Book Review of THE GIVER

Bibliography:

Lowry, Lois. 2002. The giver. New York: Laurel Leaf Books. ISBN 0440237688


Plot Summary:

The Giver is the story of eleven year old Jonas who lives in a perfect society in which people experience no pain or suffering. Each infant in this society is assigned to a family unit and childhood is spent going to school and volunteering in the community in preparation for the child’s ultimate role in the community. At the age of twelve, each child is told what he or she will be when they are grown up, and they begin to receive training for this assignment. At the ceremony, Jonas discovers that he will be the next “Receiver of Memory”. He begins private training from the current Receiver. This training involves the transfer of memories of pain and pleasure to Jonas from the Receiver, who becomes “The Giver”. These memories reveal colors, seasons, weather, emotions, etc. that Jonas did not know existed. Jonas realizes that his perfect world is actually a controlled society in which no one is free to make choices. He finds it difficult to live a normal life with his family and friends, because he is aware of the possibilities that exist beyond his community. After a year of training, Jonas and the Giver make plans for Jonas to escape and seek the world beyond their society, allowing Jonas to be free from his position and to force the community members to bear some of the memories of the real world. Jonas, however, is forced to leave early in order to save Gabriel, a toddler, from being “released”. The story closes as Jonas is sledding down a hill with the young boy, and readers are left to decide if the two escape to the real world or die from starvation and the cold.


Critical Analysis:

I am not a big fan of science fiction, so I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy The Giver by Lois Lowry, despite recommendations I had received. From the first few pages, however, I was drawn into Jonas’ world and could not read fast enough to find out who “The Giver” was and what would happen to Jonas. Lowry’s development of the setting, her style of writing, and the theme create a truly remarkable story that touches readers and makes them question not only Jonas’ world but society as a whole.

The setting of The Giver plays an integral part in the story for the whole story revolves around this ideal community. Lowry expertly weaves in descriptions of the society, as well as its rules and routines, in the story line, so the reader subtly becomes aware that this “perfect” place may not be so perfect after all. In the opening sequence, Jonas remembers an episode when a plane had flown over the area. “All the citizens had been ordered to go into the nearest building and stay there. IMMEDIATELY, the rasping voice through the speakers had said” (page 2). The reader begins to wonder what kind of society has speakers throughout it and orders its citizens around. As the story progresses, the author reveals other realities of the community. For example, Jonas doesn’t ask his friend Asher about the pills he takes to suppress “stirrings” because “it was the sort of thing one didn’t ask a friend about . . . it might have fallen into that uncomfortable category of ‘being different.’ . . (It was) always better, less rude, to talk about things that were the same” (page 38). This belief is alien to most people who share secrets with their friends and strive to be unique individuals. By showing this society’s treatment of normal events in life, such as sharing secrets with friends and having feelings for others, the author reminds readers that this world is different from their own. Instead, of just explaining why, Lowry lets the readers experience the revelation along with Jonas. For, it is not until Jonas receives memories and learns about his colorless, climate-controlled community with its lack of emotions and lack of freedom to choose that he begins to see the realities of his world. Readers are so drawn in to the story that they, too, experience shock at the same realization and feel sorry for this young boy who has been selected to shoulder such a huge burden. The ability of readers to become so involved in the story is, in part, due to Lowry’s depiction of this society.

The author’s style of writing is also important in the development of the story. The Giver is told from a third person point of view; however, the reader is limited to only what Jonas sees and thinks. For example, when Jonas discovers the reality of the “releasing” process, he “felt a ripping sensation inside himself, the feeling of terrible pain clawing its way forward to emerge in a cry” (page 151). Yet, the reader knows only Jonas’ feelings about the release of the newborn. Lowry writes that Jonas’ “father tidied the room. Then he picked up a small carton . . . and lifted the limp body into it. . . . His father loaded the carton containing the body into the chute and gave it a shove. ‘Bye-bye, little guy.’ Jonas heard his father say before he left the room” (page 151). The father’s feelings and his thoughts are never revealed, thus emphasizing the lack of emotion felt by the community members. Jonas is numb with horror, but his father deals with this task as just another item on his work list. By permitting the reader to view the world through Jonas’ eyes alone, Lowry increases the impact of what he experiences and allows the readers to experience the feeling of hopelessness Jonas develops with regard to his role as The Receiver.

By allowing readers to discover the realties of Jonas’ world with him, Lowry’s message about society is even more powerful. Jonas eventually becomes so disillusioned with his life that he leaves the community to find “Elsewhere”. Readers are aware of Jonas’ mixed feelings. It’s hard to leave the comfort of what a person knows for the unknown, but Jonas knows that “if he stayed, his life was no longer worth living” (page 155). Lowry’s statement of this fact forces readers to ask themselves if they could leave the comfort of the world they know for the unknown. Would it be worth risking their lives to live with freedom of choice and with emotions and pain and everything that comes with real life? As if these questions are not enough, Lowry makes the story even more powerful, because she doesn’t provide a resolved ending. In the last scene Jonas and Gabriel are sledding down the hill because Jonas felt that “somewhere ahead, through the blinding storm, there was warmth and light” (page 178). The reader never knows if Jonas and Gabriel find “the Elsewhere that held their future and their past” (page 178), or if they die in the storm. Again, Lowry makes her readers active participants who must “create their own endings . . . (based on) their own complicated beliefs and hopes and dreams and fears” (page 6 Readers Guide). As a result, readers finish The Giver with a great mix of emotions and begin to question the values of Jonas’ society and their own. Lois Lowry’s novel is deserving of the Newbery Medal it received, because it is a “distinguished contribution to American literature for children” and adults as well (ALA 2007). I can honestly say it is one of the best novels I have ever read.

Source:

ALA. 2007. Welcome to the Newbery medal home page! http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/newberymedal/newberymedal.htm (accessed November 13, 2007).


Review Excerpts:

Winner, Newbery Medal, 1994

ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 1994

ALA Notable Book for Children, 1994

Horn Book Guide (September 1993) - “In a departure from her well-known and favorably regarded realistic works, Lowry has written a fascinating, thoughtful science-fiction novel. The story takes place in a nameless, utopian community, at an unidentified future time. Although life seems perfect -- there is no hunger, no disease, no pollution, no fear -- the reader becomes uneasily aware that all is not well. The story is skillfully written; the air of disquiet is delicately insinuated; and the theme of balancing the values of freedom and security is beautifully presented.”

School Library Journal (May 1993) - “In a complete departure from her other novels, Lowry has written an intriguing story set in a society that is uniformly run by a Committee of Elders. Twelve-year-old Jonas's confidence in his comfortable ``normal'' existence as a member of this well-ordered community is shaken when he is assigned his life's work as the Receiver. The Giver, who passes on to Jonas the burden of being the holder for the community of all memory ``back and back and back,'' teaches him the cost of living in an environment that is ``without color, pain, or past.'' The tension leading up to the Ceremony, in which children are promoted not to another grade but to another stage in their life, and the drama and responsibility of the sessions with The Giver are gripping. The final flight for survival is as riveting as it is inevitable. The author makes real abstract concepts, such as the meaning of a life in which there are virtually no choices to be made and no experiences with deep feelings. This tightly plotted story and its believable characters will stay with readers for a long time.”

Publishers Weekly (February 1993) - “In the ‘ideal’ world into which Jonas was born, everybody has sensibly agreed that well-matched married couples will raise exactly two offspring, one boy and one girl. . . With a storyline that hints at Christian allegory and an eerie futuristic setting, this intriguing novel calls to mind John Christopher's Tripods trilogy and Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl. Lowry is once again in top form--raising many questions while answering few, and unwinding a tale fit for the most adventurous readers.”


Connections:

Lois Lowry ends The Giver with Jonas sledding down a hill. Is he headed to a new life, or is he dying from hunger and the cold? Lowry doesn’t tell her readers. After reading the book, hold a discussion about what happens to Jonas. Talk about the various possibilities. Ask students to write their own ending to The Giver that explains what happens to both Jonas and to his old community.


Discuss utopian societies. What aspects of Jonas’ society were good? What aspects were not good? Look at utopian societies in the United States, such as the Shakers. Have students study these societies.


Read Lois Lowry’s other two books about utopian societies:

GATHERING BLUE. ISBN 9780440229490

MESSENGER. ISBN 9780440239123

Compare the utopian societies in these two books to the one in Jonas’ world. How are they alike/different? How do the main characters in these books, Kira and Matty, compare to Jonas? What characteristics do they have in common?


Have students perform a Readers Theater of selected parts of the book, such as when Jonas is selected to be giver or when he is sharing his feelings with his family.