The Giver, No Ordinary Joe, By Lois Lowry

A Universal Paradox stated, “You are free to make your choices but you are not free to choose the consequences.” Any choice you make no matter how big or small always comes with consequences. The theme of choice is exemplified in The Giver, No Ordinary Joe, and The Road Not Taken through the difficult decisions they had to make.

Jonas, from The Giver by Lois Lowry, makes choices that let the reader know what kind of person he really is. Jonas lives in a community that revolves around Sameness. Nobody makes any decisions for themselves and they all follow the rules of the community. However once Jonas realizes that he can choose his own legacy he takes it into his own hands. Jonas states, “If everything's the same then there aren't any choices!

I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!” Jonas finally realizes that he could have a say in how his life is lived.

Even if it's as small as choosing what color shirt to wear, he wanted the ability to choose. The community feared that if people were able to make choices, Sameness and control would be lost. They feared the idea of people's choices impacting others and disturbing the peace. The community made a very precise choice when they chose Jonas to be The Giver. However would they have chosen him if they knew his choices would impact the community? The choices Jonas made reflected the kind of person and citizen he was in the community.

In the story “No Ordinary Joe” by Rick Reilly the choices one made made impacted his whole future. One hot afternoon Joe Delaney, AFC’s best young running back, made the right decision that ended in the wrong way. While basking in the sun he heard shrieks of help. Being the kind of person Joe was he made the right decision to get up and help. He realized that three boys were drowned and he immediately jumped in to save them. However there was only

one problem….He couldn't swim himself. That day Joe delaney drowned alongside two of the boys, however he managed to save one. People wonder why he jumped in? Why did he think he could save them if he couldn't even save himself? The No Ordinary Joe article states, “After all, there were hundreds of people at the park, and not another soul dived into that pit. Nobody but Delaney, one guy who shouldn't have.” Joe Delaney was known as a selfless and generous guy who never let the fame of being a pro football player get to his head. Joe Delaney had no hesitations when it came to making the choice to jump into the pit. Being the guy he was the only thing that probably went through his head was someone's life is on the line and I am going to do anything in my power to save them. However he was not thinking about his own life on the line or the impact his choices would make on himself. However the choices Joe Delaney made on that day saved the life of LeMarkits Holland. In the following years LeMarkits went down a bad path of life. He got involved in drugs and was thrown in jail for his bad decisions. You would think that he would treasure the gift Joe Delaney gave him and be a better person. However his choices were his own and it's not Joe Delaney's fault Lemarkits made bad decisions. Although Joe Delaney had to pay a big price for his decision, he would be happy with the impact he made on the world.
The theme of choice is very common in the story “The Lottery” .

J.K. Rowling said, "It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." This quote pertains very closely to Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." In "The Lottery" Tessie Hutchinson chooses the black dot out of the black box during the annual Lottery. This meant she would be stoned. The black box represents people choosing their own destiny and future. Tessie Hutchinson chose her own future, but it wasn't the future she was hoping for. She claimed that her husband did not have enough time to pick but the town argues that everyone took the same chances. Tessies choices in the past impacted the lives of her children. In the past lottery's Tessie threw rocks at the other “chosen ones.” Once it was her turn, her children just followed in her footsteps and stoned her like she was any other person. Even though her son thought about throwing a stone he eventually gave in and contributed in stoning his mother. Also Mrs. Delacroix chose a rock that was so large she needed both hands to carry it. Mrs. Delacroix either chose the biggest rock because she was following in the cruel tradition of the lottery, or she wanted the death of her friend to end quickly. It all depends if you look at the human or inhuman side of the story. Either way Mrs. Delacroix made the choice to join in on this cruel event just like Tessie's son. The choices these characters made in this story are a reflection of the kind of

people they are.
Throughout the stories of The Giver, No Ordinary Joe, and The Road Not Taken the theme of choice is manifested. The choices people make set up the path of life they are going to take. Choices are made everyday and without them we would all fall into a place of Sameness like in The Giver. In the end it all comes down to what kind of person your choices make you. Will you accept your decisions, or will you wonder about the path not taken?