Would you like to live in a community where there is no freedom and is full of
safety? In the book The Giver, Lois Lowry shows that freedom is worthier than safety
when Jonas (main character) learns that the people in the community have no
emotions. He witnesses this when Jonas’s father release’s (kills) the baby twin. She
argues that freedom is more important than safety when Jonas notes that all the people
in the community are clueless. Lowry shows the danger in having no freedom when
Jonas learns that the people don’t think for themselves and have their life planned out
for them. This relates to how we have the NSA today. They are often looking at our
personal information and often don’t tell us what other things they
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Moreover Lowry shows that safety deletes all deep emotions within the
community. In this passage Jonas tells Gabe how much he wants the community to
have emotion. “”Gabe?” The newchild stirred slightly in his sleep. Jonas looked over at
him. “There could be love,” Jonas whispered” (128-129). As show here, Lowry
demonstrates that there is no love in this community. However there are some shallow
emotions that exist. “I felt very angry this afternoon,” Lily announced. “My Childcare
group was at the play area, and we had a visiting group of Sevens, and they didn't obey
the rules at all” (27). As shown here there still are some emotions left, but they are
shallow and to the point. The emotions are mostly just words being said, not always
being felt. The community thinks that it is safer to have no emotions because of certain
reasons (rape, murder etc.). However, they left the people some shallow emotions like
annoyance. It is important to have emotions so that you can express what you feel and
love who you love.
Lastly, Lowry shows that to have safety, you have to give the people limited access to info. An example of this is when the Giver tells Jonas about how the people in the community are so clueless. “They know nothing” (105) The Giver tells Jonas. The Giver says this because of the way they taught Jonas how the brain works and how it’s like a computer. Another part of the limited access of information, is that The Receiver has more access
looked down on by people for displaying personal emotions because they believe it is only to
In the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry, the receivers are the only people who have feelings and memories. The elders are the people who choose what the best is for their people in the community and sometimes they go to the receiver for help on making the right decisions. The people from the community do not see color, or have freedom on making a decision for them. There is no love, feelings, and grandparents. Jonas is assigned to be the next receiver of the community; He was trained by the giver, who transfers memories of the pain and pleasures of life, who also shows him the truth and reality that is hidden to the community. Jonas’s community does not represent the ideal of society because there are no choices or distinctions between men
Jonas’ community appears to be a utopia, but, in reality, it is a dystopia. The people seem perfectly content to live in an isolated wreck—in a government run by a select few—in which a group of Elders enforces the rules. In Jonas’ community, there is no poverty, starvation, unemployment, lack of housing, or discrimination; everything is perfectly planned to eliminate any problems. However, as the book progresses and Jonas gains insight into what the people have willingly given up—their freedoms and individualities—for the so-called common good of the community, it becomes more and more obvious that the community is a horrible place in which to live. You as a reader can relate to the disbelief and horror that Jonas feels when he realizes
Jonas is helping his family take care of a problem newborn. His name is Gabriel, he had problems sleeping at the Nurturing Center. Jonas helps Gabriel sleep by transmitting memories to Gabriel. They become really close. Jonas finds out that Gabriel is in danger of being released. He talks to The Giver and finds out that release means the same thing as death. Jonas gets really mad knowing that his father killed the babies. That was his father’s job. Jonas wants to create a plan to change the community forever.
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.
Jonas discovers what is really beyond his community, beyond all the rules and policies they have to follow; he decides to leave and give all of his memories to the rest of the community so they would know about what they have not seen or experienced before. Jonas discovers that the community has decided too many things for everyone. He realizes Sameness is not right, that it cannot last any longer. He thinks of all the what-ifs. What if the Elders choose a wrong spouse? What if the Elders choose the wrong job for someone?
Jonas is feeling things that no one in his community has ever felt before. He is beginning to understand that others are missing out on important emotions. He knows that The Giver has already given away most of the memories, and in order to stop the process, he must make a sacrifice in order for his community to be aware of what they are missing. This proves that he is conscious of the fact that his community is not perfect, and the act of staging an accident is a noble, selfless thing to do; something that his perfect peers would not understand. When talking about the harms of banning books and by quoting Lois Lowry, Jennifer Kendall states, “The world portrayed in The Giver is a world where choice has been taken away. It is a frightening world” (Kendall). Kendall makes the point that the Utopian society is not something that people strive for. As a middle-schooled child, it is easy to see that life is not perfect. I feel as if Lowry does a great job in showing the reader that Jonas does understand that his community is not perfect, and he goes to great links to stop the perfection. While there may seem to
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:
Jonas wanted to live a different life. In his journey, Jonas travels with Gabriel, the child that was being nurtured by his family. He needed to saved him from being “released”. Together they faced danger and fear but it was just the beginning of a new life in the land of Elsewhere.
Attempts to define “emotion” have proved to be rather difficult. Instead of searching for a comprehensive definition, Gross (2011) describes the three core features of emotions. First, emotions occur when an individual decides that a situation is relevant to his or her goals. Second, emotions are multi-faceted, and involve both subjective and physiological experiences, as well as behaviors. The third feature involves the authoritative nature of emotions. They have the powerful ability to interrupt ongoing processes, assert their priority over other activities, and force their way into awareness. For example, some traditions describe emotions as “disorganized interruptions of mental activity” (Salovey & Mayer, 1989). Emotions are such an
Everyone in the community can not have there own personalities because they have to be the same. There is a limit of two kids per family unit. There is nothing private in the community because they have to be the same. Sameness is bad because the receiver has to keep the pain a secret. The receiver is a person that keeps all of the memories. ¨but now you will be able to go farther back¨(Lois lowry 116) The Giver tells Jonas “being the receiver makes family life hard”(Lois Lowry 132). Sameness is bad because they have to take away color. Color is taken away because some people can not see color and then they are not the same. Why did colors disappear’ is what Jonas asked the Giver when he found out that everyone can not see color. (Lois Lowry 120)The government pick spouses and the child which results in no love. “Do you love me” asked Jonas.(Lois Lowry 159)It is clear that sameness is bad because there is no love in the community.
In the story, Jonas is reacting to his father killing the child. He is angry and sad at his father. The book says, “He killed it! My father killed it!”(188). This is important because this shows how the community needs change because they kill innocent children. Jonas reacting showed that emotions help people care about others.
Words of emotions are mainly used to insight hate, fear, excitement, and regret, leaving us empty, off topic and missing the main
In my opinion I prefer to feel emotions even if no all of them are good, instead of being like an object that doesn't feel anything. The price that people paid in order to have a stable community is very high and it doesn't worth it. Values are
In the novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry, the author makes it clear through the main character Jonas that freedom and safety need to find an equal balance. Lowry shows the importance of deep emotions and family through Jonas. Jonas becomes the new receiver of memory and learns about the past. He also learned about the way it was when people knew what love was. Jonas’ father releases newborn children because they don’t weight the correct amount of weight or they don’t sleep well through the night. Release is a nice way of saying kill; the people of the community don’t know what kill means. They don’t have the freedom to expand their vocabulary. Lois Lowry makes it clear that safety has a negative side and you need that you need freedom to