The Colorless Life In The Movie 'The Giver'

The Giver teaches Jonas about color. “ Dumbfounded, he stared at it. This time it was not a fleeting impression. This time the sled had--and continued to have, as he blinked, and stared at it again--that same mysterious quality that the apple had so

“Color.” It’s all around us, we see it every day of our lives, everything has color, but the people in Jonas’ community didn’t know this. They had no clue what color was or that it even existed. Their society was hue less, hopeless, and everything was the same until the new receiver of memory changed that for everyone. In our world choice is a big part of our everyday lives we make many choices a day, do I want this or that, green or blue, this shirt or that shirt? But in The Giver choices were made for them, what they wear, how they act, what they say, what they eat, and what they do for a living. Imagine all that stuff being chosen for you. Everyone would be dressed the same, act the same,

Although colour exists in ‘The Giver’, the people can only perceive a greyscale world. The reason for this is that they have been artificially induced to see only in black and white by scientists.

Throughout generations in literature, “to live deliberately” has been the goal and purpose of life. As Alexander Supertramp (aka Chris McCandless) said, “The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun” (57).

Accepting only the best decisions in life is not always the right choice. Experiencing new things can increase people’s knowledge, and become someone of new and different value during their time in this world. They are able to obtain something that everyone will cherish when they face horrific situations, and overcome it. With all those successes, people are then given the chance to go down a new road. The change may be good, or may even be something terrible, but in the end, people will become their own person with a unique mindset of things. Taking opportunities can lead to positive or negative change.

Since the beginning of time, the environment in which one is accustomed to provides them with the choices that lead down paths that make their legacy. This environment can be negative or positive, structured or chaotic, rich or poor, all which give a variety of choices. Regardless of the different trials and tribulations we face ultimately, it is the choices we make in response that make us the person we become.

“If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories.” (Richard M. Nixon). In his investigative biography, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer, expresses that even though young people can be ignorant and take treacherous risks, these can be used as knowledge enhancers and can be life changers.

In The Giver, Jonas’ world is turned upside down when he is chosen to be the next receiver of his community. The ceremony of twelves is the last ceremony of the day. Jonas waited anxiously for his name to be called; he never hears it. The chief elder has made a mistake. Jonas now has to learn that everything he has been taught was not always the same and it ages him years.

Comparing both ‘The Giver’ and ‘Pleasantville’, they each deeply explore the theme of freedom and choice. In ‘The Giver’, the citizens of the community live in a world where they make very little decisions of their own, and lead a life where everything is set. "Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness.” For example, no one gets a choice at want they want to do in life, as the elders decide their futures at the age of twelve. The only two people in the community that can independently think are Jonas and The Giver, due to having memories of the past, when everyone could think freely and feel real emotions. Similarly, in ‘Pleasantville’, the characters also have little control as they are deprived of independent thought and follow the same routine every day. The simple clarity of black and white matches the idealised nature of the world, where everything is perfect and simple. Everyone in Pleasantville has given up colour, knowledge, new experiences and pleasure in order to keep things “pleasant” and uniform. In the beginning of both ‘The Giver’ and ‘Pleasantville’, their worlds are in black and white. As Jonas, and the citizens of Pleasantville start to discover new things about the "real world" and individuality, both worlds slowly start turning to colour. “If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!”

So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. (56-57)”

Going out in a journey with no idea of what might await further is an act of extreme bravery and perhaps, also, foolishness, that, nonetheless, is evidence of the level of the problem’s gravity.

Beowulf set his ego aside and hurdled into the face of danger in order to defeat a greater evil and liberate the people of Heorot from the demonic grasp of Grendel. The crew aboard the Challenger brought America together and helped us insure the safety of future astronauts. Tom pushed his body to the edge to live the life he dreamed of. Risks are imperative in life. Even beginning life, they are our instinct. We learn to crawl despite the bruises on our knees. We learn to walk no matter how many falls we endure. As we become further aware of the world around us, somewhere along the way, we experience failure; at that point, many people attempt to eradicate most risks from their life. But where would we be without our sense of exploration, our willingness to try new things? In order to push one’s boundaries, move forward as a society, and give purpose to life people must be willing to take risks.

What if a whole community had the absence of color, expect for one twelve-year-old child? According to the novel The Giver written by Lois Lowry, Jonas, the twelve-year-old child, lives in a seemingly ideal, but colorless, community of conformity and contentment. Not until he is assigned, and given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory, as he starts to understand the dark, and complicated secrets behind his community. He begins to recognize various ways in which his community needs color to be more free and happy. Within, the novel Lois Lowry, mentioned a lot of themes that were contributed to Jonas’ ability to see color, and the absence of color in his community. One of the themes that was expressed within the novel was, the

“When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”

All through life, we experience various occasions when decision-making become necessary. A number of them present themselves in difficult forms and at crucial points. Most of the verdict we take will eventually figure and describe our track of lives. These are what we refer to as lessons of life. Choices never present themselves in an easy way. In some instance we are always forced to pay a price to achieve something. This implies that we are trading for an outcome we are seeking.