular sharing of dreams and feelings do create anatmosphere of openness and communication which can be advantageous. The underlying significance of these practices is deeper and more sinister, however. Their unstated purpose is mind-control, the guarantee that "sameness" will always be perpetuated. By mandating daily dream-tellings and feelings-discussions, the community is making sure that the interior lives of citizens remain exposed, and that steps may be quickly taken to correct deviance from desired norms.
It is required, not just suggested, that all feelings be shared. In Chapter 1, recognizing his uneasiness as apprehension, Jonas "would have preferred to keep his feelings hidden. But this is (is), of course, against the rules". His sharing of feelings results in a conversation with his parents that both helps him understand but also ensures that he responds appropriately according to societal standards. Jonas' revelation of his dream in Chapter 5 has similar consequence. Jonah's dream evidences "first Stirrings", the beginnings of normal adolescent interest in sex. The society controls sexual urges in its citizens, however, and Jonah must immediately begin "treatment", a daily pill to suppress any desires he might have in this area.