“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” ― Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. In the Giver by Lois Lowery, Jonas feels prideful because he is the Receiver of Memory and does things without thinking and that way of thinking is what influenced him to make his choice. But making choices based on pride and without thinking is hazardous because people may make the wrong choice and someone will get hurt, or even worse, get killed. In this case Jonas made the wrong decision when he took Gabriel when he fled the community. Jonas made the wrong choice because he did not take in thought that he was endangering his and Gabriel’s lives, that he was breaking major rules of his community, and the safety …show more content…
“But when the memory glimpses subsided, he was left with the gnawing, painful emptiness . . . The word was had been ‘starving.’ . . . Now he was. If he had stayed in the community he would not be. It was simple as that.” (172) Starvation was a real and eminent danger that Jonas should have considered before deciding. He also should have considered how he and Gabriel’s would survive the long journey to Elsewhere before leaving the community in the first place. “Once he had yearned for choice. Then, when he had had a choice, he had made the wrong one: the choice to leave. And now he was starving. But if only he had stayed.” (172 – 173) Jonas who did not take time to make a good and wise decision before leaving the community, now that he has the time to reflect upon his actions during the journey and he realizes that he had made the wrong choice. He now regrets his decision and wishes he had not chosen to leave the community because he was starving and there food was passed out throughout the community. Jonas clearly made a hasty choice and did not take factor in the possibility of starving when he decided to leave the
Jonas, the protagonist, is assigned the job of holding memories for the community. This is so that not everyone has to experience sad or painful memories. The Giver's job is to transmit these memories to Jonas and, in doing so, reveals the wonders of love, and family, and pain, and sorrow to this young boy. Jonas begins to resent the rules of sameness and wants to share these joys with his community. After receiving his first memory, Jonas says, "I wish we had those things, still." (p. 84)
“Even I (Jonas’ father) voted for release when we had the meeting.” (164). Jonas wanted the best for Gabriel, so he brought Gabe with him thinking that he will end up saving him. Jonas made his decision under pressure, a reckless decision that could kill both of them, he did think of food but he underestimated the amount needed, he wanted to save Gabe. “And he had taken Gabe, too.” (166). Jonas felt as if he would save Gabe from a pointless life, which had no real meaning in making choices or decisions. The main reason was that he didn’t want to leave Gabe to die, but to save him from it and giving Gabe a better one when they somehow get to elsewhere. Overall, Jonas took the responsibility to save Gabe but in that he also to gave him a better life, than the corrupted world they both used to live
Jonas decides to leave and change the lives of his people so that they can experience the truth. “The Giver rubbed Jonas’s hunched shoulders… We’ll make a plan” (155). Their plan involves leaving sameness and heading to Elsewhere, where Jonas knows the memories can be released to the people. He has a connection with Gabe, a special child who has experienced the memories, unlike the rest of the community. Jonas has a strong love for Gabe, and he longs to give him a better life. “We’re almost there, Gabriel” (178). Even with a sprained ankle, Jonas keeps pushing forward because he wants everyone to experience what The Giver has given him. He wants them to have a life where the truth is exposed. His determination allows him to make a change for a greater future in his community. This proves that Jonas has the strength to change his community for the
He starts to believe that a world of sameness where no one can decide or make choices for themselves is boring. Lois Lowry is warning readers that living in a world of sameness is not something to create as it is boring and dull, but if the world follows conformity and does not value diversity and difference enough, society could become that of Jonas’s. When he turns twelve, his job for the rest of his life is decided as the Receiver. His job is to receive all the memories the previous Receiver has held on to. While this is beneficial for Jonas as he is able to leave the society and his job of the Receiver behind and get freedom, the community is left without someone to take the memories from The Giver.
Evelyn Sanchez (esanchez47@student.cccd.edu) Professor Leighton English 143, Final Essay 21 May 21, 2014 What the heck happened to Jonas? Topic #2. The Giver is actually one of my all-time favorite books, so I’ve looked into why she left the book so inconclusive in the past. The Giver is basically about a boy named Jonas who lives in a perfect society. He lives in a household with his two parents and his little sister Lilly.
Picking up trash and helping an elder cross the street are examples of ethical actions humans should take into consideration. Without ethics, there wouldn’t be moral decisions based on acts of kindness. Morality is a branch of ethics and dives into serving the common good. Ethics purpose is to make decisions and actions that benefit others and the doer. In other words, the common good benefits everyone; therefore, it’s the best and equal balance which fit’s society’s needs and criteria. In the Giver, Lois Lowry illustrates a world that lacks ethics by creating selfish leaders and a clueless population. Within this unrealistic world, Lowry demonstrates how a world can misinterpret the ideal of a “perfect society” and what the common good is
Jonas decides he has to leave with Gabriel, a baby who had been staying in his family dwelling. Gabriel is scheduled to be released the following day as he is underdeveloped for his age. He has the same pale eyes as Jonas and the two have grown attached to each other. The Giver will make it appear as if Jonas had drowned in the river so ample time will not be spent searching for him and he will be forgotten quickly. Jonas, who had stolen his father’s bicycle, sets out at dusk, with Gabriel, on his quest to find Elsewhere. The Giver gives Jonas strength and courage to sustain, as well as food supplies and
Bang! Bang! Bang! Jonas knocked on the door. A tall shadowed figure came to the door, it was the giver. He let them in and put them on a bed. Jonas started to ask questions to the giver, “Where are we.”
You know everything about the past and the present from your life, but the citizens of Jonas’ community don’t. Everything is hidden from them, except for Jonas and The Giver, who have all
Personally, I believe that Jonas and Gabriel ended up dying in the freezing cold, while starving and going insane; I also have various reasons to back this theory up. Firstly, on pages 171-172, it states that Jonas and Gabriel begin to starve; this could mean that they would also end up losing their sanity and even possibly see illusions. Furthermore, all throughout chapter 23, it explains that Jonas and Gabriel are agonizingly cold while surrounded by a snowy environment. This may lead to Jonas and Gabriel to lose their sanity and see illusions as well. At the very end of the story, Jonas is able to see “Elsewhere,” the place they left the community to search for. However, it is possible that Jonas is seeing nothing but an illusion. Along with all of this, Jonas is used to livin...
“Don’t look back, you’re not going that way.” I think that quote goes best with The Giver because when The Giver gave him all of the memories of hurt and love and told him things he didn’t know he wanted to give up. But Jonas keep going and didn’t give up. In the end of “The Giver,” Jonas and Gabriel died because when they were laying in the snow Jonas was living in his memories. I think that because he was imagining the music and people singing then he might be in his memories and the giver gave him those memories.
We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others” (97). In the book The Giver by Lois Lowry, no one has seen a rainbow after a storm, no one knew what colors were; what choosing was; what it meant to be an individual. Everyone lived in complete Sameness, and never learned what it meant to be an individual. By eliminating as much self expression as possible in Sameness and society, Jonas's community has rejected the individuality of a society where people are free to move society forward. In The Giver individuality is represented by colors, memories, and pale eyes.
Jonas hates how his society decides to keep memories a secret from everyone. Jonas says: “The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared” (Lowry 154). Jonas feels that memories, whether it be good or bad, should be shared with everyone. Furthermore, memories allow the community to gain wisdom from remembering experiences of the past. As for The Giver, The Giver disagrees with how the community runs things. He believes that memories should be experienced by everyone as well, because life is meaningless without memories. The Giver says: “There are so many things I could tell them; things I wish they would change. But they don’t want change. Life here is so orderly, so predictable–so painless. It’s what they’ve chosen [...] It’s just that… without memories, it’s all meaningless. They gave that burden to me” (Lowry 103). The Giver is burdened with the responsibility to not share memories even though that is what he feels the community deserves. In addition, he believes the community lives a very monotonous life where nothing ever changes. Everything is meaningless without memories because the community does not know what it is like to be human without feelings. Overall, Jonas and The Giver’s outlooks on their “utopian” society change as they realize that without
“It would not matter for a new child's toy. But later it does matter, doesn’t it? We do not dare to let people make their own. Not safe, the Giver suggested. Definitely not safe, Jonas said with certainty. What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong?”(98) Rather, a person is free when they make their own decisions for themselves. When a person has freedom and make their own choices may they make mistakes, but from the mistake that person will grow into a better individual. “And here in this room, all alone, I re-experience them again and again. It is how wisdom comes. And how we shape our future.”(78) So, personal choice allows a person live the way they want by choosing what they think is best for them. Personal choice allows a person to have freedom which helps them to live a true and happy life with their own eyes. Lastly, personal choice is important because it lets people have freedom, to choose for themselves and live the way they want to live.
But the Giver argues and asks “Do you know what is means to love someone? Possibility of love? With it comes hope, faith and a beautiful feeling. “ But the commander says that people are weak, selfish and when people have the freedom to choose, they choose wrong. Giver believes that in this community “people are living the life of shadows, of faint, distant whispers of what once made us real.” People are living in the shadow, because their right to choose is taken away. The movie does not show what happens after Jonas crosses the boundary of memory, but we can hope that after everyone got memories back they found the real