I read the Giver a couple of years ago. I don't recall if my kids brought it home or my wife. I thought I would give it a try. I found it an interesting tale with some moral value and I was quite surprised when I saw it on a banned book list.
The Plot
The Giver opens with the author, Lois Lowry, setting the scene. As told in the third person she introduces Jonas, a young man, growing up in a community that could be thought of as a commune. We as readers are not given the time or place this story happens. It's left to the imagination.
The community had strict rules and adhered to a sense of moral political correctness. Each person had their assigned responsibilities. Jacobs father was a "Nurturer". Other words have an omen to them. When people make mistakes they may be "released". What that means isn't clear early on. We do learn they go "elsewhere" and are never seen again.
It is clear that life is extremely structured and rules must be adhered to. Daily expressions from each group member is discussed at the "ritual of telling dreams". Nothing is to be a secret. It's during one of these sessions where he learns he is having his first "stirrings". All is OK though. Pills are given to take care of this reaction.
There are "Birth Parents" who we are told hold little stature in the community after giving three births in three years. They then become a "laborer". Those they give birth to are assigned a mother and father, "Nurturers". Each family unit of a man and woman may have but one boy and one girl only.
Instruction is given, not through direct contact, but through a speaker system where one can hear the words but not those behind them. Messages and orders are given this way.
We do find out there is one important elder of the group who is known as the "Receiver".
Jonas is of the age when he will be given his assignment. Jonas is to become the next "Receiver". He doesn't understand what this means or why he is chosen. The author then has the "Receiver" take Jonas under wing to give instruction and to pass on some wisdom or perhaps "memories of the past". Jonas is to address him as "The Giver" As the Giver moves memories from himself to Jonas, he feels better. Some of the weight on his shoulders is being released. Jonas receives the past finding out that things were once different before "Sameness" took over. He experiences warmth, colours also and finds out that some memories are of evil and contain pain too.
Jonas begins to understand that the world he lives in has no pain but, no joy either. It's a complacent society of the content. The "Giver" holds all the secrets, good and bad of the past. None of the others have memories.
The author continues the story with Jonas becoming more savvy as to what he sees and what the community is missing. As time and situation come upon him he makes some decisions.
My Take
Author Lois Lowry's book is an important dark tale that can lead to deep thinking yet it's told in an easy-going, simple manner. The book is perfect for young teens and would be terrific as a discussion opener between them and other students, teachers and parents. My wife and I were youth ministers in our church for many years. It's scenarios such as created by Lowry that could lead to excellent discussion of care of elders, euthanasia, abortion and adoption.
"Stirrings" as noted in the book are a fact of life in that world. It's a fact of life in this world too. Taking pills, whatever the reason is also a prime topic for teen discussion. It's another matter that could and should be discussed in an open and mature forum. I'm sure this book was used that way in public schools when it was a choice for required reading.
Perhaps the "banning" came from groups who were not sure as to how discussions would be formatted and what "slant" of the issues would be favored. It's my feeling that the book does open important matters to discussion but I believe most teens would be able to see the fallacy of that imagined and false world without having some of the overzealous religious righteous or left leaning lunatics trying to pull their consciousness in one direction or another.
I read this book after I saw the film Pleasantville. There were some visuals in that film that ran parallel to scenes in this book. The book was published five years before the film.
Though I mention teens reading the book, I believe adults would find interest in it too. It's only a couple of hundred pages long. It's worth delving into thinking whether the mix of pain and joy in this world is of value or should we change to a society where we don't have to make hard decisions. "Big Brother" can make them for us.
\It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened.\ Thus opens this haunting novel in which a boy inhabits a seemingly ideal world a w...More at Christianbook.com
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