Would you like to live in a community where there is no freedom and is full of
safety? In the book The Giver, Lois Lowry shows that freedom is worthier than safety
when Jonas (main character) learns that the people in the community have no
emotions. He witnesses this when Jonas’s father release’s (kills) the baby twin. She
argues that freedom is more important than safety when Jonas notes that all the people
in the community are clueless. Lowry shows the danger in having no freedom when
Jonas learns that the people don’t think for themselves and have their life planned out
for them. This relates to how we have the NSA today. They are often looking at our
personal information and often don’t tell us what other things they are up too.
To start off, Lowry show how choices are very important in the scenes where
Jonas’s dad releases the baby twin. In this community the people don’t have a mind of
their own, which means they have no choices so that it is safer. “Our people made that
choice, the choice to go to Sameness” (96). Sameness is where they made the decision
to have all the people look the same, be the same, and think the same. The community
has successfully train everyone so that they don’t make choices of their own. In other
words their life is planned out. The reason the community was afraid that the people
would make choices of their own is because of the chance of wrong choices. Therefore
the people might cause havoc with wrong choices. In this passage Jonas learns why the
community was afraid of choices. “Once he had yearned for choice. Then, when he has
had a choice, he had made the wrong one: the choice to leave. And now he was
starving" (174). As shown here, Jonas thinks that he h...
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... what they do. The NSA has given the USA lots of safety but taken a big chunk of the
freedom. This relates to Lois Lowry’s theme that the people should have freedom over
safety.
To conclude, the people should have freedom be the first thing the government
takes in hand and safety the second. Lowry’s point about how freedom is more worthy
than safety matters in our world today because of what
(NSA) is doing today. Therefore we should have safety in this
world but to a certain degree so that it won’t overcome our freedom. “The only way to
deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an
act of rebellion.” -Albert Camus
Works Cited
"Secrets, Lies, and American Spies." The Economist, 15 June 2013. Web.
Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Print.
"The Giver Quotes." BookRags. N.p., n.d. Web.
“I knew that there had been times in the past-terrible times-when people had destroyed others in haste, in fear, and had brought about their own destruction” (48). In the old days, when people in Jonas’s community valued individual needs, there were lots of terrible happenings: violence; and then the society ended up with general welfare and safety. It is difficult for us to think of a world without color, freedom, music and love, but in The Giver, the society denounces these things in order to make room for peace and safety. In The Giver, by having a society based on general welfare they gave safety to their people. No violence, no criminal activities, nor homicides.
Jonas's father did not understand the value of life really was. The Community makes sure that their residents do not know the true meaning of release. Just because they ignore the fact that several murders happen frequently, does not mean that the reality behind it disappears with it. Ignoring this, does not make the residents of the Community live a blissful life. In the beginning of the novel, when the Jonas talks about what release means, he says, “… to be released… a terrible punishment, an overwhelming statement of failure,”(Lowry 20).
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
People should benefit from freedom, equality and justice. Absolute freedom is sometimes very dangerous and may destroy the basic principles of the society. A lot of people believe that freedom means doing whatever you want, whenever you want.
To conclude, personal choices are very significant in one’s life. In “The Use of Force”, by William Carlos Williams and “Lather and Nothing Else, by Hernando Tellez, both authors showed how people make their own judgments every day in life. However, the stories were different in certain cases because the decisions made by the individual caused the conflict to either end in an optimistic way or undesirable way. Personal choices are important because they help people solve conflicts, but the person must be careful if there personal choice they create is strong.
learn and gain freedom as much as I can. However, the citizens of this society are not able to control their
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.
In the novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry, the author makes it clear through the main character Jonas that freedom and safety need to find an equal balance. Lowry shows the importance of deep emotions and family through Jonas. Jonas becomes the new receiver of memory and learns about the past. He also learned about the way it was when people knew what love was. Jonas’ father releases newborn children because they don’t weight the correct amount of weight or they don’t sleep well through the night. Release is a nice way of saying kill; the people of the community don’t know what kill means. They don’t have the freedom to expand their vocabulary. Lois Lowry makes it clear that safety has a negative side and you need that you need freedom to have a high functioning community.
“The Giver” a novel by Lois Lowry (1993), is an, engaging science fiction tale that provides the reader with examples of thought provoking ethical and moral quandaries. It is a novel geared to the young teenage reader but also kept me riveted. Assigning this novel as a class assignment would provide many opportunities for teachers and students to discuss values and morals.
Simply of a choice they made from which they cannot run away from? It might have been
Ever thought about who controls the decisions you make regarding your daily activities? You may think you control every aspect of your life, but some philosophers have questioned such notions. Many schools of thought explain the analogy of free will, and they present the argument of whether we have the freedom to act or other causes and effects determine our destiny. Free will in this context is defined as the freedom to choose and act where there several alternative courses of action. Theologically, the concept of free will is presented as the power to make decisions on our own without necessarily been influenced by external or predetermined courses.
In this paper, I will argue that we have free will for our actions and our moral responsibilities. Free will is a big part in life. We have free will, but there are times where there is no free will. In the world we live in today, we really don’t always have free will.
In studying the book of Proverbs there is a similar theme of choice and discernment, the teachings of decision-making and the repercussions of your actions. These books are made up of extremes and polar opposites. The dualisms are the rich and poor, the righteous and the wicked, and the wise and the foolish. There is advice given and it is up to the judgment of the person to which category they will fall into. There are two ways of living, and based on the person’s discernment and ultimate choice to which one they will get to live.
People are free to choose how they want to live; because of this choice individuals are responsible for shaping