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The Giver by Lois Lowry

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Marcel Proust once said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” The protagonist, Jonas, in Lois Lowry’s book The Giver, goes through a similar experience when he discovers his “Capacity to See Beyond.” Jonas begins to see his community differently, with a consciousness that most citizens in his community lack. When Jonas turns twelve, he is selected to be the next Receiver (who remembers for the community) because of his intelligence, integrity, courage and capacity to see beyond. He is singled out to obtain special training from the current receiver (called The Giver) who gives memories to Jonas where he learns about the truth of pain and pleasure of life. As he receives memories from The Giver, Jonas discovers that his communities’ systems and abundant rules not only ban individual free choices but also remove memories and allow the murder of children and old, makes him develop a desire and surge to leave his unfree society.

Citizens in Jonas’ community cannot actively decide anything. Instead, they are governed by copious rules and systems, which drastically limit their individuality and freedom. For instance, “The year we got Lily, we knew, of course, that we’d receive our female, because we’d made our application and it had been approved. But I’d been wondering … what her name would be” (p. 11-12). Each family undergoes a severe procedure - which the committee of Elders supervises - and must follow the rules

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