By Nicole M.
Lois Lowry's *The Giver* is about a boy named Jonas who lives in a
Lois Lowry's *The Giver* is about a boy named Jonas who lives in a
structured dystopian society where unfortunate events rarely happen,
excellent language skills are valued and they have special ceremonies in
place of birthday parties. Jonas finds out at the Ceremony of Twelve that
his Assignment is to become the community's new Receiver of Memory. Jonas
becomes alienated by the rest of the community due to his new position. Now
that he is the new Receiver of Memory, Jonas is able to recall things from
the past from all over the world in order to spread wisdom to the
community. He is now able to experience feelings and events that were
unattainable in the community due to its rules.
The story has many strengths and weaknesses. One of the weaknesses of the
story is that the character and setting development are not strong. At the
beginning of the story, it's hard to figure out where Jonas lives. In fact,
the author never reveals where he lives. Lowry only drops subtle clues as
to what kind of community he resides in. A strength of the piece is that
Lowry explains the rules of the society by sharing examples through the
characters. An example that tugs on heartstrings is when Lowry writes about
the rules concerning how many children a family can have and how many of
each sex they can have. The reader is informed that Jonas' family is
complete by law and they cannot adopt a baby named Gabriel, who the family
is taking care of. If Gabriel doesn't develop to their standards within a
year, the baby will be "released". The author never reveals what being
"released" truly entails, but the reader is lead to believe that the baby
would either be killed or sent off to live in another community.
An element I enjoyed about the book is that it gives readers an outside
perspective on natural human feelings. Humans are so used to experiencing
emotions, hardships and happiness that reading about Jonas is like looking through a glass house at something you want to change but can't.
excellent language skills are valued and they have special ceremonies in
place of birthday parties. Jonas finds out at the Ceremony of Twelve that
his Assignment is to become the community's new Receiver of Memory. Jonas
becomes alienated by the rest of the community due to his new position. Now
that he is the new Receiver of Memory, Jonas is able to recall things from
the past from all over the world in order to spread wisdom to the
community. He is now able to experience feelings and events that were
unattainable in the community due to its rules.
The story has many strengths and weaknesses. One of the weaknesses of the
story is that the character and setting development are not strong. At the
beginning of the story, it's hard to figure out where Jonas lives. In fact,
the author never reveals where he lives. Lowry only drops subtle clues as
to what kind of community he resides in. A strength of the piece is that
Lowry explains the rules of the society by sharing examples through the
characters. An example that tugs on heartstrings is when Lowry writes about
the rules concerning how many children a family can have and how many of
each sex they can have. The reader is informed that Jonas' family is
complete by law and they cannot adopt a baby named Gabriel, who the family
is taking care of. If Gabriel doesn't develop to their standards within a
year, the baby will be "released". The author never reveals what being
"released" truly entails, but the reader is lead to believe that the baby
would either be killed or sent off to live in another community.
An element I enjoyed about the book is that it gives readers an outside
perspective on natural human feelings. Humans are so used to experiencing
emotions, hardships and happiness that reading about Jonas is like looking through a glass house at something you want to change but can't.
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