From the wise words of Oscar Wild, "A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing" (Wild). Government, in a since, is humanity's way of trying to form a governing body in which the people think will lead to a perfect society. In many ways, it is almost impossible to create a perfect, Utopian society because in the path to perfection, the society will turn upon itself and turn into a more dystopian society. When the government attempts to even out society so that everyone is equal, it will almost always unintentionally force totalitarianistic ideas on the people. In the novel, The Giver, by Lewis Lowry, Lowery attempts to establish the idea of a Utopia through the story of a place that attempts to establish equality of all through "Sameness." In the idea of sameness, all emotional aspects of the human race are removed from the memory of all people in the society so that every person would be equal to each other. In a similar novel, Matched, by Allyson Braithwaite Condie, the society of people are raised up the same way then "matched" with another person to marry based on a government prediction. This was done so that there would not be any unfair advantages such as marrying into money or marrying someone with a job that would provide an income much larger than needed to survive and live a normal life. When comparing and contrasting the motives and outcomes of the societies, the novels attempted to create Utopian Societies, but as a result, both stories end in a catabolizing ending because the idea of perfection is not obtainable by the abilities of a human race.

In the novel, The Giver, by Lewis Lowery, an attempt to establish equality amongst the people is achieved by making every person the same. This goal was achieved by taking the emotional depth from the lives of the people living in the society. The people did not feel any emotion beyond what was necessary to live. For any unpleasant emotion or thought, no one would mention it, " it was not a rule, but was considered rude to call attention to things that were unsettling or different about individuals" (Lowery 20). In the society in the novel, The Giver,  the people did not have the ability to hear music, to see color, to have memory of heritage, to feel deep emotion such as anger or love, and the ability to be intellectually different from another person. The society was, "  so meticulously ordered, the choices so carefully made" (48). The people of the society had no concept climate, such as the weather, the terrain, or the geological location of the society. If the people of the society wished to know this information, they would have to seek it out from the Giver, the holder of all memory for the society.  The giver was, " free to enjoy the breathless glee that overwhelmed him:  the speed, the clear cold air, the total silence, the feeling of balance, of excitement and peace" (82). The people had all of their feelings, thoughts, emotions, and concepts taken from them because the governing body of the society thought that they would cause inequality among the people. If a person could hear music, then they could become intellectually proficient because they may benefit by learning to play an instrument. A person would not be able to experience deep emotion because it may enhance or hinder their quality to hold a stable job.  The people of society were responsible for wanting the "sameness."  They chose to, "relinquish color when we[they] relinquished sunshine and did away with difference" (95). They believed that when they did this they, " gained control of many things. But we[they] let go of many others" (95). For some time, this worked for the society, but eventually being the Giver of the society holds great burden. In this novel, all of the memory of the giver caused the giver to break apart, it caused, " a ripping sensation inside himself, the terrible pain clawing its way forward " (151). Once the people of the community were given the opportunity to experience what they were missing, they of course turned on the government. The society fell apart and what once was an idea of a perfect world had turned into a world with fear, anger, hatred, murder, and many other things that the government had attempted to remove. The people of the society could not bear the unpleasant things in the war, and it ultimately made them turn upon the government that they once trusted.

In Allyson Braithwaite Condie's novel, Matched, the novelist tells the story of a very tight run society where every person will have a strict timeline to their life. A child will be matched at age seventeen, and if matched, " your Marriage Contract will take place when you are twenty-one" (12). Every person in the society will die at age 80. The final banquet of age would be, " a luxury. A triumph of planning..." (26). This was done because in the time before the current society, older people could, " get terrible diseases, like depression, because they may feel they are no longer needed" (26). In times before, " everyone had technology, too much of it, and the consequences were disastrous" (16). The people could not handle what were given so the government was forced to take control.  In this novel, the main character is to be matched and she could have been put with a stranger she had never met, but instead she got matched to a childhood friend of hers. At the matching ceremony an error occurs and she receives two matches. The government rarely messes up in this department because, " the matching is so important to society, it is very well regulated" (19). This one mistake brought light to the flaws of the Utopian society that the main character, Cassia, lived in. This one flaw causes many other errors in the government to unfold as the novel continues.  What was once a Utopian society that is now a society that kills off the sick, kills its old, forces the intellectually dumb to be banished, and much more. An impurity of the society was banished, and in the end of the novel, the society has completely fallen apart because the people never knew about the terrible imperfections that existed amongst them.

When comparing the two novels, one can see that each government tried to reach the idea of perfection in it's own way. The novel, The Giver, attempted to accomplish this goal through a "sameness" driven society. The government worked to attain a since of equality by making every person the same and in doing this, the government forced totalitarianistic ideas on the society. In the novel Matched, the government tried to achieve a Utopian society by taking out the impurities of disease and intellectual differences among the citizens. For some time, the strategies used by both of the governments worked and the cities thrived. Both societies had strong governing bodies, seemingly happy citizens, healthy families, and successful businesses. Every person had a job at which they excelled at and there was no poverty because every person was given the job they were best suited for. In both novels, each person was able to establish a great family connection. The families could have children and those children would grow up to have great jobs and families of their own. Parents did not have to worry about their children having another child excel more in school because they could play an instrument or because they could play a sport better, families could grow and flourish. A mother and father never had to worry about becoming ill or having to care for a sick child. An individual living in the society did not have to worry about being poor, or coming down with disease. Sickness was not an issue; it was a foreign idea that most had not even heard of.

When contrasting these two novels, a person could look more specifically at how the Utopian societies were achieved in the novels. In the novel, Matched, the government had more control over it's people. The government not only chose the jobs of the people living in the society like in the novel, The Giver, but it also picked the people that they claimed would be the best matches for a person. In the novel, The Giver, the government mostly controlled the jobs of the people but they were still free to chose the people that they wanted to marry. Another contrast between the two novels was how the government arranged the majority of it's power and how this arrangement caused downfall of the society. In the novel, The Giver, the largest downfall to the the society was by putting the burden of all the impurities of the society on one person. The Giver was the person that had to hold all the bad qualities and memories of the government within them. In the novel Matched, all the "impurities" of the government were eradicated by killing off the individuals that the government thought were imperfect.

In a perfect world, both of the ideas of achieving Utopian societies would be a great idea for a society, except no world can be ever be this perfect. When a governing body attempts to make a everyone in the society the same, they take away all the creative freedoms of its people and take away the impurities that drive our current society to become better. Without disease, the human race would not have been able to evolve through medical innovations. Without smart minds, society would not have had Albert Einstein to develop the light bulb. A society needs to have diversity so that people living in the society can be rewarded for what they achieve. Humans naturally need to have an incentive to strive to be better and perform more efficiently. A government can not simply eliminate the bad things in the world, because without war, or making grave mistakes, a person or society can not learn from their mistakes and get better. For both of these novels, Utopia was fine in the beginning, but over time the impurities will start to show and the people will become unhappy and retaliate. The once happy government will eventually turn upon itself and cause the society to tear itself apart over the horrible impurities that the government worked so hard to remove in the beginning.

