The Giver Theme Essay

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The award winning novel The Giver by Lois Lowry shows young readers that a utopian society differs from the real world. In the book the utopians are unaware of the true meaning of choices, individual vs society, and memory which limits their ways of thinking. Without an idea of what any of these themes are, they are oblivious of how much they are being controlled. These themes play an important role in more than just Jonas’s life, without it, the book wouldn't be the same considering all the themes, for example choices. Choices is one of the most influential themes thats makes the character Jonas look so rebellious. Jonas is a pure example of what choices looks like for instance; “Then in the middle of the night before the Ceremony, …show more content…

Jonas used to be like the other utopians, brainwashed by society, but after help with The Giver he became his own individual. Individual vs Society is what influences the book the most, because if you’re not different, then you wouldn’t be an individual, you would be society. Most of the time recognizing an individual apart from society is easy, and at other times its not. For example; “ ‘I want you to come, Giver,’ Jonas pleaded. ‘No i have to stay here,’ The Giver said firmly. ‘i want to, jonas. if i go with you, and together we take away all their protection from the memories, jonas, the community will be in chaos. they'll destroy themselves. i can't go’ ” (Lowry 156). It is clear to us that jonas is an individual, but what about The Giver? The GIver may have encouraged Jonas to flee, and helped him do it, but is he really an individual? Why would a leader such as The Giver stay with the community, when the community could help themselves in time of need, especially when the elders know what situation it would be, after what happened with Rosemary. A true individual would have gone with Jonas and do the right thing by releasing more memories, not help the people who created this incident in the first place. But being an individual is tough when you have to think about things like

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