Chloe Byrd The Giver: Metaphorical Death. The truth of death is its mystery. Without death, there would be nothing, there would be no fear of the wrong or the good of the right. Our lives would be meaningless and our memories of others, our grief, would be stripped away from us. In Lois Lowry's novel, The Giver, these existential questions about morality, deception, and the shared human experience come to the forefront. Death, both literal and metaphorical, emerges as a central theme. Through these elements, the novel delves into the complexities of existence, the human experience, and the profound impact of both physical and metaphorical endings on individual and collective consciousness. Metaphorical death manifests itself through the memories …show more content…
In doing this process he learns about the generations before him, he learns about hunger, pain, and war as well as color, art, and love. In one such instance, Jonas was given the memory of hunger and being underfed. The book describes the memory as such, “.the hunger had caused excruciating spasms in his empty, distended stomach. He lay on the bed, aching. “Why do you and I have to hold these memories?” “It gives us wisdom,” The Giver replied.” This quote relates to this theme because it shows the pain and the hunger he feels of the past generations before him. Just as he feels he can't endure any longer and embraces the idea of death, he suddenly finds himself back in the safety of his own bed. These memories are of pain and someone close to death. Death is our memories and our grief, represented by the quote. What brings us close to death is our memories, what reminds us of our pain. Just as he feels he can't endure any longer and embraces the idea of death, he suddenly finds himself back in the safety of his own bed. Then further along the book we see Jonas, our protagonist, get introduced to the idea of …show more content…
Jonas is understanding his ability to “see beyond”. The Giver, his mentor, helps him understand this new concept he describes. Jonas, we come to understand, is seeing colors and the color red is the most evident one showing itself. The ability to “see beyond” is seeing something beyond their gray and dull world. Jonas recalls a memory The Giver has given him about sledding. When Jonas recalls this memory, he sees the color red and wonders how language is not precise enough to describe the beauty of the red. Then Jonas contemplates the decision of past generations on why everything has become the same and monotonous. The Giver replies to this question, “The Giver shrugged”. ‘Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, and back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with differences.’ He thought for a moment. We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.’” This quote speaks to the theme of metaphorical death as it relates to the loss of individuality and the relinquishment of essential human experiences. The Giver explains the past societal choice to embrace Sameness, a decision that not only eliminates color and diversity but also represents a form of spiritual and emotional death for the community. This decision ultimately suppresses aspects of life that
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)
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
In The Giver, a narrative by Lois Lowry, Jonas’s father illustrates his feelings during his Ceremony of Twelve and Jonas tells about his own feelings concerning the forthcoming event. In the text it states, “‘But to be honest, Jonas,’ his father said, ‘for me there was not the element of suspense that there is with your ceremony. Because I was already fairly certain of what my Assignment was to be,’”(Lowry, paragraph 3). This segment of text elucidates the reason of Jonas’s father’s lack of surprise of his Assignment. As stated above, Jonas’s father was already certain of his Assignment, which he continues to explain to be a Nurturer. Jonas’s father explains that as a result of the love he showed all the Newchildren and the time he spent at
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. 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 get freedom, the community is left without someone to take the memories from The Giver.
“Themes and Construction: The Giver.” Novels for Students. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
Parents have raised protest against The Giver because it references euthanasia; a concept many believe corrupts youthful readers' minds and values. Indeed, the author initially does minimize the significance of mercy killing by euphemistically denoting it as, "release" (139). However, when Jonas learns the true definition of this term, he grows determined to awaken the community to what it is condoning. He realizes that the process of release is a "feeling of terri...
Jonas is made to bear the truths of the world alone and is troubled by what he should do with it. Jonas at first doesn't want the memories because after receiving several of them, all that Jonas has known is being questioned and his world turned upside down. 'He is angry and afraid after receiving his first set of memories. Angry because of what has been kept from him and afraid because now he doesn't know what to do. Jonas is uncertain whether the world he learns of is best for his community and if people can be trusted to make decisions on their own. In a conversation to "The Giver" (person passing down the memories) about whether or not it is safe to allow people to make their own choices, Jonas say, "What if they are allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong? . . .
Imagine a place where there is no color, no choice, a place where individuality and freedom has been traded for sameness and security. Lowry has created such a place in the novel The Giver. This place, or rather community, is presumed to be in the future and is supposed to be a utopia where everyone conforms to the rules. The citizens have no connection with their past or what they have given up. There are only two people who can remember. One is the Giver and the other is the Receiver of Memory. These two people are the main characters in this story. The Giver is an old man that the council of elders turns to when they have a problem. He listens to their proposals and then tells them what they should do by basing his decisions on the
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.
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
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.
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.
It’s not easy to be brave when you are scared. Leaving the only home you have ever known is not a simple task. The science-fiction novel, The Giver written by Lois Lowry, was a story about courage and being different. Jonas, a Twelve, decided to escape his community to Elsewhere hoping to open new doors and find more opportunities. He was influenced by several people and events to leave the only home he had ever known. Jonas left the community because his experiences changed the way he saw the world. Making the decision to go to Elsewhere was not simple, but thankfully there are people who gave the decision a little push to make the dream a reality.
The purpose of this book was to show us a possible version of a "Utopia".