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Exploring the character of the giver
Exploring the character of the giver
The giver book summary and analysis
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Personal Freedom What would your life be like if you gave up all of your personal freedoms right now? Imagine you can’t choose your family, possessions, or your job. In the book, The Giver, this lifestyle is a reality. They have given the power to make their own decisions to others. Were these sacrifices worth it? Characters in The Giver have numerous rules and guidelines that prohibit them from having their own freedom. For example, they must use precise language. This means that they can’t exaggerate, and they can’t ask questions. Questions are one freedom that we have in our society today that most of us take for granted. Imagine you are a character in the book, and you are curious about the past. How would you handle this curiosity, without any questions? Another example of personal freedoms that were given up, is the freedom to make decisions. Community members don’t choose their spouse, they apply for one, and then the town gives you one. Kids are not chosen, or born from your mother, but instead you get the child that the town picks for you. Jobs are assigned, without any input from you, other …show more content…
My personal opinion on this is no. My main reason for this is that people in this community may develop a belief that they are not unique. Why should they see themselves as unique? They’ve been living their whole life with people receiving the same items at the same time, and people wearing the same clothing as others. Another reason I think it isn’t worth it is because people don’t get to experience loving someone, since their spouse and children are chosen for them. Love is now a word that is obsolete, so they cannot feel the joy of it. The last reason that I am against this is because people might think that there is no need to try. If you didn’t try to be the best person you can be, you can still receive a spouse, kids, and a job. This may lead people to believe that they can take it easy, and not try as
The first reason why the community in the book The Giver should be given personal rights is because the inhabitants of the community could learn from their mistakes. Without any personal rights they cannot make their own decisions; if they don’t make their own decisions they cannot learn from their mistakes that their decisions had led them to. On page 98 in The Giver Jonas stated that “What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong?” This tells the reader...
Even though both the society in The Giver by Lois Lowry and modern society are both unique in their own ways, our society is a better society to live in. Our society gives us more freedom to choose for our own benefits and
“How could someone not fit in? The community was so meticulously ordered, the choices so carefully made.” (Lowry, 48) In Lowry’s novel, The Giver, eliminating choices and feelings caused their society to be worse than our society today because you don’t have any choices and you don’t get to experience the feeling of joy and happiness.
Only you make the Choice to read this! In novel The Giver by Lois Lowry she explores many themes, but one theme in my opinion stands above the rest that is free will. With free will we can shape our futures.
Have you ever thought about what it would be like not to be free? What would it be like not to be able to make choices? What would it be like not to be able to do what you want? It's scary to think about not being free, but even in the world today some people don't even have basic human freedoms. Lois Lowry shows us in her books The Giver and Gathering Blue what it would be like not to have freedom and how important it is that we have it.
It is one of the few brave books that exposes the horrors of humanity and serves as a cautionary tale for us all. Even in a “paradise” like Jonas' community, people still try to control others in order to keep the world pure, innocent, and shaped in their image, while they are ignorant of the past, of history, and their abilities to harm others even when they have good intentions. The Giver is a vital piece of literature for society today; its lessons of the horrors that can occur in society and the beauty that humanity offers are invaluable to us all. Freedom and choice are vital to a successful and fulfilled society. A world without freedom and choice “is a frightening world. Let’s work hard to keep it from truly happening.”
In current society, many people notice only the unfortunate portions of their lives. These pessimists ignore the abundance of good surrounding them; taking for granted all that is there. In The Giver, the characters are not provided opportunities to focus on negative aspects of their lives. They do not consciously have any. The intention of creating a utopia is to protect the inhabitants from any problems they might otherwise encounter.
society, everyone wears the same clothes, follows the same rules, and has a predetermined life. A community just like that lives inside of Lois Lowry’s The Giver and this lack of individuality shows throughout the whole book. This theme is demonstrated through the control of individual appearance, behavior, and ideas.
The Giver presents a community that appears to be perfect on the surface. Jonas's community is free of warfare, pain, sorrow and other bitterness we suffer in our society. The world seems to be secure and undergoes little conflict. Such a community seems flawless and is the idealistic society that we longed to live in. However , through Jonas's training, the imperfections of the Utopian community are revealed. The community allows little individual freedom and choice. In allowing only one person, the Receiver, to bear the memories of the world, the community frees itself from suffering and conflict. As a result, it gives up the ability to experience true feelings, passion, individual privacy, freedom and knowledge. To maintain the community's order, strict rules are applied to the inhabitants. "Releases" ( a less offensive term for kills) are performed to the citizens who jeopardize the stability and peace of the community. The inhabitants' careers and spouses are chosen by the Elders (or government).
Loss of Freedom in The Giver The Giver, a book written by Lois Lowry, questioned my ideas, thoughts and beliefs. The novel describes an ideal society, in which everything is supposed to be perfect, with all life’s problems solved. It is all about being happy with what the people have and not questioning their lifestyles because they did not know the difference between good and bad. The people are denied of their preferable way of life without their knowledge of how the real world is supposed to be. In the I can. However, the citizens of this society are not able to control their life; for example their choice of clothing, choice of loving and having feelings, or choice of family members. From all existing creatures, we humans differ because we are able to use our brain to make decisions. In the novel, the people of the given society have authority figures that show them how to live their life. “Katya, became a Nine and removed her hair ribbons and got her bicycle” (P The rules start with small things like what age one starts to ride a bike, which age group wears certain types of jackets, the clothing one wears each day, and even what to eat. In the real world, we humans make similar decisions for ourselves without thinking about it. People need guidance in their life to the right way of living but not a book of instructions. Many of us live each day dreaming of our future family and all the happiness we may get from that. I cannot imagine how it feels not to have freedom to feel and love. “Jonas, she said with a smile, the feeling you described as wanting? It was your the opposite sex. Beginning from early age, children are controlled not to feel or appreciate his/her opposite sex. The adults are made to take the pills to annihilate their sexual desires. When the children grow up and become adults, more decisions are made for them. When one is old enough to get married, the superior power chooses a mate for the person and is wedded. This is when I question the meaning of marriage. a future together, not a partnership that you deal with like a business. Although many cultures have different say in this sacred ceremony, most have similar ideas. To many people, love is affection based on admiration or common interests and warm attachment, enthusiasm or devotion. How can one live happy in life without the experience of such feelings? These individuals in the novel did not know better, if they knew how good it is to feel love or even know a good taste when it is good, then they would not be happy with the way of life in their community. “J What if they were allowed to choose their own mate?
Lowry writes The Giver in the dystopian genre to convey a worst-case scenario as to how modern society functions. A dystopia is an “illusion of a perfect society” under some form of control which makes criticism about a “societal norm” (Wright). Characteristics of a dystopian include restricted freedoms, society is under constant surveillance, and the citizens live in a dehumanized state and conform to uniform expectations (Wright). In The Giver, the community functions as a dystopian because everyone in the community conforms to the same rules and expectations. One would think that a community living with set rules and expectations would be better off, but in reality, it only limits what life has to offer. Instead, the community in the novel is a dystopian disguised as a utopian, and this is proven to the audience by the protagonist, Jonas. Jonas is just a norma...
The book The Giver is a dystopian book because you don’t get to make any of your own decisions. You would never know the truth about release. You would never experience life how you should experience it. The world may seem perfect from someone’s view inside the community, but from the outside it is harsh and horrible. Their world could be turned into a utopia eventually, but as of right know it is a
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 believe in personal choice, rather than society dictating how we must live our lives.”- Mike Peters. In the book The Giver by Lois Lowry, the citizens in the community live without choice, meaning they have no control over their own lives. Because of that they do not suffer the consequences for any choice but they do not get to experience freedom. Lois Lowry is saying, the importance of personal choice can change a person's emotions, helps people’s abilities to be independent and affects the freedom which allows a person to pursue what they want in life and to make their own decisions for their future. A person’s emotions can change because they do not know what to feel since all their decisions are made for them, being able to choose
Also, Dr Kathie Nunley, an author/teacher says: “Living in a world with no choice is awful. It's worse than awful - it's absolute misery” (URL #2). Without a doubt, choice is very important. But in Lowry’s book, The Giver, choices are very rare, as Jonas states: “We do...