The Giver By Lois Lowry: Character Analysis

The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is a dystopian narrative about a boy who lives in a “utopia” where there is order and, everything is controlled. He alone must contain memories of the past. Unfortunately, many of these memories are traumatic and disturbing. Jonas can do nothing beyond withstanding the pain. Because that is how it had always been in the community. As often paraphrased by the Giver, who is the one giving Jonas the memories, "And back and back and back.”(62) This quote shows how there is nothing that The Giver or Jonas can do apart from accept tradition.

Jonas and The Giver are two important characters in this story. The Giver is someone who transmits the memories and passes them on to the Receiver of Memory which is Jonas. Jonas’s community is dystopia because only two people are able to have the memories, lives are taken away from people with no choice (released) and also only

In the novel “The Giver,” written by Lois Lowry, Jonas is a boy who follows the rules, spends time with friends and family, goes to school, and at the Twelves Ceremony is given the job as the Receiver of Memory. At the end of the novel, Jonas learns information that makes him leave the community to save the people he loves. As Jonas becomes older, he acknowledges that he is different from his family and the people surrounded by him. Once Jonas got his assignment as the Receiver of Memory, his maturity became inconsistent throughout the novel.

Jonas could make the memories of the community come back to the citizens. "Memories are forever"(Lowery ). Things end, but the memories last forever. Memories are moments that people have had and shared with friends and family. Then these friends and family

Imagine a world with no feelings, no color, no choice; a world where individuality and freedom are exchanged for security and sameness. This type of world is a reality for Jonas, the protagonist in Lois Lowry’s The Giver. After being assigned the next Receiver of Memories in the community, where he has the capacity to see beyond. As he begins his works, he gains wisdom and through that wisdom, learned that protecting the community from the memories, their lives lacked understanding and feelings. Jonas goes on an archetypal hero’s journey and chooses to risk everything to restore memories and wisdom to everyone in the community. Throughout this novel, Jonas is represented as a hero considering he demonstrates integrity despite living in a

As Jonas progresses through the novel The Giver, by Lois Lowry, he has changed quite noticeably towards his understanding of his community. In the beginning, Jonas believes that his community is a safe and organized place where their rules are to keep them in order. After learning more about the community, he realizes that his community is built on lies because of his received memories with the Giver, his observations, and his love. First, he received memories with the Giver.

To illustrate, The Giver says, “ If I go with you, and together we take away all their protection from the memories, Jonas, the community will be left with no one to help them. They’ll be thrown into chaos. They’ll destroy themselves” (Lowry 156). This shows that without memories or past experience, the community is forced to be dependent on someone who has wisdom. Overall, with

Because this title comes with a lifetime of pain, it is seen as the most respected position in the community. Jonas begins to learn what life was like before they all turned to sameness, and he enjoys this old world. His mentor, The Giver, is the one who gives him the memories of the past world, which either pain him or bring him immense joy. This journey of self-discovery and overcoming obstacles will make any reader analyze themselves.

Jonas, the protagonist, asked The Giver why they have to contain all the memories of past events. The Giver explains that the memories give them wisdom which helps them in their lives. When the people who run the community, The Committee of Elders, need advice, they ask The Giver because he has the wisdom they need. A quote that portrays this is, “‘Why do you and I have to hold these memories?’ ‘It gives us wisdom,’ The Giver replied, ‘Without wisdom I could not fulfill my function of advising the Committee of Elders when they call upon me.’” (Lowry, pg. 140) People who achieve wisdom are looked up to in the world. Normal individuals sometimes depend on that person when they need help on something. It is usually when the person with wisdom assists the other with making a certain decision. They can often see if the outcome is going to be good or bad. This is one more example of how those who have wisdom are looked up to, and relied upon to settle on the best

Jonas and the giver argue many times about how they disliked that the community chose sameness, about how people had very few options in their life, about how only Jonas and the giver have to keep the memories, with them comes the burdens. For example ‘‘It was possible, what they had planned. Barely possible. If it failed, he would very likely be killed. But what did that matter?

A community would only reach its full potential if every single person acted like a robot, lacking emotion, obeying orders, using precise language, and ultimately making no mistakes. In human nature, mistakes are made, but those wrong decisions can cause major conflict. Fortunately, the community in the Giver has created a society that revolves over “sameness.” Sameness is the government's way of taking complete control over everyone and everything. The government made that decision to bring peace to the community. After being selected as the “receiver of memory,” Jonas discovered how much was taken from the community. Sacrificing himself for everyone else, he made his way to the boundary of memory, releasing all memories hidden from

Jonas lives with his parents and one sister. His parents were allowed to have only two children, a boy and a girl. It was one of the many community rules that couldn’t be broken.

“Of course they needed to care. It was the meaning of everything.” Lowry , pg 147 . In the Giver Jonas is soon faced with the reality of a dystopia after becoming the receiver of memory. Jonas’ world is supposed to be perfect but sameness, no real love, and no freedom show what it actually is.

“’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.

We a learning that, due to all the eliminations of senses, feelings and creation of equality between every individual in the society, it's creating a new and harder way for the inhabitants to accept and open up to new memories and emotions that they have been faced with. In the Givers community, this is one aspect that