The Giver In The Book Thief Essay

As humans, there are certain things that each individual deems as important, whether it be to themselves, or to any other aspect of their lives. The things in our lives that are “important,” are those that leave an impression with us for the entirety of our lives. They have the power to change who we are as people, to completely alter the way we view ourselves and the world around us. For young Liesel Meminger, words are especially important, and become more so as she grows up in Nazi Germany in The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. Words allow her to understand the world she is forced to grow up in, as well as the people she is surrounded by in her life. Correspondingly, Jonas in Lois Lowry’s The Giver has a special relationship with the memories

bestowed upon him after he is selected as Receiver of Memory. The importance of each leaves lasting impressions on both characters, impressions that later allow them the strength to help their various communities, become aware of their societies, and form connections that they would not be able to make otherwise.
At the beginning of The Book Thief, Liesel loses her younger brother due to reasons unknown.

At his funeral, Liesel steals her first book, The Grave Diggers Handbook (24). The book is the gateway to not only her becoming a book thief, but also the gateway to her papa teaching her to read. This fact comes in handy during one of the air raids (381), when Liesel reads to the others in order to distract them from their anxieties. In The Giver, when Jonas is made aware of what life was like before Sameness, he realizes that the way the community has been living isn’t truly living. There is no emotion, no individuality, and everything is a shallow version of what it was in the past. Deciding that the members of the community should no longer have to live in the bland reality that has been created for them, he and the Giver devise a plan: Jonas must leave the community and release the memories so that they find the people of the community (117). Jonas gives up his family, his friends, and the only home he has ever known, all to give the community a chance to feel emotion and individuality once more. Both characters exhibited strength in moments where it was necessary, strength given to them by the things they deemed

important.
Both Liesel & Jonas grew up in societies where difference was to be met with scorn and disdain, where, if you made a mistake or misspoke, you were to be punished. They grow up thinking that this is the way things are supposed to be, that difference is something to be feared and eradicated. However, the initial exposure to the things they have deemed significant allows them to see their society from another perspective. When Liesel’s foster parents harbor a Jew in their basement, Liesel’s first instinct is to feel afraid, afraid of the man with the “hair like feathers (216).” But when they first share their dreams with one another during “the swapping of nightmares (220),” Liesel realizes that this man, despite being deemed as the scum of the earth by the rest of society, is no different than any other German; no different from her papa, or her friend Rudy, or anyone for that matter. For Jonas, his realization was a bit harsher. After a year of feeling like color and emotion should be things that exist in the community, Jonas is made to realize just how emotionless the members of the community are after watching his father “release” and kill a twin (113). He decides that he can no longer live in a society so devoid of emotion or feeling. In both situations, the characters showed humanity that they most likely would not have been able to summon before.
For Liesel, words allowed her to connect with and touch many people in her life.

When she and Papa spent time learning, teaching her to read and write, it formed an unbreakable bond between them. When she and Max began sharing nightmares, when she would describe the weather to him (249), it permitted her to see that the Jewish people were not all filth the way the führer was leading the rest of Germany to believe. They allowed her to comfort those in the bomb shelter during the air raid. Liesel’s relationship with words gave her the power and strength to connect with people she would not have been able to connect with, had she not had them. The same goes for Jonas and his relationship with the memories. Had he not been selected, he would not have grown to care for the Giver, much less have become as wise as he was towards the end of the books. The memories also enabled him to form a bond with Gabriel, a bond that potentially saved Gabe’s life when he was about to be “released.” In each situation, the characters had been given abilities to help & connect with those around them, even in situations where one has deemed it impossible to

connect.
When we deem something to be important, it leaves an impression on us that stays forever, whether it be something tangible like a family heirloom, or abstract the way words and memories are. In Liesel’s case, the words give her the ability to possess something the rest of society does not: humanity. She is able to use the words she has been given to connect, understand, and help others, even those who have been disregarded by the rest of society. The words bestow upon her a wisdom unpossessed by the rest of the population, wisdom that aids her in the rest of her life. For Jonas, the memories enable him to see the world in a way like no one else can; he sees the color and remembers the individuality of the past. The memories give him the strength to do what he believes to be right for his community, even though it meant leaving the only home he had ever know. In both stories, memories and words, despite being intangible, leaves more than an impression on the main characters. It gives them the ability to leave impressions on others as well, the strength to try and change the world around them, even if there is consequence.