Summary
The Giver is a 1993 American social science fiction children's novel by Lois Lowry. It is set in a society which is at first presented as a utopian society, but then has the reader question whether the societies' utopia is worth the cost. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth and thirteenth years of his life. The society has eliminated pain and conflict by converting to "Sameness." The Community lacks any color, climate, and terrain. The ability to feel emotions and have memories has been removed, all in an effort to preserve structure, order, and a sense of equality beyond personal individuality. During the Ceremony of Twelves, when the children who are twelve years old are assigned to their various positions to serve the community, Jonas is selected to train for the solitary position of Receiver of Memory, the one person who stores all the past memories and emotions, including the time before Sameness. The community uses the knowlege of the Receiver to draw upon the wisdom gained from history to aid the communities' decision making. Jonas struggles with all of the new emotions, sensations, and memories that are introduced to him by the Giver. Jonas must decide whether they are good, evil, in-between, or if it's even possible to have one without the other.
Giver WRiting prompt:
"In the utopian society that Jonas lives in, they do not have color, weather, change, and variety. Do you think life in their community is better? Why or why not." I think getting rid of color, weather, change and variety might make a society more safe. Nobody would be jealous of others, everybody would have the same things. There would be no reason to fight eachother. In the Giver, the elders of the Community do just that by creating "Sameness." The story reveals that the elders might have made this decision out of fear. The elders felt that struggle and pain could be eliminated by taking away individuality, color, music, and emotions. However, when Jonas gets a taste of everything that was taken away, he disagrees with the elders and hopes to bring about change. Like Jonas, I feel that a society with no differences might create a certain sense of equality, but everyone would be missing out on a lot of things that make life pretty wonderful. |
Giver writing prompt #2:"Life in the Community is like a prison. Do you agree with this statement? Explain."
The Community in The Giver is like a prison in some ways. For example, there are cameras around the Community watching everybody, including the Giver and Jonas. This shows that the Chief Elder wants to know your every move. This also shows that the Chief Elder is kind of afraid of you doing something to cause ripples in the Community. In the Giver, the utopian society Jonas lives in has many rules. As you can see, the Chief Elder wants everything in her control, and wants everything to happen the way she wants it to. Of course, Jonas comes along, and is brave enough to rebel against those unfair rules. In conclusion, life in the community of The Giver is like life in a prison; with rules that control and restrict the movements and emotions of people of the Community. |