Release In The Giver

Jonas is just another member of his community. He spends his life following the rules that his community has imposed him. In all his life, he has blindly followed the rules and has never questioned them. For that reason, it comes to a shock when he receives new instructions that go against everything he has been taught:

Maturity is a state that everybody tries to reach during their lives. Children spend their infancy, and sometimes adolescence, growing up and learning how to behave in the adults and work world. Schools teach them dissimilarities between these two different worlds. There isn’t a precise age in which kids become mature, it depends on the experiences they had, their society, their family and other causes. In the movie and novel The Giver, the community has a rite of passage where children, during the annual ceremony, become more mature and assume more responsibilities until they get into adulthood.

One reason why Jonas hates this community is because of the rules. If you make one small mistake, you can get in serious trouble, also known as being released (killed). “ When an unidentified aircraft had overflown the community twice….Needless to say, he will be released.” (pg. 13) This suggests that the rules in the society can have a major impact on someone if they make just a slight error. The fact that the person did not follow the directions well enough and got killed is appalling. These unpleasant and ridiculous rules support a dystopian novel because they show how unpleasant living in this community can be.

Ruining your prized possessions on purpose is like burning your hard earned pay check for no reason. “‘Don’t cry darling, we’ll get much nicer things (11).”, is what Jonas’ mom says to him when he catches her smashing her china. Is that an act of rebellion? No, more like an act of safety and satisfaction. Jonas’ mother probably thought that the NKVD were going to find interest in her items and take them, so in order to prevent that theft and to give herself satisfaction (instead of the police), she decides to ruin her items. Also, she is controlling the situation by remaining calm and planning ahead. “‘What happened here?’ demanded a tall officer, surveying the damage. ‘It was an accident.’ Mother replied calmly(12).” Not only was it smart

The themes of suffering and death, outline the author and director’s sociological perspective on manipulation and are developed through the techniques of juxtaposition, symbols, camera angles and sound effects. Lowry uses juxtaposition when associating a cruel act with a normalised blameless deed as Jonas is granted the opportunity to witness the “release” of a child. “…the new child, no longer crying, moved his arms and legs in a jerking motion. Then he went limp. His head fell to the side, his eyes half-open. Then he was still” (Chapter 19). Lowry uses subtle yet effective language to describe the death of the child; however, the incorporation of laughter and happiness expressed through Jonas’ father contrasts with the reality of the

For the first time, he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard people singing. As, Jonas and Gabriel were heading down the hill, jonas realized that he had no way of stopping the sled when they were near the town. He was trying to figure out a way but it was too late to try and stop the sled.

Do you feel like you put much perseverance and courage to help your society that is in need? Then maybe you are like Jonas and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi both of which are two of the many people that show courage and perseverance, not just to help themselves. Take Rikki for instance, he killed three of the deadliest snakes in his family's garden to protect the other animals that are in the garden and his family from danger. Jonas is like this but he showed courage because when The Giver was in pain, Jonas was the one who helped take the pain away. Without even knowing what was causing that pain.

When someone loses their innocence from the death of another this can very negatively affect the character’s emotions.

Measures are always being taken to ensure the safety of the people which makes the society in which Jonas lives very safe. These measures are what makes the community a safe place to live in. In the Giver written by Lois Lowry the society that is being shown is taking safety to another level.

With no memory or knowledge of pain or true pleasure they live in melancholy monotony. This theory is supported by a quote from chapter four, when Jonas is in the House of the Old’s bathing room; “He liked the feeling of safety here in this warm and quiet room; he liked the expression on the woman’s face… unprotected, exposed” (Lowry, 39). This quote shows how the citizens of Jonas’ community are blissfully ignorant, versus Jonas, who has memory of all the suffering that came before him. This is also sharpened by something the Chief Elder says at the Ceremony of Twelve, “You will be faced now with a pain of a magnitude that none of us here can comprehend, because it is beyond our experience” (Lowry, 79). This sustains the thesis because it restates how unaware the community is.

As humans, we have an emotional depth unlike the people of Jonas' communtiy. Everything is already done for them but with this, there are many flaws such as not feeling love, compassion, empathy, fear, and sadness. One example of having no real depth of feelings is when at the Telling of Feelings session, Lily explains how she “felt” angry when a boy from another community was not following the rules of her community. Jonas’ family reassess this by telling

The heavy white door of the brightly illuminated log cabin opened up. A man stood in the doorway. He was old, with a grey beard.

For the first time,he heard something that he knew to be music.He heard people singing. Jonas wipes his eyes and still saw the lights and houses with all the pretty lights.

Gabriel, the adorable Newchild is staying at Jonas's house, but he is about to be released because of his inadequate weight and bad sleeping habits. Therefore, when Jonas decided to run away, he takes Gabriel with him so that Gabriel can avoid a death from release. Jonas did make the right decision of bringing Gabriel with him to Elsewhere. By doing this, Jonas has given Gabriel a chance to live and possibly to live an exceptional life, and for himself, Jonas gave himself the opportunity to love something for the rest of his life.

One day, it was time for Jonas to get a job. He was really nervous. His friends went with him and they sat together. When it was Jonas’ number they skipped him. He was getting so nervous that he thought he was not going to get a job. When Jonas’ name got called to be Receiver. He was going to work with an old man. When they met Jonas loved this man, he could show Jonas fun things that kids do, like us! The old man could also show Jonas pain. Jonas wanted to be different from the other people in his town. It couldn’t be that way.if you were different you were released, if there were twins then the one that weighed the most got cleaned and got a new home.if you were the one that weighed the least then you were released.