The Giver
Written by: Lois Lowry // Flyer by: Isabel Bernal
The Giver
A 12 year old boy, named Jonas is chosen to be The Receiver of his community. This is a rare job, and it brings him honor to have it. His mentor, who is the previous receiver, is called The Giver. The Giver has past memories which have been carried down generation after generation. The memories are of the life before the community changed and life was set by rules to follow. These memories include feelings (pain, love, sadness, happiness, anger), music, weather patterns, and colors. All things that the people of the community do not feel nor have. The creators felt that if people have the choice to make decisions they always choose wrong. They take medication, are assigned jobs and family units, so that way things are carried out properly and in an orderly manor. After they reach a certain age the community releases elders. They also release babies if they do not meet certain standards. Jonas receives memories and feels very strongly about them. He feels there must be change and emotions and colors should be felt throughout everyone in the community. Jonas meets a very helpless baby named Gabriel. The child stays at Jonas' dwelling due to issues that occur at the nurturing center. Throughout the time that Gabriel is staying with the family, Jonas begins to grow a bond with the new child. During this bonding time, Jonas finds out that Gabe can receive memories, and Jonas begins giving them to Gabe to comfort him at night time. As time goes along, Jonas gains more wisdom from the memories. His feelings grow stronger about leaving the community and it changing. The Giver and Jonas soon come up with a plan for Jonas to leave the community and find life.
Jonas
Jonas' Father
Gabriel
The Giver
Quote -
"The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It' s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared." - The Giver
Questions -
1. In what ways did Jonas' mind/perspective change?
2. How did The Giver help and change Jonas' life?
3. What impact do you predict that the memories will have on the community?
Overall Rating -
The Giver was a good novel. It showed how life can change, and that along the way of making things better there will be good and bad situations to face. I liked the moral of the book but not how the author ended it.