Touchstone

"The Giver"

Lois Lowry

 

 

Bibliographical Info: Lowry, L. (1993) The Giver. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Science Fiction. 12 years-16years

Response: Among the long list of books I am anxiously awaiting to buy and read, "The Giver" was among the few I was finally able to purchase and had anticipated reading all summer. The dystopian setting appealed to me along with the fact that it has been integrated in classrooms all around the world. Surely a book with this much fame would live up to the hype and as wished, it did. After having reading "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins and "Divergent" by Veronica Roth, which had strong female main characters, "The Giver" provided a different outlook of a dystopian world with Jonas as the introspective and often quiet male lead. When Jonas was selected to be The Receiver I wondered what it would be like to have our roles assigned to us and whether I would have the intelligence, integrity, courage, wisdom, and the capacity to see beyond to be given/burdened with that amount of responsibility. To be the only one to know the warmth of sunshine, the sting of coldness, what colors are,  and the depths of despair & suffering would overwhelm me. Would I be able to continue on if I knew that those around me would never know what loves is and that they would be incapable of feeling it? Would I had done what Jonas did? 

It was very easy to get lost in the story and often I drew similarities between what Jonas was encountering to my own life. I know that in high school and even now in college I am still having a hard time figuring out what I want my place to be in this world. Having others choose for me based on what they see in me sounds like a good idea if it meant I was being placed in my rightful occupation, but would I be willing to give up my freedom to choose my own path in life, granted it might not be the right one? Was I already allowing that to happen to me now? Am I in total control of my life right now and deciding for myself what I want for my future or am I letting the fear and pressure to meet everyone's expectations get to me? 

"Jonas did not want to go back. He didn't want the memories, didn't want the honor, didn't want the wisdom, didn't want the pain. He wanted his childhood again, his scraped knees and ball games." This quote stuck out to me the most because it reminds me that we are going to have to face growing up and choosing our path in life. That path may not be easy and may be faced with trials ahead, but we must remember to persevere even when we feel like giving up, just as Jonas does until the very end. Like the future ahead of us that is faced with uncertainty and anxious anticipation of what may happen next, much like the ambiguous ending of this book, we must remember that what happens next is solely based on us to determine.

Critique: 

• Setting: Dystopian community that experience "Sameness" in which everyone follows a routine schedule, there are no true understandings of feelings, and devoid of color. The only time that viewpoint changes in the Annex where Jonas has his instructional training with the Giver and when he decides to run away.
• Point of View: Thought the story is told by a 12 year old boy named Jonas, his view of the world around him is influenced by the memories the Giver chooses to share with him from the past that have been passed down for generations.
• Character: Though considered a great honor to be given the role of the Receiver, Jonas goes through a change by breaking through the chains that hold him back and deciding his own future. He allows his emotions to become the focus in his life, specifically love as he saves Gabriel's life by taking him with him to Elsewhere.
• Theme: The importance of learning from the past as Jonas learned through the memories that were shared to keep him and Gabriel alive. Choosing one's own fate as he decides to change the course of nature. Love and sacrifice as he leaves behind the world he knows with all the people he has learned to love but at the same time saving Gabriel from Release.
• The author shows great command for language and her diction ties in with the communities value of "precision of language." Every occupation, place, or feeling in the book is named so perfectly that Lois Lowry should be given the title of the Name Giver.

Connections: Given the book "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, students will be able to discuss the importance that memories and feelings such as love and suffering play into making a person who they are by writing an essay describing how Jonas' character develops/changes from the beginning of the story to the very end.

Discussion Questions: 

1. What do you believe became of Jonas and Gabriel once they encountered Elsewhere? What of the Receiver and the Community once they were exposed to the memories?
2. What memory would you use to express the true meaning of love to someone for the first time? What about sadness?
3. Would you entrust a group of professionals to analyze you and then pick your future occupation for the rest of your life? 
4. Is ignorance truly bliss? Why or why not?