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Positives and negatives of The Giver by lois lowry
Positives and negatives of The Giver by lois lowry
Positives and negatives of The Giver by lois lowry
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The Giver, by Lois Lowry, was published in 1993, and caused worldwide controversy over its views on conformity, communism, and euthanasia. It is about a character named Jonas, who lives in a conformist community where there is no colour, emotions, love, weather and most importantly, choice. This community is inferior to the modern day Australian community. The community in The Giver, which is led by a committee of Elders, does not allow for any choice, as in their eyes, choice is a risky, unnecessary concept. Jonas, like everyone else, is oblivious to this, until he is assigned the job of the Receiver of Memories. This job involves receiving memories from the Giver of Memories, who received his memories from the previous Giver, and “back, and back, and back” (p99). With these memories, he begins to realise that choice is not such a risky, unnecessary thing; it is an important thing that makes everyone unique. In the modern Australian community, there is an abundance of choice, especially with Australia being a democratic country. In Australia, most people can choose their own leader, job, hobbies, food, entertainment and spouse. Choice plays a key role in making everyone different from one another. As David Oman McKay, the former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says: Freedom of choice is more to be treasured than any possession earth can give. It is inherent in the spirit of man. It is a divine gift to every normal being (URL#1). Also, Dr Kathie Nunley, an author/teacher says: “Living in a world with no choice is awful. It's worse than awful - it's absolute misery” (URL #2). Without a doubt, choice is very important. But in Lowry’s book, The Giver, choices are very rare, as Jonas states: “We do... ... middle of paper ... ...akes life colourful and rich. It is an essential part of everyday life in Australia. Lowry’s community lacks this quality. Lowry’s community is not a dystopia. It does not have poverty, violence, divorce, hunger, crime, unemployment, or unfairness. But it is not a utopia either. In order to do away with the imperfect aspects of life, Lowry’s community has also done away with the good qualities of life. By doing this, the community has made itself a dull and boring community. In contrast, Australia has all the attributes The Giver’s community lacks, such as weather, colour, love, emotions and choice. Even though it also has the displeasing characteristics like violence and poverty, it is still a better community than in The Giver. That is why Jonas left his community. He left it in search of a community a lot like Australia, with uniqueness, emotions, and choice.