Memory and Freedom from The Giver

778 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The importance of memories

Imagine, not having any knowledge of the past and having no feelings for one another. Someone would just be living in a fake life and someone’s parents wouldn’t even love them. A world where someone takes a pill to have no feelings, too many rules, and if someone did something that they were not suppose to do, someone would have to be on a speaker and tell everyone what they have done. To have no free will and do everything that the Elders tell you, but exactly what you want, which would to be free. No freedom seems a little off to me, in spite that it does help the society from all the pain. There is no, war, music, love, color or suffering. Except for the 11, soon to be 12 year old boy, Jonas since he is the one with the memories. Jonas and the Giver were chosen because they are strong people who can take all the memories in, no matter how bad it is. It must be hard to have one person keep all the memories for themselves and not be allowed to tell anyone, but it is his job though, so he can’t or he will be released because the Elders control everything. Someone must be able to live life the way they want it, knowing memories, and history. Which brings attention to my next point.

In The Giver, memories would scare everyone due to the protection of the people for the longest time. As for the quote "It hurt a lot," Jonas said, "but I'm glad you gave it to me. It was interesting. And now I understand better. What it meant, that there would be pain." he knew feelings would give him pain, but he was glad about it. He finally knew about the history and facts. To know colors, and had memories of a lake in the sunny sky that he had given to Gabe when he took him. In our society, people know many memories of life and death. But for ...

... middle of paper ...

...t that the people in the community don't have much freedom and deserve to know the history. If I lived in that community and did not know anything about my world, I would not feel safe given I knew nothing about it . However maybe if I were to live there and knew nothing, I accept it would be better than knowing something horrid, for all that sometimes people will have to deal with something themselves and they won’t know how. It could be perfect for someone that is not nosy about all the facts about the community and what happened there, yet I would. I get the other side of the story why someone would want to live there, after all it would not make someone feel burdened or pained, despite that I would like more freedom than just being exactly like the others just because the age number with all the rules. The only difference is they have different assigned jobs.

Show More
Related

  • The Giver, by Lois Lowry, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, and Logan's Run, by William F. Nolan

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    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)

    Read More

  • CWT: The Giver By Lois Lowry

    289 Words  | 1 Pages

    What are memories to you? In the book The Giver, by Lois Lowry. There is a boy his name is Jonas. He is the Receiver of Memories. Jonas experiences the memories over the course of the book. Memories help us understand there are consequences to your actions. Although some readers may believe that memories are not important. The memories Jonas had helped him with the journey at the end of the book.

    Read More

  • The Giver Quote Analysis

    578 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Community keeps the memories away from the people, which means that they ignore their past, and cannot gain wisdom or bliss. For example, when the Giver was explaining what memories are to Jonas, he says, “There’s much more… I re-experience them again and again. It is how wisdom comes. And how we shape our future,”(Lowry 78). The Giver describes how wisdom comes in this quote.

    Read More

  • Ignorance In The Giver By Lois Lowry

    946 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout his training, the Giver gifts Jonas with many good memories to offset some of the horrific memories. The memory of war in particular is too traumatizing for Jonas to handle, no matter how many good memories the Giver can entrust to him. For example, the passage describes, “From the distance. Jonas could hear the thud if cannons. Overwhelmed by pain, he lay there in the fearsome stench for hours, listened to men and animals die, and learned what warfare meant.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Overcoming Adversity In The Giver, By Lois Lowry

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Essay On Conformity In The Giver

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Perception of Jonas in Lois Lowry's The Giver

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jonas is the protagonist in The Giver. He changes from being a typical twelve-year-old boy to being a boy with the knowledge and wisdom of generations past. He has emotions that he has no idea how to handle. At first he wants to share his changes with his family by transmitting memories to them, but he soon realizes this will not work. After he feels pain and love, Jonas decides that the whole community needs to understand these memories. Therefore Jonas leaves the community and his memories behind for them to deal with. He hopes to change the society so that they may feel love and happiness, and also see color. Jonas knows that memories are hard to deal with but without memories there is no pain and with no pain, there is no true happiness.

    Read More

  • Why Society Is A Utopia In The Giver By Lois Lowry

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    You could argue that they memories of love and happiness would over power the dark and painful memories but that might not be that case. Look at our world right now you turn on the news to top stories of teens killing themselves, young girls being sexually assaulted and politicians only caring for money and greed. There is no hate or discrimination, in the giver society there is a none of that they don't even know what it means. They live in what they think is peace and as long as they think that to them it's true. Rosemary the old giver killed herself because she couldn't take the pain before that she was eager and excited. On page 140 in chapter 18 the giver said “She was a remarkable young woman. Very self-possessed and serene. Intelligent and eager to learn.”(Lowry 140). The giver is describing someone happy and enjoying life but because of the memories she killed herself. Yes they live in a society where they don't know what love or true happiness is but their are content and satisfied and to them that is happiness. Which bring me to my third point Jonas life got complicated when he began receiving the

    Read More

  • The Giver Book And Movie Analysis

    1262 Words  | 3 Pages

    The text can teach these parents or society as a whole the importance of being individual because in the giver Jonas struggled as being 12 years old and go in an overwhelming journey into adulthood and decision making by himself. He is a child and receiving all that memories about war and pain; show it necessary to experience the negative portion of life to grow up. The memories play a vital role, the book and movie connected that in a way to show without memories there is no humanity, compassion, and without past knowledge preventing repeating mistakes will be impossible. When Jonas felt confused about making decisions, worry about his future, and he had no freedom to express his thoughts or has privacy, which it's kind of like me after graduating and sometimes society limited a person's action due to traditions or rules. In both the book and movie Jonas left his home with Gabriel, but almost every other aspect has different ending. In the book, Jonas took his time to plan his escape but, accelerate due Gabriel releasing. Otherwise, in the movie he left to save the baby from dying, he punches Asher and criminates Fiona. In the book he rides a bicycle away in the midnight not on stealing a motorcycle and it didn’t mention what happened back in the community, only Jonas perspective, and it's not clear if Jonas and Gabriel survive. However, the movie showed a lot of action,

    Read More

  • The Giver, by Lois Lowry: Decisions and Personal Empowerment

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...wined into her writing the answer becomes clear. Society has boundaries and limits that are acknowledged should not be crossed. Yet humans have a craving to do so. Each time the fine line between acceptable and inappropriate is crossed, a new boundary is created; therefore a new crave develops and the cycle never ends. The Giver takes place after the last limit was broken, when the Elders took away some of the most beautiful pleasures of life, and the last line was drawn with all memories of freedom stored away. And this storage happens to be a human mind, the Giver, passing it down to the next Reciever into conceivably the end of time. Jonas disagrees; the memories he has seen, the pain he has endured, the beauty he has experienced must be shared. He wants the whole world to know the full extent and intention of life that God created. The boundary must be crossed.

    Read More

  • How Does Lois Lowry Use Language In The Giver

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Lois Lowry's The Giver people didn't have any memories of the past. The elders (The ones in charge) keep them away from the rest of the community. They also have a lot of different rules that don't seem fair. No lying. No touching out of your general family unit. Go to bed at certain time. Tell feelings at breakfast and dinner. Take injections. Use of language.(which Jonas was chastised for a lot) Etc. Jonas, the main character, knows that there is something more. Hitler’s utopia is sort of the same way between him and all the jews. In The Giver Jonas sees visions of what he later finds out is called color. Jonas is furious with the term “Release” because he later finds out that release is a peaceful term for death! Hitler; Nazi leader that killed 6 million jews, is kind of like the Chief Elder in The Giver because like her, he kept secrets and lied to the people.

    Read More

  • The Giver By Ayn Rand: Should Everyone Be Equal?

    255 Words  | 1 Pages

    A dystopian society is known to be described as an imaginary society. Jonas had been given his job as a receiver when he turned 12. When Jonas was given the memories from the Giver his whole life began to change. Jonas had become aware of what was going

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Memories In The Giver By Lois Lowry

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Examples Of Diversity And Sameness In The Giver By Lois Lowry

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Giver, the only memories that people have are memories of their own lives. They do not know about history or colors, they do not experience weather, they do not even know about certain feelings or emotions. There are only two people in the entire novel that possess memories of all these items and those two people are the Giver and the Receiver, Jonas. The lack of external memories does not really seem to cause much of a problem within the community. Without the knowledge of hate or war, they live in peace aside from minor disturbances, there are no arguments over what color the sky is or how green the grass is, they do not know of love therefore they do not fall in love. The committee feels that if people where to posses external memories that they would not be able to live in peace; that people would be in constant fear of one another or people might make the wrong choices in their lives. This is why the Giver and the Receiver are the only ones to posses these memories. “In The Giver, the history of the world is in the mind of one person and must not be shared with society” (Hurst

    Read More

  • Reflective Essay On The Giver

    574 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The giver” is written from the point of view of Jonas, an eleven-year-old boy living in a futuristic society that has eliminated all pain, fear, war, and hatred. There is no prejudice, because everyone looks and acts essentially the same and everyone is unmistakably polite. The society has also eliminated any form of choice: at the age of twelve every member of the community is assigned a job based on their abilities and interests. Marriage is also controlled, as citizens had to apply for compatible spouses. When their children are grown, family units disperse and adults live together with Childless Adults until they are too old to function in the society. Then they are finally “released” from the society. In the community, release is death, but it is never described that way; most people think that after release, newchildren and joyful elderly people are welcomed into the vast “area” of Elsewhere that surrounds the communities. Citizens who break rules or fail to adapt to the society’s codes of behavior are also released, though it is of great shame.

    Read More

More about Memory and Freedom from The Giver

Open Document