The Controversy Of Euthanasia In 'The Giver'

Controversy of The Giver
Joseph Stalin once said, “Death is the solution to all problems.” Lois Lowry seemed to follow this quote throughout the novel The Giver. There has been controversial outbreaks whether the book should be allowed in schools for children to read as assignments, be held in the local library, or even in people’s homes to read. However, this novel is important and should be read by everyone who gets the chance.
This novel has such controversy due to its discussion of euthanasia. Euthanasia is the killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease. This act is illegal in most states and is still frowned upon by the citizens in the states that allow it. Euthanasia is still allowed in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and Montana. Alabama, Idaho, Massachusetts, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming have zero enactments to incriminate someone for assisting their suicide.

The Giver’s main character Jonas informs us that their society is guilty of euthanasia and the reader realizes this society is abusing its purpose.

Lowry does not come directly out to tell us that euthanasia is enforced. Instead, Lowry uses the term “released” whenever someone goes missing. “There were only two occasions of release which were not punishments. Release of the elderly, which was a time of celebration for a life well and fully lived; and the release of a new child, which always brought a sense of what-could-we-have-done” (Lowry 8). This quote describes to us that people in this society get released when they have gone against the society’s rules. The quote also informs the reader that releases occur when children are born unhealthy, the elderly reach a certain age, or when a family has more that one son and one

daughter.
Although The Giver is banned and challenged in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and California, this novel is clearly a must read. The Giver lets the reader read about a society that could become a reality in the near future. This novel lets us in on how everyone must be the same and no one is allowed to feel. The concept of equality has already approached the generation of millennial. For example, the DuBois School DIstrict will not allow the graduating class to have a valedictorian because the school district has received complaints from students’ parents claiming that their child is being discriminated. In a few years will senior superlatives become extinct?