Introduction
Throughout the entire book of the giver, jonas goes through a lot of character change. But will he be able to recover from the changes that he goes? What will happen to jonas as the story begins? Jonas is a person just like everybody else in his community, and he is no different than anybody else. When Jonas's training starts, he received his rules, he was very surprised to see that one of the rules told him to do something that he wasn't allowed to do his whole life, this raises a lot of questions and suspicion for Jonas, and he starts to question his society. After Jonas has been at his job training for at least a year and he has gotten more experience, he tries to give other people experience too, but he was unsuccessful, he
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Jonas use to believe in everything that his society told him. That is until he received the memories. He started to realize things that no one else in his community realized. Then he was isolated.
Jonas is living a happy little life in his society and he feels like he fits in. Jonas feels like he fits in with the rest of his society because he thinks that he is just like everybody else. At the beginning of the book Jonas is very comfortable with his society, because he feels like he fits in, and he is very happy. "Jonas rode at a leisurely pace, glancing at the bike ports beside the buildings to see if he could spot Asher's bike (26).” This shows Jonas at the beginning of the book as a very happy little dude and he has a friend named Asher, and he is biking at a leisurely pace looking for this friend, so that just shows that as of right now he fits into his society and he is very happy just like all of the others people. Jonas enjoys the community and the fact that since he fits in he has the freedom to do a lot. "The freedom to chose where you want to spend those hours had always seemed a wonderful luxury to Jonas(26).” This shows how Jonas is enjoying his society and how he loves the luxury to choose where and what he wants to spend his hours on, so that right there is proof that right now he likes
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Once Jonas gets his new job as the new receiver he receives his rules for during training, some of the rules on his rule sheet raises questions about his society, and once he has more experience, more and more questions pop up about his society. Jonas also starts to realize that he does not fit in liker his friend Asher. It was the sort of thing one didn't ask a friend about because you might have fallen into the uncomfortable category of 'being different'. Asher took a pill every morning, Jonas, did not (38).” This is the stage were Jonas is starting to realize that he does not fit in, because his friend Asher takes his pills like everybody else his age, but ten there is Jonas who does not take his pills, and this is the point in the book were Jonas starts to go downhill on the whole fitting in thing. Jonas is now questioning the society he use to trust, because he does not like the thought of lying and he is afraid that other people received the same rules. "Now Jonas had a thought that he never had before. This new thought was frightening. What if others-adults- had, upon becoming twelves, received in their instructions vote same terrifying sentence (71)”. Jonas is again questioning his society. He is questioning whether everybody has the same rule in their book of rules, if they can lie. Jonas also wants to make decisions and his society does not allow the people in the community to make decisions, so that
He then ran into a wall which he realized was fake and everything in his life was just people acting. He found the door and was told that it was a bad society, and the utopia that he lived in was everything that someone could ask for. Also in The Giver, Jonas wanted to leave. He wanted to go elsewhere. He did not like the utopia he lived in, to him it was not perfect.
Jonas decides to leave and change the lives of his people so that they can experience the truth. “The Giver rubbed Jonas’s hunched shoulders… We’ll make a plan” (155). Their plan involves leaving sameness and heading to Elsewhere, where Jonas knows the memories can be released to the people. He has a connection with Gabe, a special child who has experienced the memories, unlike the rest of the community. Jonas has a strong love for Gabe, and he longs to give him a better life. “We’re almost there, Gabriel” (178). Even with a sprained ankle, Jonas keeps pushing forward because he wants everyone to experience what The Giver has given him. He wants them to have a life where the truth is exposed. His determination allows him to make a change for a greater future in his community. This proves that Jonas has the strength to change his community for the
When he turns twelve, his job for the rest of his life is decided as the Receiver. His job is to receive all the memories the previous Receiver has held on to. While this is beneficial for Jonas as he is able to leave the society and his job of the Receiver behind and gets freedom, the community is left without someone to take the memories from The Giver. This is an example of conformity because a few of the Receivers before Jonas had left the community due to the things they were learning and finding out about the community, which changed the way they viewed the society. They then realized that they do not want to do this for the rest of their life, and for their job to sit around and hold memories as no one else is capable of knowing them is not something they want to do. To conclude, Jonas’s action to run away from the society follows in the footsteps of the others, and if others follow Jonas, there may never be a Receiver for the Jonas’s
Jonas learns that the people don’t think for themselves and have their life planned out
Once Jonas begins his training with the Giver, however, the tendencies he showed in his earlier life—his sensitivity, his heightened perceptual powers, his kindness to and interest in people, his curiosity about new experiences, his honesty, and his high intelligence—make him extremely absorbed in the memories the Giver has to transmit. In turn, the memories, with their rich sensory and emotional experiences, enhance all of Jonas’s unusual qualities. Within a year of training, he becomes extremely sensitive to beauty, pleasure, and suffering, deeply loving toward his family and the Giver, and fiercely passionate about his new beliefs and feelings. Things about the community that used to be mildly perplexing or troubling are now intensely frustrating or depressing, and Jonas’s inherent concern for others and desire for justice makes him yearn to make changes in the community, both to awaken other people to the richness of life and to stop the casual cruelty that is practiced in the community. Jonas is also very determined, committing to a task fully when he believes in it and willing to risk his own life for the sake of the people he loves.
Jonas is the protagonist in The Giver. He changes from being a typical twelve-year-old boy to being a boy with the knowledge and wisdom of generations past. He has emotions that he has no idea how to handle. At first he wants to share his changes with his family by transmitting memories to them, but he soon realizes this will not work. After he feels pain and love, Jonas decides that the whole community needs to understand these memories. Therefore Jonas leaves the community and his memories behind for them to deal with. He hopes to change the society so that they may feel love and happiness, and also see color. Jonas knows that memories are hard to deal with but without memories there is no pain and with no pain, there is no true happiness.
When he becomes 12, he goes through a huge ceremony and all the elders assign them their jobs. In this community, there is no lying, stealing, racism, pain, sunlight, or color. Jonas was chosen to be The Receiver, and he didn’t know what to do because this job was such a big deal. Jonas then goes through training with the current Receiver, who is now The Giver. Training consists of The Giver passing down the memories from when the community was not what it is today.
In the book, The Giver, Jonas is portrayed as a kind, curious and rebellious individual with a keen sense of awareness. The beginning chapters revealed Jonas as a very naive and compliant person, similar to everyone else in his community. Instances, when he was a child and got reprimanded for small misunderstandings, made him like this. However, throughout the book, Jonas has grown into an independent and determined person, someone who wants to make a change. Jonas finds new strengths in his character which forms him into someone spectacular and distinctive.
He breaks many rules, one being, “...Jonas did not take his pill” (Lowry 162). This evidence shows that he is more rebellious because he did not take his pill, which is a major crime in the community. By not taking his pill, he is defying his community’s rules and values, the same community that he lives in. This action is rebellious because he is resisting the community’s authority and control over him. Additionally, before Jonas contravened his community’s rules, he made small acts of rebellion. He tries to give his friends memories of the past: “He tried. Without asking permission from The Giver, because he feared––or knew–– that it would be denied, he tried to give his new awareness to his friends” (Lowry 125). This evidence demonstrates that he is more rebellious because he did not ask for The Giver’s permission. By not telling The Giver about his plans, he is not accepting The Giver’s authority, showing how he is slightly rebellious to The Giver himself. After he becomes the Receiver, Jonas reveals his rebellious side, doing things like breaking
Jonas misses the way it was before he had memories where there was no pain or feeling, because everything was innocent. But he understands that although there was innocence nobody feels true happiness.Jonas thinks: “But he knew he couldn’t go back to that world of no feelings that he had lived in so long” (Lowry 131). Jonas wishes he could go back when everything was innocent and when he had no burden of pain, but although there was innocence the bad memories were stripped away to avoid the feeling of pain but also leaves everyone emotionless. But he knows it can never be the same again because of all the knowledge he gained from memories. He learns that memoires need to be valued, even the painful ones. Jonas feels that his community can change and things could be different. He thinks they should live in a world with memories. Jonas says: “Things could be different. I don’t know how, but there must be some way for things to be different. There could be colours [...] and everybody would have memories [...] There could be love” (Lowry 128). Jonas wishes that they could all have memories because everyone would be able to experience love. Love is one of the most important things in human life. He knows that there are bad memories, but without them, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the good ones. Eventually, with his feelings
One literary element that is cleverly written into the novel is irony. Jonas’ life is supposedly perfect, in an environment with everyone’s life controlled and documented by the Elders. The weather, the marriages, the child selection, the population, and the education are decided by the Elders. Even the career is provided for them; each December at the Ceremony of 12, the new recruits receive the career that they will continue with for the rest of their working adult life’s’. The job Jonas receives is the most difficult one, the Receiver, who has the duty of containing all of the intense experiences of life. Ironically, Jonas doesn’t enjoy this; he instead feels that the job is too painful for him. Yet the Elders’ decisions, although chosen w...
First of the various changes is when he realizes his society’s system. Jonas first notices that his society’s system is a little dark when he gets his instructions that he could lie if necessary. Then Jonas learns that a Ceremony of Release isn’t what is sounds like. On page 151 of The Giver Book it says “Well, there you are, Jonas. You were wondering about release, he said in a bitter voice. Jonas felt a ripping sensation inside himself, the feeling of terrible pain….” Because Jonas pondered about release he discovered a horrible truth , and starts changing everything about how he sees the community.
In Jonas with the Community, Jonas recalls a moment where he felt frightened, at seeing an aircraft blow above the community, this section was also a section where Lily shares her feelings at seeing other kids do not following the rules, while playing with her, and then Jonas dad taking his turn to share his feelings about a newborn child who could be released, knowing that he needed to share his feelings, Jonas shares that he is feeling apprehensive because The Twelve Ceremony is coming. At analyzing his feelings, Jonas talks with his parents very carefully, of how he cannot control his feelings at knowing The Ceremony of Twelve is coming soon. After Jonas's father realises his feelings about the newborn child who is going to be released, he brings him with his and Jonas
The movie starts when Jonas and his best friends, Asher and Fiona, are graduating from childhood and are founding what part they will take in the community. Jonas feels lost because he feels that he is different. He saw things differently, but he never said anything, because he was never wanting to be different in this perfect world. He felt scared that he does not belong in his community.