Direct and Indirect Characterization of The Giver

I recently completed the classic and wonderful novel, The Giver.  One of the best characteristics of this book is its characterization.  So I think The Giver's characterization towards the characters within it was great, but what really stuck out at me, was how it built up or created practically the personality of the setting or type of world that they're living in.  I know that probably sounds very confusing, but don't worry, I'm about to explain the whole thing.

First off, the world or setting that the whole novel take place in came to me as extremely dull and boring.  It seems that the author purposely made the setting seem melancholy or extremely boring once you read into the story, but at first, you think that their society is great.  In the book, a boy named Jonas lives in a futuristic society that is perceived as perfect.  The author uses a lot of description and detail to describe this community, and once you get to know it, it really doesn't seem that perfect.  No color, very strict rules, no pain (which if you think about it, isn't really that great) and no love.  They have to make all those sacrifices in order to reduce all pain from their community, and in my opinion, it isn't worth it.  I'm not going to tell you how, as not to spoil the book, but you end up realizing that we take everything for granted, and you get a feel for all the things that are missing from Jonas's community.  That's how the setting of the story is built up.

But the actual characterization of the characters in the story is important too.  First, I'm going to talk about Jonas's personality.  Jonas is a young boy around his pre teens who is starting to become very inquisitive about what's right and wrong, and he stands out among his peers.  The author develops his unique personality with statements like this.  "His feelings were too complicated this evening. He wanted to share them, but he wasn't eager to begin the process of sifting through his own complicated emotions, even with the help that he knew his parents could give."  That was Jonas thinking about his feelings during dinnertime.  I think that quote shows how Jonas had a lot of questions and thoughts that he might have been uncomfortable with sharing in his society, it brings out the inquisitive and deep thinking side of Jonas.  A second fragment from the book was this, "His mind reeled. Now, empowered to ask questions of utmost rudeness-and promised answers-he could, conceivably (though it was almost unimaginable), ask someone, some adult, his father perhaps: "Do you lie?"
But he would have no way of knowing if the answer he received was true."  That quote really dove deep into Jonas's thoughts and really gave a great example of Jonas's thought provoking mind and what went on inside of it.