The novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry, is based on a dystopian society that restricts everyone using the idea of sameness and control. Jonas, the protagonist, who is twelve years old, is selected for the Receiver of Memory and learns how his society is not what it looks to be and that leads him to rebel against the ideas of his community. In The Giver, it shows that if a society controls people radically, eventually, people will lose their ability to express themselves as individuals. Through exploring conflict, Lois Lowry conveys the significance of individuality for people. She shows that truth can lead to conflict and the realisation of individuality and suppression of feelings leads to total control over uniqueness. She conveys that the persistence …show more content…
In Chapter 16, pg 155, Jonas feels conflicted about his job as the Receiver and he feels that he shouldn’t be one to hold all the memories. “..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.” “.citizens bicycling home from uneventful days at work, ordinary lives free of anguish because he had been selected, as others before him had, to bear their burden.” This quote displays how Jonas feels burdened by the Role of the Receiver, feeling that his childhood has been taken away, leaving him with the importance of the Giver. He also knows that it is what he is meant for, with the feelings of anguish and wisdom guiding him along his journey. The phrase, “didn't want the honor, didn't want the wisdom, didn't want the pain” indicates that Jonas doesn’t want the responsibilities of the Receiver of Memory, and the pain along with it. While many others would take pride and joy in being the Receiver, Jonas feels conflicted about his new job, knowing that his experiences have led him to confront the ideas of feelings and individuality, leading him to the burden of being a “real” human. Jonas also has to deal with him knowing that the citizens of his community have ordinary, boring lives …show more content…
In chapter 19, Jonas begins to question the Giver about release, and soon enough he finds out about the cruelty of the act of releasing. “The Giver turned to him. Well, there you are, Jonas. You were wondering about the release," he said in a bitter voice. Jonas felt a ripping sensation inside himself, the feeling of terrible pain clawing its way forward to emerge in a cry.” In this quote, it demonstrates how Jonas feels about the act release, feeling that something is ripping him apart, and that he can’t bear with the truth and the pain, of what his community does if someone is old, broke the rules, or is underweight as a baby. The meaning of the quote is that Jonas feels lied to, by his father, with the phrase “Jonas faced a ripping sensation within himself, the feeling of terrible pain clawing its way forward to emerge in a cry”. It shows how Jonas feels about this act of release, and that his community lied, about what happens and how it is done, and it is done in a way that gives Jonas terrible feelings and pain. The phrase, “..the feeling of terrible pain clawing its way forward to emerge in a cry.” It projects the importance of this to Jonas, and how his feelings are so overwhelming that these experiences lead him to try to overcome his problems and feelings, and this
Jonas, the protagonist, is assigned the job of holding memories for the community. This is so that not everyone has to experience sad or painful memories. The Giver's job is to transmit these memories to Jonas and, in doing so, reveals the wonders of love, and family, and pain, and sorrow to this young boy. Jonas begins to resent the rules of sameness and wants to share these joys with his community. After receiving his first memory, Jonas says, "I wish we had those things, still." (p. 84)
Without memories, nobody can make the right decision, which will lead to a bad choice. Without memories, one cannot shape his or her future. In addition, when Jonas describes the pain he feel when experiencing a sunburn when, “‘It hurts a lot,’ Jonas said, ‘but I’m glad you gave it to me. It was interesting,”(Lowry 86). This quote show that Jonas does not understand
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
“Ignorance is not bliss. Bliss is knowing the full meaning of what you have been given.” said David Levithan. In her dystopian novel, The Giver, Lois Lowry is able to convey the same idea as this quote. In this book, people created the Community in which the members are in a supposedly safe and happy environment. The Elders choose Jonas, the main character, to be the next Receiver of Memory and his training helps him to experience the past and see the deep flaws in the Community.
Lois Lowry describes a futuristic world with controlled climate, emotions, way of living and eliminates suffering in her book The Giver. The main character, Jonas, shows the reader what his world is like by explaining a very different world from what society knows today. Everything is controlled, and no one makes choices for themselves or knows of bad and hurtful memories. There is no color, and everything is dull. As he becomes the Receiver who has to know all the memories and pass them down to the next Receiver, he realizes his world needs change. He starts to believe that a world of sameness where no one can decide or make choices for themselves is boring. Lois Lowry is warning readers that living in a world of sameness is not something to create as it is boring and dull, but if the world follows conformity and does not value diversity and difference enough, society could become that of Jonas’s.
In Chapter 8, when Jonas was announced he would be the “Receiver of Memory” many people said he could not handle it. Later on in the book, Jonas is given many painful, excruciating memories of warfare, blood, loneliness, and death, but on many occasions the giver does not have the ability to transmit memories because the pain of the past overcomes him and he is put in deep despair. Another reason being the new receiver could be a punishment is because he could be lonely, although he can apply to have a family he would not be able to share the pain. Eventually, Jonas leaves the community for good because he feels that “The Receiver” should not keep the secrets from his community and he wants to give them
In an early discussion with the Giver, Jonas concludes that "`We really have to protect people from wrong choices... [It's] much safer'" (99). However, it is with the progression of his training as Receiver of Memories that Jonas learns the impact of the sacrifices his community makes. After receiving a memory of a family celebrating together, Jonas speculates with the Giver about the emotional potential of the situation. He contemplates "`The family in the memory seemed... complete...
Set in a community with no climate, emotions, choices, or memories Lois Lowry tells the tale of Jonas in The Giver. Jonas is selected to be the receiver of memory, which means the memories of generations past, before the community was created, will all be transferred to him to hold. As Jonas receives memories his concept of the world around him drastically changes. Jonas starts out as twelve-year-old boy with perceptions different from those around him, he then begins to see the community for what it really is, and he makes a plan to change it.
Jonas has always been an inquisitive and curious person, even more so when he obtains the role of Receiver of Memory. One example of this important trait occurs after the Ceremony of Twelve. Jonas was still confused about his role, but he was anxious to learn about the incident involving the previous girl who was supposed to take the position of the
Jonas shows courage and bravery as he took on the challenge of being the next Receiver of Memory that required physical, mental, and unspeakable amounts of pain. As he walked on the stage at the end of the ceremony of twelves, he and the audience were told that Jonas had not been assigned a job, he was chosen. The speaker went on to say all the qualities Jonas had and one of them was courage. She continued to say “Courage” “ Only one of us here today has ever undergone the rigorous training required of a receiver.” This shows how Jonas has bravery and courage because he has been chosen to undergo the difficult job and training of being the next receiver.
However, as Jason’s training teaches him, this is not the case. His teacher, the Receiver of Memory, who tells Jonas to call him the Giver, transmits memories of the distant past to him. It is through these memories that Jonas discovers the meaning of snow, war, pain and love. The Giver tells him that these things existed before the people chose to go to “Sameness”. Ever since, they gave up those things in exchange for a world free of discrimination, crime and pain. However, realising the importance of wisdom gained through experience, they chose the Receiver to bear the burden of all the memories for them. Overwhelmed by all this information and being forbidden to share it with anyone, Jonas grows increasingly embittered against hi...
Lois Lowry’s The Giver considers something the world takes for granted: personal empowerment. These simple day-to-day decisions create what the world is. Without self-empowerment and right to believe in a personal decision, what is the human race? The world can only imagine, as Lois Lowry does in The Giver. She asks: What if everything in life was decided by others? What if spouses, children, the weather, education, and careers were chosen based upon the subjects’ personality? What if it didn’t matter what the subject thought? Jonas, the Receiver, lives here. He eats, sleeps, and learns in his so-called perfect world until he meets the Giver, an aged man, who transmits memories of hope, pain, color, and love. Jonas then escapes his Community with a newborn child (meant to be killed), hoping to find a life of fulfillment. On the way, he experiences pain, sees color, and feels love. Irony, symbolism, and foreshadowing are three literary devices used to imply the deeper meaning of The Giver.
“It’s a stark fact that the United States has less than five percent of the world’s population, yet we have almost 25 percent of the world’s total prison population” (Lee). Why are the numbers so elevated? Compared to other countries, the United States has more prisoners per capita than even Russia or China. “An astonishing number of Americans—nearly one out of every one hundred adults—is behind bars in this country” (Ryan 149). Are there more crimes being committed in the United States? Increase in prison facilities and prison growth is astounding. People are being unrightfully imprisoned and it must be stopped.
Imagine a world with no color, weather, or sunshine. The Giver is a book by Lois Lowry and is based on a utopia where no one makes choices, feels pain, or has emotions. The book takes place in a community where all of this is true. The story is about an 11-year old soon to be 12 year-old named Jonas who is unsure of which job he will get when he is 12. Jonas changes throughout The Giver and as a result, tries to change the community.
We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others” (97). In the book The Giver by Lois Lowry, no one has seen a rainbow after a storm, no one knew what colors were; what choosing was; what it meant to be an individual. Everyone lived in complete Sameness, and never learned what it meant to be an individual. By eliminating as much self expression as possible in Sameness and society, Jonas's community has rejected the individuality of a society where people are free to move society forward. In The Giver individuality is represented by colors, memories, and pale eyes.