The Giver By: Lois Lowry

“He knew that there was no quick comfort for emotions like those. They were deeper and they did not need to be told. They were felt.”

Lois Lowry, The Giver

Wow!

It is rare for me to come across a book that captures my attention so well.

I bought this book on a whim in the children’s section of the book store while buying a gift for my nephew. I figured “why not”, I had never read The Giver and growing up I remember classmates saying it was there favorite- my nephew got The Phantom Tollbooth by the way.

Overview: Jonas has never questioned anything in his life. In fact, no one in the community had.

Everyone has their role that is assigned to them during the ceremony of twelve. But when Jonas is given his assignment he finds himself chosen to be the communities new Receiver.

Specially trained by The Giver- the former Receiver- Jonas begins to see things differently. The idyllic community where everything is determined for the residents begins to feel like a prison.

Jonas must decide to do what he thinks is right when no one else can truly see what is happening around them.

My thoughts: I said I got this from the children’s section right?

I don’t think I could have fully comprehended the complex themes of this book as a twelve year old. Yes, the main point is that a society where there are no choices takes away who you are as a person. However, within the first few chapters they mention the release of community members. I don’t think I would have understood until the big reveal that this means they are killing those that don’t work within the community.

Also, the assignment of birth mother is a cruel fate. Those girls having to go through that to then not receive another assignment but be an automatic laborer for the rest of their life is so dark. Because Jonas could never receive that assignment, he even brushes it off because and doesn’t fully understand what these girls are being condemned to.

I wonder if the former trainee Receiver, Rosemary, could comprehend this better because she wasn’t as removed and could fully experience this issue. Can a male Receiver understand the complexities of being pregnant and giving birth and pass those along or are those memories not included in this scenario?

It is of course an allegory for growing up. At one point in our lives we all discover that the world is so much more complicated than we think. We get hurt, scared or disappointed and nothing is ever the same after that. I mean, I’m still discovering that life is nothing like I thought it would be and sometimes you think that it would be better to live without the pain. Of course, you would have to give up every other emotion and choice in your life but I’m sure everyone has had a moment where you just want it to stop.

What I still do not understand is who is benefiting from these acts of sameness? It is easy to draw parallels to 1984 but the big difference is that we know Big Brother is the one keeping everyone in line so that “they” can remain in power. In The Giver, it is somewhat eluded that the Elder’s know more than others but are still not directly benefiting from obedience.

It is most likely that sometime ago, people no longer wanted to feel the pain that comes along with everyday life and came up with this society but it is not actually explained. I would have liked for one of the memories given to Jonas to have been someone who started this endeavor so he could make the decision based off of how they were feeling and experiencing at the time.

I also have to bring up the fact that they kill a baby. They don’t elude to it, they have a full scene where they euthanize a baby and throw away the body. So at some point when setting up this community they wrote protocols for how to kill babies because of negligible characteristics. That’s when I would be like “guys, this may not be worth it. Maybe we should just be sad sometimes”.

Overall, this is a fantastic book. I don’t think that I would classify this as a children’s book as the themes are pretty dark and complex but I was very engaged in the plot and characters. I’ve heard that there are three more books in the series, which I had no idea about so I don’t know is they are anywhere near this caliber, but I might give them a shot eventually.

Rating: 5/5 stars