The Giver Essay How would it feel if this world didn’t let people have choices, didn’t let people share, or if they didn’t let people celebrate birthdays, holidays, or just celebrate anything? Well that’s what it was like for Jonas in The Giver. Jonas lives in the future in a community where The Giver is the only one who knows everything, but soon all that changed for Jonas. He became the the community 's new Receiver of Memory, and soon Jonas learns the terrible secrets of this “utopian” community. Later on as he learns some more about the community’s secrets he makes a plan to leave the community, and to take Gabe with him so he wouldn’t get released.(which means they die, but the community doesn’t understand that) In this book choices, sharing, and celebrations would have made The Giver community more positive. One thing that would make The Giver community more positive is Choices. One supporting quote in on page 97, “If everything’s the same, then there aren’t any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one? He looked down at himself , at the colorless fabric of his clothing. But it’s the same always.” This quote is helpful because the scientist made everything to sameness and they didn’t want anyone to choose what they wear. But if the community could see color then the people would have the freedom to choose what color tunic they want to wear and decide if they like it or not, and if they didn’t like it then they
The Giver is written from the point of view of Jonas. At the beginning of the book Jonas is an eleven-year-old boy living in a futuristic society that got rid of all sorrow, pain, fear, hate and war. Everyone looks and acts almost the same. Everyone is polite and there is no competition. Also the community is not allowed any kind of choices from the moment they were born to the moment they are released. For example, at the age of nine you are given a bike and are not allowed to ride a bike before that age. Also at the age of
In the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry, the receivers are the only people who have feelings and memories. The elders are the people who choose what the best is for their people in the community and sometimes they go to the receiver for help on making the right decisions. The people from the community do not see color, or have freedom on making a decision for them. There is no love, feelings, and grandparents. Jonas is assigned to be the next receiver of the community; He was trained by the giver, who transfers memories of the pain and pleasures of life, who also shows him the truth and reality that is hidden to the community. Jonas’s community does not represent the ideal of society because there are no choices or distinctions between men
My first reason on why I think the giver is a dystopia because they don’t get to choose their jobs. They have ceremony every year and when you turn twelve they get assigned a job. People will get assigned a job that they might not like, but there is a chance that they could get a job they like. For example on page 60“ in a firm, commanding voice she announced, ‘Jonas has been selected to be our next Receiver Of Memory”. Jonas was nervous at first about his job because the chief elder has described his job as painful and that the pain was “ indescribable.” Later he then just wants to be a regular child instead of being the Reciever.
“’Memories are forever”’ (Lowry). People make new memories every day without even realizing it. Some good some bad, that’s just the way of life, but in The Giver nobody knows what happened before them. People barley remember what their childhood was like, they don’t understand the importance of memory and that memories are forever. Aspects of life, rules, and prosperities between our world and Jonas’ world are very different yet have some similarities. Things that are crucial to the characters in The Giver are not as meaningful to the people in our world.
E.M Forster said "A work of literature must provide more than factual accuracy or vivid physical reality... it must tell us more than we already know," meaning that literature doesn't need factual information to mean something to the audience, and I agree. "The Giver" by Lois Lowry supports this claim, because it is fictional, and still provides emotional appeals. This novel is a good example of how literature can be effective while being fictional. It is based in a futuristic dystopian society. By examining all of the flaws in society today, it shows that there is room for improvement without being controversial. Lowry wrote the book to give us a general idea of his opinion on issues in modern society, and to foreshadow the larger issues that will eventually be created.
This book is about a boy names Jonas. Jonas lives in a futuristic society where there is no pain, fear, war, and hatred. There is also no prejudice, since everyone looks and acts basically the same, there is very little competition. They have also eliminated choice.
The setting of The Giver takes place in a fictional community known as the “Sameness”. Life here is supposed to be "perfect" because there is no pain or suffering. They don’t have to take
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
In The Giver the authorities aim at achieving “Sameness” which means all people must be equal and the same. Lois Lowry describes a world of “sameness” where the lack of differences allows all members of the community to have predetermined roles and to follow an enforced set of rules. The Elders depict sameness in a way that makes it sound absolutely necessary, and without it, the whole world may fall apart. In the community of The Giver people accept everything as it is because they do not know any difference: “Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time … we relinquished sunshine and did away with difference” (Lowry, Giver 95). This sameness is terrifying and further imposes conformity on all people. So the community of The Giver is a uniformed society. People wear the same clothes; eat the same food; their houses are the same; and most of them look the same as well. By the age of ten, they all have the same short hair style: “females lost their braids at Ten, and males, too, relinquished their long childish hair took on the more manly style which exposed their ears” (Lowry, Giver 46). In The Giver the purpose of sameness is to protect people from wrong choices and to achieve safety for them.
Individuality is one of the key components of reaching the utopian standard. However, in The Giver, the community rejects the idea of individuality and instead focuses on developing Sameness, therefore initiating a form of control by allowing them to not express their own personality to shine, and alternately forcing them to contort into these soft putty-shaped beings with zero individuality at all. Conversations between Jonas and The Giver that occur throughout the novel informs the audience that the community lacks a sense of uniqueness and results in an absence of options to choose from.
Everyday people worry about choosing the wrong answer to a test, or little things like what to pack for lunch. Wouldn’t life be much easier if no one had to choose? In The Giver a committee chooses jobs, children, partners, and even clothing. It sounds like no one gets to choose anything. It is like everyone is a robot controlled by certain people, but that is not the case. The people of Jonas’s community still get to choose where they want to spend their volunteer hours, if they want a partner, and if they want a child. There is a very limited amount of things you can choose from, but they are all very important. If the community allowed everyone to choose, it would be a disaster. People would make so many wrong choices. Today, many married couples are getting divorced. Divorce can affect many people, so the community chooses partners for everyone. The committee chooses very carefully. In the book it tells us that sometimes it can take years to find a partner. No one could get hurt from their own or other people’s decisions. People wouldn’t have to worry about making wrong choices in this community. If no one had to choose anything, everyday would feel more
The Giver takes place in a world where everything and everyone is the same and they don't get to pick or do want they want. Jonas is a boy who is exposed to sameness and no color every day of his life until he meets The Giver. Jonas sees that this is not right, and he doesn't know why. The Community wants to be the same as well no change. The Giver discourages the characters in the book to make choices or risks due to the unknown certainty of their choices.
The Giver has a unique community where everyone is almost the same, and they do not get freedom of choice. The people in Jonas’ community do not get to experience things we have in our world, too.
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
Imagine a world without love or color. Jonas the protagonist in The Giver he ran away and left comparing his community to our society. In our society we aloud to love whoever we want and we free to love. In jonas society love is a word that is prohibited no longer said for example abandoned no longer mentioned because they don't know what it means.