The Giver Book Analysis

Memories are one of the largest equalizers among the human race. Memories of completely wonderful, tingling sensation causing moments or just plain awful instants, everyone has them. If taken from us, the assumption would be that we would be incapacitated to the point of not even knowing ourselves let alone the world around us. However, The Giver depicts this kind of society as a robotic community; only knowing what is taught and rid of those who wonder in thought. When I first picked up this book, I read the back cover summary and was instantly intrigued. I think this book says a lot about my “stick it to the man” personality and rebellious tendencies executed in the most polite of ways in fear of seriously offending those around me. I have read this book countless times and it always shows up to me in the most convenient times throughout my life, when there is doubt about who I am as well as the decisions I need to make or have already made.

In the Giver by Lois Lowry, Jonas seems to be just any ordinary eleven year old boy, going through the motions of his regulation and boundary heavy, futuristic society. Belonging to a family unit with a little sister, a mother in law enforcement, and a father who is a nurturer for newborns, he has come to the point in his life where the council must choose a lifelong occupation for him and his peers based on their interests and talents. Jonas is chosen for a very rare occupation called the Receiver, who is unfortunate enough to learn and bare all of the difficult truths of his society and it’s a completely controlled environment. The Giver is heavily burdened with all of the memories of the past world from colors, music, and historic events to the physically and emotionally horrific occasio...

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... heartedly admit to the similarities that Jonas and I share in our thought processes and sociological derisions from societal norms. I first read this book in the summer of seventh grade and have been addicted to the underlying messages of how there are superior forces that have created the ideology behind our societal norms and that anyone can defy these norms with the most simple of actions such as eating a slice of decadent chocolate cake for breakfast. No person should have to be burdened by the life decisions that must be made on a regular basis made by themselves or others throughout their life. My obsessive relationship with The Giver has been the greatest literary experience in my lifetime, thus far. I seriously doubt that any book will ever surpass the awe inspiring story of the boy who takes a risk and changes perspective throughout his society forever.