The Giver: Structured society

Within just the first couple of chapters I could already see how crazy of a society Jonas and his family live in. There's no doubt that this society is extremely structured with its numerous rules. The different ceremonies; such as the ceremony when you turn a certain age; when you get a bike; and when a family receives a new child or an elder, add to the strangeness of the society. This book is quite different and unique compared to what we've read this semester, but interesting at the same time. I believe it's considered a type of fantasy or even a science fiction work. The aspect that makes sense in a way is the fact that the "Commitee of Elders" rule the community. In fact, in our society today those who are older than us (our parents) are the people who run the household and make the rules. The book's elders, however, seem to be fairly old like our grandparents, making it seem a little strange that adults so much older than the rest of society are responsible for basically everything that happens. Right now this book doesn't make much sense to me, but I'm interested to know what happens next.