ABSTRACT
Dystopian literature revolves around a futuristic figured world in which oppressive social control and the illusion of perfection is maintained through governmental, technological, moral, or corporate control. E. Goffman used the idea of total institutions to theorize all-encompassing social establishments, organizational settings, or institutions that influence the social interactions and lived experiences that take place within these settings. This chapter explores dystopian world of The Giver as “institution,” borrowing from a theory of total institutions outlined in Erving Goff-man’s major work Asylums. Attentive to the dystopian nature of The Giver, D. Latham famously analyzed Lois Lowry’s novel through a Foucauldian lens of power, arguing its depiction of power allows adolescent readers an opportunity to see how their world is preferable to the dystopian one of the novel. The analysis of the lived experience, work, and punishment of the community of The Giver mirrors the workings of an institution.
