Final answer:
In The Giver, new children and the elderly are treated with structured care and managed roles, signifying the community's control over life stages from birth to 'release.' Both groups are cared for in separate facilities and are given limited interaction with the community, reflecting historical shifts in societal care for vulnerable populations.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the community depicted in The Giver, new children and the elderly are treated with a similar approach of structured care and managed roles. Both groups are seen as requiring support, often being separated from the larger community for specialized nurturing or care. Infants are nurtured in the Nurturing Center until they are assigned to a family unit during the Ceremony of Ones.
The elderly, after a life of contribution to the community, are celebrated in the December Ceremony and then taken to the House of the Old, where they are cared for until they are 'released', a term that has a sinister undertone in the context of the novel.
The treatment of new children and the elderly in The Giver reflects an extension of the patterns observed in history, where changing economic and social dynamics have altered the way societies care for these two vulnerable groups. In an agrarian society, the elderly were integrated into the family unit, contributing to daily life.
However, industrialization led to the younger generations moving away and a significant shift in attitudes, with the elderly often seen as a burden and placed in institutions. Just like in the novel, the process of re-socializing these individuals into an assisted living facility often means leaving behind their old identities, symbolizing a loss of their role in family and society.