“They were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on. And he was angry at himself, that he could not change that for them.”
“Even trained for years as they all had been in precision of language, what words could you use which would give another the experience of sunshine?”
Can you imagine a world where all you can see is grey? A no judgment zone because there is nothing that can distinguish you from anyone else? A world where you feel absolutely nothing?
Lois Lowry’s novel, The Giver, gives quite the impression of how a world would be that way. The story, written in 1993, gives us a journey through the narrator’s life, Jonas, who also happens to be the main character from this story. Funny enough, the novel’s descriptions are based on how he feels or what he sees. Lowry uses direct, simple language with very few figures of speech or ironic comments. Despite the simplicity, the tone is somewhat elevated, suited to the nature of Jonas’s discoveries about the richness of life.
The story is based on themes such as the following: The importance of memory; the relationship between pain and pleasure and the importance of the individual. It is pressumed that the story takes place in Earth, sometime in the future. But it is never specified. Just so you know: a movie was released in 2015.
Key Facts about The Giver:
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Jonas’s new emotional awareness causes him to rebel against the restrictions his society places on freedom of choice, individuality, emotion, and human experience.
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Jonas becomes the new Receiver; he receives memories that change the way he thinks about himself and his community.
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The main lead realizes that, when his father “releases” newchildren, he actually kills them; this is when Jonas reaches a point of no return. His frustration with his community and his desire to change it have been growing steadily, and finally, Jonas cannot accept the society’s insensitivity to the value of human life.
- In order to put his plan into action, Jonas flees the community on bicycle with the newchild Gabe, evading search planes and enduring hunger and pain to try to bring feelings and color to his community and bring himself to the world he has dreamed of knowing.
Why is it so important to read stories like this? With the events that we’ve been witnessing, such as the election, most of us wonder how will our society change. Even though it is not the same thing, in The Giver, the goverment is in charge of everything, to the point that nobody gets to see colors or feel anything. A narrative that makes us wonder if in a near or distant future we will be terrorized this very same way. It gives us a different perspective about life, and teaches us the values of individualism and acceptance and recognizition of human life. We can’t simply throw away something because we don’t necessarily love it. It is time to take one from the book (literally) and learn and accept human life, we are all different, and that’s okay. In my humble opinion, everyone should read this novel, and my personal rating is 5 out of 5 stars.