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| The Giver by Lois Lowry |
The Giver is a dystopian novel told from the point of view of Jonas, an eleven year old about to receive his Assignment (job) at the Ceremony of Twelve. Jonas lives in a community where everyone is the same to avoid the suffering of life. However, in order to be spared this suffering much had to be given up, such as colors, feelings of love (both romantic and familial) and free choice. Jonas’s assignment is to be the next Receiver of Memory, the person in the community who holds all the memories of the past, in order to help the elders make difficult decisions they may lack the understanding to make.
As Jonas receives the memories of the past from The Giver he begins to change. He learns the truths of the community, like that “release” is euthanasia of the old, undesirable new children, and members of the community who have broken rules three times. Jonas learns of past tragedies such as wars, loss, natural disasters and feelings of despair. However, he also receives the pleasant memories such as feelings of love, pleasure, and what it means to be a family.
The breaking point for Jonas is when he realizes that a baby his father has brought home from the nurturing center for extra attention will be released. Only Jonas really knows what this means, and because himself and the Giver are the only members of the community who are able to feel any emotions, he is grieved by this reality with no one to turn to who understands. Jonas decides to run away with Gabriel to save his life and to release the memories of the community back to them. The ending leaves you wondering if sameness will be a thing of the past because of Jonas’s escape or if he and Gabriel made it to another community that did not succumb to the idea of sameness generations ago.
Lowry, L. (1993). The giver. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
My impressions:
This was a very thought provoking novel and I couldn’t put it down once I began reading. I was overwhelmed with the thoughts of a life without emotions or choices and I realized that without tragedy there could be no joys. The topics of euthanasia, diversity, acceptance, and emotions were very well portrayed by Lowery and could provide for excellent Socratic seminar discussions with middle school honors students.
Professional reviews:
Gr 6-9--In a complete departure from her other novels, Lowry has written an intriguing story set in a society that is uniformly run by a Committee of Elders. Twelve-year-old Jonas’s confidence in his comfortable “normal” existance as a member of this well-ordered community is shaken when he is assigned his life’s work as the Receiver. The Giver, who passes on to Jonas the burden of being the holder for the community of all memory “back and back and back,” teaches him the cost of living in an environment that is without “color, pain, or past.” The tension leading up to the Ceremony, in which children are promoted not to another grade but to another stage in their life, and the drama and responsibility of the sessions with The Giver are gripping. The final flight for survival is as riveting as it is inevitable. The author makes real abstract concepts, such as the meaning of life in which there are virtually no choices to be made and no experiences with deep feelings. This tightly plotted story and its believable characters will stay with readers for a long time.
Kellman, A. (1993, May 1). [Review of the book The giver, by L. Lowry]. School Library Journal 39(5), 124.
Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com
Library Uses:
Because of the controversial nature of this book and it’s placement on several banned books lists, the librarian could display it during banned books week and promote it with a book trailer during this time. I would also recommend this book for literature circles, as opposed to whole class study. Students could create memory books as a supplemental activity to the novel and include memories of either their own life or memories that they think would be important for a Receiver to have.
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