Last, when Jonas receives a harsh memory and cannot tell his friends why he is upset. Jonas memory is war. Cannons cracking in the distance, death, pain, and suffering. Blood drenching the ground, the croaking of sold Jonas had began to love Gabriel and decides that Gabriel must live. He releases his memories to the community, now they have the burden. He feels relieved when he hears music, this shows that the people have the memories.
Jonas lost his innocence through his rite of passage by way of harsh memories and realizations. Once he escapes, Jonas is relieved, but his mind is changed forever. Get Access. Good Essays. Read More. Satisfactory Essays. Should Holden Stay or Go. Giver Essay Words 2 Pages. Giver Essay. Better Essays. The Giver by Lois Lowry. Parents in a family unit must apply for each child.
When their application is accepted and they have been matched with one of the babies born during the year only a maximum of fifty babies are born each year to control the population , they receive a newchild at the December Ceremony, when the infant is named and becomes a One one year old.
Birthdays are not exact: A child's age always increases each December, even if the child's birthday is not in December. After a person reaches the age of twelve, birthdays are no longer observed. The community members have chosen Sameness over individuality and security over freedom, both major themes in the novel.
Until the age of twelve, each peer group is called by its age — for example, Fives, Sevens, Elevens — and must abide by established rules regarding appropriate clothing, haircuts, and behavior for each particular age group. Every child in a peer group looks the same. Everyone and everything are predictable day after day, year after year, thereby ensuring the false sense of security that people in the community have chosen over the freedoms to think and act for themselves.
Jonas' community is not a utopia; it's a dystopia, a place that appears to be perfect but really is not. Lowry gives us the illusion that the people living in the community are acting as individuals rather than as robots. For example, when Jonas' father breaks a rule by checking a list to see what name an infant, who is not sleeping soundly or developing as quickly as he should, will be given at the naming ceremony, Jonas is awed.
He can't imagine his father breaking a rule, especially because fathers are expected to exhibit model behavior for their children, and if citizens are caught breaking the rules, they are punished. If someone breaks the rules and is caught three times, the offender's punishment on the third offense is release from the community. Jonas' mother's duties include punishing people who break rules and ultimately having to authorize these people's release from the community.
Her distressful feelings about release show that a release is actually quite horrible. A release is final and signifies that the person being released is a complete failure to the community.
Lowry hints at the meaning of release when she describes the citizens' feeling of "what-could-we-have-done? The people clearly feel as though they are doing the right thing by following the rules, but by following the rules, they don't have to accept responsibility for their actions. They are so conditioned to following the rules that it doesn't occur to them to think as individuals and voice their own opinions.
The Giver is a little bit of a mystery man. Scratch that—at the beginning of the book he's totally a mystery man. And not a suave James Bond-type, either. A weird old dude with a bunch of books and more haunting imagery rattling around in his brainpan than Edgar Allan Poe.
He's a bunch of contradictions rolled into one. Giver appears older than he really is He seems completely isolated To Jonas , he is a strange mix of mentor, grandfather, friend, and even accomplice. It's this "accomplice" bit that's particularly interesting to look at when we talk about The Giver.
The Giver seems for the most part resigned to his role:. His peers' reactions cause Jonas to feel very much alone and isolated. For the first time in his life, Jonas does not feel the same as everyone else. Lowry describes Jonas' demeanor as uneasy, nervous, and worried, suggesting that he is quite unhappy. Jonas questions his parents about the last person who was selected to be the Receiver of Memory.
They tell him that the person was a female, but they don't know what happened to her, only that her name is "Not-to-Be-Spoken. Jonas' parents become silent, making no further comments about the previously selected Receiver. Jonas now seems isolated even from his family.
The only similarity between Jonas' Selection and everyone else's Assignment is the folder of instructions that each Twelve receives for his or her lifelong career. Lowry uses rhetorical ques-tions — questions to which oftentimes there are no answers — to portray Jonas' feelings of disbelief after he reads his list of instructions. For example, Jonas wonders, "What would happen to his friendships? His mindless hours playing ball, or riding his bike along the river? Jonas' instructions do not allow any time for recreational activities, and what is most shocking to Jonas is that some of the instructions directly contradict the rules that he has followed throughout his life.
Because behavior in his community is based on respect and politeness, he has never dared to ask questions or be rude, but his instructions indicate that now he can.
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