The Giver: The Importance of Individuality

838 Words2 Pages

The novel, The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is an everlasting story that shows the importance of individuality. This novel is about a young boy named Jonas who was elected as the Receiver of Memories, a person who is given the memories from the world that existed before their current society, Sameness. In this society there is no individualism. People can not choose who to marry, or what they want to do for a living. Over time Jonas becomes more and more wise, and realizes that the supposedly perfect community actually has some very dark and negative aspects. The author, Lois Lowry is a 76-year-old writer who focuses her writing on helping struggling teenagers become individuals. Lowry had a very tragic childhood. After both of her parents were separated and killed in the middle of a war, she was devastated and the only way she was able to block and forget all of the horrifying things that were happening, were books (Lowry). “My books have varied in content… Yet it seems… that all of them deal with the same general theme: the importance of human connections,” Lowry explained in her autobiography. In the novel The Giver, Lois Lowry uses the literary elements symbolism, foreshadowing, and imagery to express the theme: importance of an individual.

Symbolism is one of the major literary elements used in The Giver. It helps explain why it is so important to be able to be an individual. “Suddenly, he was aware with certainty and joy that below, ahead, they were waiting for him; and they were waiting too, for the baby” (Lowry 178). In this quote, Lowry helps the reader understand exactly what Gabriel, a newborn baby, really means. Gabriel symbolizes hope and new beginnings. He makes Jonas want to fight for change, because somehow he has not ...

... middle of paper ...

... of her books are mainly directed to teenagers and young adults that are yet to discover how wonderful life can be. Her books are directed to the future of the human race. More importantly, it is directed to the innovators and changers who will make the world a better place, and that is why Lowry also has a hidden theme in all of her novels: the importance of human connections.

Works Cited

Lowry, Lois. “Biography.” Lois Lowry. Lois Lowry, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2014. .
- - -. “The Giver.” IBooks. Apple, n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
- - -. “Lois Lowry’s Biography.” Scholastic. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2014. .
“Themes and Construction: The Giver.” Novels for Students. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • The Giver Literary Analysis

    269 Words  | 1 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Essay On Conformity In The Giver

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Stirrings In The Giver

    652 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book The Giver uses words that may sound complex, but those words meant almost the same thing as words that are not so complex. For example, the word “newchildren” is almost the exact same word as “newborn baby”. There is slightly a difference between the two words. Lois Lowry does a great job of interpreting the original words into new words, but still keeping an identical meaning. The description of the words and the community puts an image in people's’ minds of what the community is sort of

    Read More

  • Allusions In The Giver

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    The theme of suffering, In The Giver we see both physical and emotional suffering , the novel argues that pain is a part of human experience without it we cannot learn from the past and make informed decisions to a better future(Sisk17).

    Read More

  • Comparing In Our World and the World of The Giver

    800 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Giver provides a chance that readers can compare the real world with the society described in this book through some words, such as release, Birthmothers, and so on. Therefore, readers could be able to see what is happening right now in the real society in which they live by reading her fiction. The author, Lowry, might build the real world in this fiction by her unique point of view.

    Read More

  • cathedral

    773 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...at uses symbolism to show how a person weakness can become strength. The symbols being drinking which represent a form of escaping and letting ones guard down, the blindness of Robert which represents that a weakness can become an strength, and the drawing of a cathedral which represent the faith and freedom that the narrator acquires at the end of the story.

    Read More

  • The Perception of Jonas in Lois Lowry's The Giver

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Conformity In The Giver

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Giver

    543 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Giver is actually one of my all-time favorite books, so I’ve looked into why she left the book so inconclusive in the past. The Giver is basically about a boy named Jonas who lives in a perfect society. He lives in a household with his two parents and his little sister Lilly. When he becomes a 12, he goes through a huge ceremony and all the elders assign them their jobs. In this community, there is no lying, stealing, racism, pain, sunlight or color. Jonas was chosen to be The Receiver, and he didn’t know what to do because this job was such a big deal. Jonas then goes through training with the current Receiver, who is now The Giver. Training consists of The Giver passing down the memories from when the community was not what it is today. Memories that are passed down are things that are normal to us. Memories of sun, snow, pain, and sorrow.

    Read More

  • The Giver, by Lois Lowry

    2270 Words  | 5 Pages

    Dystopian literature brings warning to the modern world and allows the audience to experience a new perception of life. The 1993 novel, The Giver, by Lois Lowry, fits into the dystopian genre because it makes judgment about modern society. She inscribed her novel “For all the children to whom we entrust the future”, which serves as a hope for a better future (Franklin). She targets the younger generation because they are the future. In Lowry’s novel, The Giver, Lowry’s perspective on modern society is that it tends to stay within its comfort zone, which creates limitations in life. The dystopian characteristics of the novel, importance of memory, the history surrounding the novel, and Lowry’s personal background all convey the notion that modern society should freedom bestowed it and to fully appreciate life in itself; society tends to take life’s freedoms for granted.

    Read More

  • The Giver, by Lois Lowry: Decisions and Personal Empowerment

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Individuality In The Giver

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Giver Compared To Today

    480 Words  | 1 Pages

    The novel The Giver, by Lois Lowry, was published in 1993. The book, The Giver is about a dystopian society that has a lot of strict rules compared to an average place in the world today. Most of the people in the giver have no emotions, because they are trained that way. The protagonist is Jonas who is a average boy that was selected to be the receiver of memory for the people of the city. Fiona and Asher are his two best friends.

    Read More

  • The Giver Thesis

    84 Words  | 1 Pages

    This little essay is about the story the giver. I will tell you about what my thesis is and what maybe will happen next.

    Read More

  • The Giver By Lois Lowry

    490 Words  | 1 Pages

    The giver by Lois Lowry is a factionary book about a young boy (Jonas) who lives in a black and white world where there is very little pain or emotion. He lives in a secure area where they’re not allowed to leave. When he turns 12 he will get a life-long job to help his community. First, the time setting is in the future and is a utopian society. It’s a small community by a river.

    Read More

More about The Giver: The Importance of Individuality

Open Document