Theme Of Memories In The Giver

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

At the start of the story Jonas is feeling nervous about the ceremony of twelve's, where the children are given their assignment. This is where for the first time in the children's life, they will be doing something different then every other person in the community. Jonas is given the very special occupation, which isn’t really an occupation at all, of Receiver of Memory. He is the only one that can have memories of what life was like before sameness. The memories are given to him by The Giver, who was the current Receiver of Memory. The Giver must transmit all memories of history (the good,

Imagine living in a world where everything is controlled. No emotions, love, choices, and color. There were no conflicts, but lives were completely controlled. This is how life is in the thrilling novel by Lois Lowry, The Giver in 1993. Once a young adolescent finds out what has been stolen from him and his community, through memories from the Giver. After finding this out, he devises a plan to save the community and escape. As the Giver helps him, Jonas escapes with his baby brother Gabe to Elsewhere. Lowry creates many themes in The Giver, not only on how good and bad memories are needed to grow, but also how you should be steadfast to do what you believe in even if it goes against society and government, and how perfection isn’t something to strive towards.

Jonas begins to receive painful memories from the giver and he finally understands why the community would want to avoid such painful experiences. If people had these memories it would create choices, which can lead to many mistakes (Lowry 98). People could choose the wrong mate, the wrong job, and people could get angry which can lead to war. The elders, from a time long ago, did not want to worry about incidences like those happening; therefore they created a community with no memories or choices. So they gave all of their collective memories to a receiver of memory. Jonas, after a year of training

Being the receiver of memory was a very important job in the community, however the citizens have no idea what the receiver actually does. While citizens have a very simple life with nothing to worry about, the receiver and giver of memory take on a very emotional life filled with pain. They have so much knowledge from memories that they can’t share with anyone, and this can be painful in itself. The Giver tell Jonas, “The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared” (Lowry 33). This pain comes from living a meaningful life, so it can be considered beautiful compared to others in the dystopia who feel nothing, nevertheless it still hurts as shown by the

One of the themes portrayed is that of memory. Jonas’s people do not have memory, because some time ago, memory was eliminated as a result of the pain and regret that memories are associated with. As a part of the community’s “utopia” plan, memories had to be ousted from the community (Lit Charts). Memory is also eliminated because the community wanted to stop people from making bad choices.

If the citizens in the community were to hold their own memories, it would make The Giver and Jonas receive less stress. They would not have to worry about keeping the pain, joy, melancholy, memories that they get to experience each day a secret. The Giver and Jonas would be able to share what they learn and they would be able to teach others as well. “ The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.” (p.193). The Giver and Jonas would not be the only ones who get to see color and feel love and emotions. They would be able to talk to people about what they discovered or what had happened in their memories. The Giver and Jonas would not be alone.

The book The Giver had many significant meanings and symbols that make a person evaluate how precious life really is. One would like to erase a particularly unpleasant memory, but if one could accomplish that then life would have no meaning. If a person only had pleasant memories and did not know what an unpleasant situation feels like, it would be living with no significance. Like in the book, The Giver, people live in an isolated community with no choices, no pain or true happiness. The protagonist, Jonas, becomes the receiver and realizes that there is more Elsewhere, and does not understand how the community can live with no true feelings. Memories are extremely significant in an individual’s life because it gives a person feeling and emotions of happiness, excitement, fear, and many other mindsets that will allow a person to know who they really are deep inside. The community in The Giver does not have true emotions and feelings; furthermore, their life is precisely robotic where people are not aware of many important things in life. In The Giver, Lois Lowry designs a vague setting in a community of people that have no pain or feelings to make a statement that life today would be boring and with no meaning without memories; in addition, Lowry contains many symbols in the book to show why memories are important in a person 's life.

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

Memories can be very valuable. Whatever happens, the memories will never be forgotten. “Memories are forever.” - The Giver. In this science fiction novel, Giver, Lois Lowry demonstrates that even though Jonas world was perfect, he knew something was missing. Everyone in the story was polite to Jonas. Once the Giver gave him lots of memories of love, happiness, and kindness, he knew how to bring back memories to the people. In the beginning of Giver, Jonas had a sickening feeling that something terrible is gonna happen. This perspective changed Jonas during the novel. The message of the novel, The Giver, is memories can bring you back to the old days. Memories can be unique in different types of ways.

Starting the story, Jonas receives his assignment at the Ceremony of 12. He was chosen to be the receiver of memory. Jumping forward to his training, an old man named,¨The Giver¨ transmits memories for Jonas to cherish. He was told he will experience joy, happiness, loneliness and most importantly, pain. Beginning his training, Jonas lays on a couch for The Giver to lay his hand on his back to transmit Jonas´s first memory. It was very joyful. As an

“’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.

The dystopian novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry is about a boy called Jonas becoming the new Receiver-of-Memories. Throughout the novel, the protagonist, Jonas matures as knowledge is gained, and begins to understand the deepest, and darkest secrets of the community he lives in that is seemly 'perfect'. The author has successfully analysed a variety of social issues present in today's modern world in the novel. Some issues implied are: lack of individuality which allows for easy control, the abandonment of emotions and the importance of memories.

If you were given the chance to be Receiver of Memory and be able to lie, feel emotions, and have the highest honor of the community given to you, would you take it? In the book The Giver it’s a community where everything is the same no one can be better than anyone else know this might sound like a good idea but it's not. The book is based on a kid named Jonas, he is a 11 year old boy who doesn't know what to expect as a job for the ceremony of 12. In the ceremony of 12 you are given a job, you do not get to choose a job you are given one. The chief of elders is the one who gets to decide what job you get assigned. Jonas doesn't know what he wants to be he likes most of the jobs but he feels like they don't suit him very well. So they cheif of elders decided to assign the job of Receiver of Memory for Jonas. The Receiver of Memory is the person who hold all the memories of what the world used to be like before all the sameness.