The Giver, By Lois Lowry

Jonas goes through a lot while receiving the memories from The Giver. He first gets happy memories such as the sled, but then The Giver has to give him painful memories. He first receives the memory of physical pain from sunburn (Lowry 86). The pain is minimal compared to the memory of a broken leg (Lowry 109) and an injured arm during a war. During the war memory, he sees death (Lowry 119, 121). He experiences grief when he receives the memory the shot elephant (Lowry 100). Most haunting of all are the memories of the release of old and the part his father plays in the release of new born (Lowry 150). These trials at first horrify Jonas but he learns to deal with the

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

“’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.

Jonas receives memories of color, something that is absent from his community. He realizes how absent his community really is. Jonas hurts inside to tell people in his community what they are missing. The only person that he can really open up to is The Giver. They grew really close, and it became like a grandfather, grandchild relationship.

In The Giver, everything and everyone within the community look the same, and everything revolves around sameness. At the ceremony of twelve, Jonas receives the assignment as the next Giver, which represents the most honored assignment in the community. Jonas learns the “ Rules” of the receiver and begins receiving memories of the past, such as weather and feelings. Jonas begins to experience pain and suffering, and learns that the last receiver, Rosemary, asked for a release. A new child comes to live with Jonas, and Jonas transmits memories to him so he can fall asleep. Jonas begins to see the color red, and The Giver transmits different colors. Jonas begins to see the color red, and The Giver transmits different colors. Jonas continues

Jonas is very mature at the beginning of the novel. For example, he volunteers at many places, plays games, goes to school every day, shares his dreams and feelings, and most importantly follows the rules.

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:

In the story, the wise old man is the Giver. The Giver’s mind is filled with good and bad memories. He is in charge of holding the memories from the community to avoid pain or suffering. He is the only one that is allowed to break certain rules. His power cannot be “given” to anyone except for a special person selected by the Elders. Jonas is that special person, he is the “receiver of memory”. So, the giver’s mission is to “give” Jonas the power of receiving all the memories. Also, he must share all his knowledge with Jonas so he can become the new “giver” in the community.

The novel, The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is an everlasting story that shows the importance of individuality. This novel is about a young boy named Jonas who was elected as the Receiver of Memories, a person who is given the memories from the world that existed before their current society, Sameness. In this society there is no individualism. People can not choose who to marry, or what they want to do for a living. Over time Jonas becomes more and more wise, and realizes that the supposedly perfect community actually has some very dark and negative aspects. The author, Lois Lowry is a 76-year-old writer who focuses her writing on helping struggling teenagers become individuals. Lowry had a very tragic childhood. After both of her parents were

He describes, “back in the time of the memories, everything had a shape and size, the way things still do, but they also had a quality called color.” (Lowery 94) Jonas cannot understand why he is beginning to see the color of red, although the Giver says there are a lot of colors. The Giver tells Jonas, “When you mentioned Fiona’s hair, it was the clue that told me you were probably beginning to see the red.” (Lowery 94) “Jonas looked at her. She was so lovely. For a fleeting instant he thought he would like nothing better than to ride peacefully along the river path, laughing and talking with his gentle female friend.” (Lowery 135) Jonas secretly likes Fiona. Jonas’s special emotion that he didn’t understand makes Jonas see red that represents love. So, the color of red symbolizes love. Now that he sees colors, he can experience all kinds of emotions.

Through our society we are all raised up to be independent and unique individuals such as being ourselves and expressing who each of us are to the world. However, in the book The Giver by Lois Lowry, everyone is raised to count on one another and everyone must look and act the same. Our society differs from Jonas’s in many ways, such as the family units, birthdays, and the way we each learn about our past.

And now I understand better, what it meant, that there would be pain.” (109) Another example of a bad memory in The Giver would include Jonas receiving the memory of a broken leg. “In his agony he perceived the word ‘fire’ and felt flames licking at the torn bone and flesh. He tried to move, and he could not. The pain grew.”

“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared. (Lowry, Goodreads). In other words it’s saying the pain Jonas is feeling is mental and emotional but not physical. The giver is making Jonas feel these memories and they're coming back to his head. And by sharing memories it lets you get help or makes you feel good because people can help you. My Thesis is comparing and contrasting modern day to the Giver.

However, during his process of receiving the memories, he experiences some changes in certain things. Moreover, Jonas decided to tell The Giver about the change in the apple and Fiona’s hair, “I think it’s what you call seeing-beyond” (Lowry 115). He is now beginning to see what the world could be like if it was filled with color. Likewise, he is upset that color is being kept from his society, “It isn’t fair that nothing has color!” (Lowry 122). Jonas enjoys being able to explore new color throughout the different objects in the

Jonas father works at the Nurturing center while his mother works in the ministry of Justice, his only sibling is a seven years old Lily. Jonas is nervous at the start of the story because he is not sure what he will become