Review #5: The Giver by Lois Lowry

Title: Lowery, Lois. The Giver.  Dell-Laurel Leaf. 2002 [Reprint]. 179 pages. Pb. $6.99, ISBN 978-0440237686

Genre: Fiction/ Science Fiction
Reading Level/Interest Level: 6.0/ Grade 5-8
Awards: Newbery Medal 1994
Similar Titles: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry, Messenger by Lois Lowry,  Son by Lois Lowry, The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, Hunger Games by Suzanne Collin, 1984 by George Orwell.

 

 

During the Ceremony of 12, where adulthood and vocation begins, Jonas is singled out from his fellow (former) Year 11’s, something that simply doesn't happen in this equal society. The single highest honor is bestowed upon him. He is to meet with the all-knowing giver to be trained to become The Receiver.

 

In his perfect world, everything is tightly controlled. Pain is quickly stamped out. Illness is nowhere to be found. No one sees color or hears music any longer.  Everyone has a designation, little uniqueness,  precision of speech which eliminates emotional context and everyone has their job to perform. Aberrations are “released” from the community, so as not to negatively impact its operation. Everything is utilitarian and peaceful, genetically engineered or biologically suppressed after the failure of many generations previous to reach a beneficial society.  The problem is that while the rest of the community is blissfully ignorant of pain, passion, hunger, and uniqueness, The Receiver is not.

 

The Receiver is the individual that stores all the memories of past generations. Everything that the current population cannot see, hear, taste, smell or experience, The Giver must, as if through a 6^th sense. He must store those memories of millions of people and experiences, war, famine, love, home, pain, disease, in case the day arrives that the community finds themselves in an unusual situation and need previous wisdom and council. The Receiver feels. He understands now what was, what could be, and what is being stolen from his fellow citizens. He comes to understand suppression and wants to give these memories and experiences back to the people he wants to save with the help of The Giver, the only other person who possibly knows what he knows. But how?

 

The answer is simple, he must leave. Jonas must run away, a crime punishable by “release.” Will he sacrifice his own position, safety and secure future for the unknown, in order to release the memories, good and bad, that his people have the right to share? Will he take that chance to save one more innocent life?

 

This book is often used in Fourth and Fifth grade curriculum and can benefit from group discussion on dystopian societies and the repercussions of tyrannical governments and the homogenization of the species. Not only does it impart what is truly important in life, but it shows the benefit of uniqueness and the difficulties that arise from sameness and apathy and what can be improved in our own society and laws. A great entry way into protest literature, such as The Hunger Games,  1984 and later, Animal Farm, The Giver allows the reader the opportunity to mature with the character while questioning their own ideas and ethics and understanding the importance of government but also the abuses that can arise from absolute power.