In this world the people are denied choice of many things. They have never felt romance, never seen snow, never rolled down hills. They have no choice but to stay in their community. If you disobey the rules then you are released from the community. On the other hand, everybody is thought of as equal and nobody is put down. There are few crimes committed and that only happens once in a while. There are no wars. The people are not forced to do anything, they just do it. There is no ruler or person in charge, but everybody does what they were brought up to do. The people don't know their past. They don't think about having a revolt.

Lois Lowry does a wonderful job of not describing things in color. You almost don't notice it until she mentions it later in the book. Mrs. Lowry also shows how sophisticated the community is, "He knew they were search planes. They flew so low that they woke him with the noise of their engines, and sometimes, looking out from the hiding places, he could almost see the faces of the searchers."(p168-169), and at the same time shows how primitive it is, "He knew they could not see color."(p169).

Jonas is a boy who lives in one of the communities. The setting changes a lot when Jonas receives his assignment as the reciver. Things that you didn't really miss in the book before, like colors, pop out at you. The world seems a totally different place from ours. Overall, the setting of this book plays an important role in this book. It really helps you imagine how hard living in that world would be.