Life is a very precious commodity, but if lived on someone else's terms it is nothing more than a compromise. The seemingly perfect image of Utopia, which combines happiness and honesty with purity, very often leads to the formation of a dystopian environment. The cunning discrepancy of Utopia is presented both in the novel "The Giver" by Lois Lowry and in the film "The Truman Show" directed by Peter Weir. Both stories describe a perfect community, perfect people, a perfect life, a perfect world, and a perfect lie. These perfect worlds may seem to protect their inhabitants from evil and, on the other hand, appear to give individuals no rights of their own. Comparing and contrasting the novel "The Giver" and the movie "The Truman Show", it can be deduced that both main characters become anti-utopian to expose the seedy underbelly of their utopian environment which constructs a delusional image of reality, captures the pleasures in their life and portrays a loss of freedom. One of the main differences between the film and the novel is the depiction of the delusional image of reality. However, it still manages to bring out the dystopian image of both utopian societies. In The Truman Show, life is a real-life show in an environment that offers a comfortable lifestyle and happiness at the expense of reality. The producer of The Truman Show, Christof, says: “We accept the reality of the world that is presented to us.” This message is the underlying theme of the story and as such foreshadows Truman's acceptance of a delusional reality in the film. Meanwhile, everyone in the film except Truman is acting and not living an authentic life. There is no sense of “real”; no real affinity, no secrecy and no faith, all of which Truman is blindly unaware... in the middle of paper... and reality, he captures the pleasures of their lives and portrays a loss of freedom. Both of their perfect worlds were full of lies and instead of protecting its inhabitants from harm they gave individuals no rights. What initially appeared as a perfect utopian society was actually an imperfect dystopian environment. Works Cited Lowry, Lois. The Giver. New York: Laurel Leaf, 1993. Print.The Truman Show. Dir. Peter Weir." Perf. Carrey, Jim. Paramount Pictures: 1998, Web. July 24, 2011.."Hope - Definition and more from the free Merriam-Webster dictionary." Dictionary and synonyms - Merriam-Webster online. Merriam-Webster Web, July 24, 2011. SparkNotes Editors "SparkNotes on the Donor." SparkNotes LLC 2003. Web. July 24. 2011.