HYPERREALITY AND SOCIAL CONTROL IN THE GIVER: A POSTMODERN ANALYSIS OF UTOPIAN ILLUSIONS

Technology had a significant and varied influence on literature in the 20th century, changing writers' way of creating their works and also the themes they explored. Writers addressed the complexities of a rapidly changing world and mirrored the growing integration of technology into daily life. This paper examines how technology helps the state create a state of simulation, an utopian society, in Lois Lowry's The Giver (1993), using Baudrillard's concept of hyperreality. The government employs advanced technology to enforce "Sameness," where personal liberties, feelings, and uniqueness are eradicated to preserve control and authority. The state continues to exert control over its people by genetic engineering, monitoring, and emotional suppression so that they can mould people's identities and experiences following their personal desires. Lowry's dystopian vision of a hyperreal world emphasises the dehumanising consequences of technology, which is used to repress and alter real human experiences and limit their individual freedom. This creates a false sense of stability and contentment in citizens. Through the exploration of these themes, the book gives us important insight into both the fictitious society and our own more technologically advanced world. It warns us about the dangers of ignoring truth and uniqueness for an illusion of order and stability.