individual text feature: The Giver

Jacob LaHue:

            The Giver, by Lois Lowry, was published in 1993, and since its publication, it has earned numerous awards for its success as a young adult novel. The novel follows the protagonist, 11-year-old Jonas, as he is assigned a career for adulthood in his community and undergoes training for it. What at first may seem like a utopian society, is revealed to be quite the opposite, as both the novel and Jonas’ training progress. Jonas’ world as he knows it is comprised of various communities, similar to his own, that live in seclusion from the outside world, which is known as “Elsewhere”. In this society, individuals are free from pain and conflict, but are also stripped of their ability to choose and their capacity for love.

            Jonas’ “family unit” is comprised of his Father, who is a Nurturer, his Mother, who works for the Department of Justice, and his 7-year-old sister, Lily. A baby which is being considered for release due to his slow development, Gabriel, is also staying with Jonas’ family, in the hopes that he will catch up to the rest of the babies. In Jonas’ society, children are only birthed by Birthmothers, people who have been assigned by the Committee of Elders to carry and birth the community’s babies, of which there are only 50 allowed to be born every year. Each family unit is only allowed to be assigned one male and one female child, which they can only receive after petitioning the Committee of Elders. Adults that are of age and wish to have a spouse must petition the Committee of Elders, who then assign couples after carefully considering everyone’s compatibility. Once the children leave the house, the parents go to live with the other “Childless Adults” until they reach a certain age, at which point they are “Released” from society. Release is celebrated in this instance, however, release due to breaking the rules of society is a great shame.

            Choice is not only removed from the individual when it comes to family planning, but also when determining a career. When children turn 12 years old, they are assigned a career path that is best suited to them, based on their abilities and their interests. Jonas is assigned the position of Receiver of Memories, a very respected role in his community. On Jonas’ first day of training he meets his mentor, an old man with a large beard. Jonas learns that the world was very different before the communities decided to begin living in “Sameness”. The old man, who Jonas soon begins calling “The Giver”, tells Jonas that he has all of the memories of the world before the time of Sameness, using the wisdom they provide to guide the Committee of Elders away from mistakes. It is at this moment that Jonas learns of the many beautiful colors which used to exist in the world, before everything was the same, nondescript color or size.

Jonas learns he must carry memories of extreme pain as well as pleasure, in order to spare the rest of his community the burden. The Giver explains to him what happened 10 years ago, when a previous Receiver was selected, but unable to carry the weight of the painful memories, petitioned for release. Upon her release, the memories she had accumulated over her year of training were also released back into the community, which caused chaos until the Giver was able to take them away. The Giver explains to Jonas that “Release” is in fact death, and there is nothing to be celebrated about it. Through the memories that Jonas receives, he discovers joys and pains of living that were previously inconceivable to him – especially love. Jonas wants to share these pleasant and beautiful things with his family and friends, but they are unable to conceive of them. The Giver shares this desire, and they plan for Jonas to escape to Elsewhere once he has received all of the memories, so that they would be released upon the communities.

However, Jonas learns that Gabriel, whom he now loves deeply, is scheduled to be released the next day, and he must make his escape sooner than expected. Jonas steals his Father’s bike, some provisions, and Gabriel, and makes his way to “Elsewhere”. The two runaways must constantly avoid search planes pursuing them, as they gradually make their way through increasingly difficult, but increasingly more diverse, terrain. The novel ends ambiguously hopeful, with Jonas and Gabriel approaching a cottage that appears to be celebrating Christmas – the same holiday that was celebrated in Jonas’ first memory of love.

The Giver has proven itself to be a significant contribution to young adult literature, continuing to be read and discussed from its publication until present. The book’s prolonged and widespread renown are a testament to its pertinent themes. Through Jonas, Lowry expresses the importance of one’s individuality, as well as the importance of one’s memory – as it pertains to the individual as well as society as a whole. Jonas develops on his own path, completely separate from his peers and family, eventually desiring to leave them all together. However, he is only able to realize his own identity after learning from the memories he receives as part of his assigned role in the community. Jonas also learns to appreciate the relationship between positive experiences and negative experiences – after Jonas receives and experiences memories of suffering, he is able to appreciate the memories of pleasure much more deeply. Additionally, the novel is successful at relating many of the feelings that adolescents experience as they develop into an individual and start to become distinguished from their peers and family. Jonas’ rebellious act of escaping in and of itself (separate from his motives to share his memories with the community) reflect the process of an adolescent maturing into an individual capable of making their own opinions and thoughts independently of the prescribed institutions of power. Jonas’ rebellion reflects the questioning that adolescents have regarding society and their place in it, especially as it pertains to institutions of power over them.