The society Jonas lives in is meticulously designed, standardized, and ordered. In other words, there is a high degree of control, and control is used to eliminate differences. There is no rain or snow because the climate is controlled to optimize food-growing conditions, and there are no hills because they might interfere with transportation. People take pills to suppress their sexual desires. All dwellings are basically the same, with identical pieces of functional furniture. Most people can’t perceive color. Anxiety about different skin colors contributed to strife in the past, so the citizens decided to remove color from their lives when they switched to a system of "Sameness" (84). From an early age, citizens are taught to downplay differences as much as possible and always follow the rules. Those who break the rules three times are released from the community forever.

Individuals make very few decisions about their own lives in this community, most likely because choices are perceived as dangerous. As Jonas discovers in a conversation with the Giver, this danger stems from the fact that people will sometimes make a bad or wrong choice, which could have disastrous consequences.