The Giver

I know that I probably read this book in junior high, but I am very glad that I got the chance to re-read it because I really didn’t remember all that much from it. The author does a really great job of painting the picture of the world that these people live in by making it seem fairly normal at first. Sharing feelings at the dinner table did not strike me as unusual, because that is something that most families do. It took me a while to begin to recognize some of the weird rituals and rules that were present in this community. I thought it was really weird that people that were punished were released from the community. I like that the author lets the reader assume that “release” means to be exiled into another community. It is a shock to the reader toward the end, when Jonas realizes that his father is actually killing the baby when he releases it. Some other unusual things about the community are that each family is given one boy and one girl for their children. The mother does not actually give birth to the children because they have women that give birth as their occupations. Also, when children become 12 years old, they are given the occupation that they will hold for the rest of their life. It is as if childhood ends right then during the ceremony of 12. I also thought that it was interesting that when children begin to get hormones and have feelings for members of the opposite sex, they are forced to take pills to stop those desires. The parents seem to be brainwashed into believing everything that the rules say and making sure they enforce the rules. I like that the author begins to explain everything that the reader is wondering about through the interactions between Jonas and the giver. When the giver transmits a memory of the past to Jonas, the author describes each memory in such detail that you feel like you are actually in that moment. My favorite description is, “crystals in the air around him, gathering on his back like fur”. It was at this point, that I began to realize, these people are from the future and they have completely wiped out all of their memories from the past in order to make a perfect world. The author keeps the reader questioning things throughout. I had questions like, “what is significant about the river?” and “How did this world become so sheltered?”. I also like that Lowry did not just come out and state that the people could not see colors. Instead, he gets the reader wondering, through Jonas seeing the apple differently and then the people’s faces and then Fiona’s hair. I hadn’t thought about how weird it was to have the old go off to live in a separate place until I read the memory about family. The people in the community do not stay close to their families all their lives. This would be very relatable for any reader because family is so important to most people. To think, that one day my great-great grandchildren will have no clue where they came from, is terrifying. I still am a little confused as to why, only people with pale eyes are able to receive the memories. It is interesting that Jonas begins to remember his own memories of joy towards the end of the book. I really like that Lowry ends the book with a lot of opportunities for different interpretations. Jonas begins to see love and Christmas and hear music. This could be a place that he has discovered that lives just the same as people in the past. It could also be his old town because the Giver might have helped the people to bring back colors and family and music.