I agree; I think it's very interesting to start inside the society, from the perspective of someone who is happy--and this gets me thinking that starting from that perspective and then having the person's perspective open up is essentially the journey that a person of privilege takes in our own society. If you don't deviate from the sanctioned state--if you're not a minority, not an immigrant, not gay, etc.--then society can seem fairly jolly. And then gradually your eyes are opened.

I remember liking the various markers of growth in the society in The Giver, and what they taught you: buttoning in the front for self-sufficiency, buttoning in the back for cooperation, etc.

I was really struck by the inclusion of coming to see color--I liked both how Lowry portrayed it, and also just that it was in there. It was provocative and mysterious as a story element, because what does it mean? IIRC, the protag "sees" the apple before he even starts having his first meeting with the Giver (or am I wrong about that)--so does that signal that there's something innate in him, connected to whatever it is that lets him be the one to whom the memories are given? Or is that something that could happen to anyone? What does it signify? That somehow the control has drained color from the world? What metaphor is it, exactly? I muse on that a lot.

I wasn't such a fan of the sessions with the Giver, though I can't remember precisely my objections.