The Giver Essay

819 Words2 Pages

THE EVOLUTION OF JONAS
Some secrets should not be revealed. In the book, The Giver, by Lois Lowry, the main protagonist, Jonas, lives in a utopian/dystopian world. He is chosen to become a Receiver of Memory, and meets The Giver, who was the past Receiver of Memory. The Giver passes on memories of the past and he learns about a world before the sameness of his world. Jonas begins to develop true feelings, something others in his community do not have. He soon learns a terrible secret: his society has been killing people and calling it “release”. He leaves the community, giving the memories of the past to the community. In The Giver by Lois Lowry, Jonas’s character becomes more rebellious, independent, and righteous after he becomes the receiver. …show more content…

He breaks many rules, one being, “...Jonas did not take his pill” (Lowry 162). This evidence shows that he is more rebellious because he did not take his pill, which is a major crime in the community. By not taking his pill, he is defying his community’s rules and values, the same community that he lives in. This action is rebellious because he is resisting the community’s authority and control over him. Additionally, before Jonas contravened his community’s rules, he made small acts of rebellion. He tries to give his friends memories of the past: “He tried. Without asking permission from The Giver, because he feared­––or knew­–– that it would be denied, he tried to give his new awareness to his friends” (Lowry 125). This evidence demonstrates that he is more rebellious because he did not ask for The Giver’s permission. By not telling The Giver about his plans, he is not accepting The Giver’s authority, showing how he is slightly rebellious to The Giver himself. After he becomes the Receiver, Jonas reveals his rebellious side, doing things like breaking …show more content…

After declaring that he wants others to have choices, Jonas realizes that it would not be such a good proposal; he claims that the idea is, “Very frightening I can’t even imagine it. We really have to protect people from wrong choices” (Lowry 124). This evidence shows that Jonas is righteous because he cares about strangers who he does not have to care about. He does not want them to make decisions that might harm themselves or others, and he cares about everyone’s well being, even if he does not need to. Secondly, he sees how the community is immoral. He learns about his society executing people: “Jonas stared at him. ’Release is always like that? For people who break the rules three times? For the old? Do they kill the Old too?’ [...] ‘What should I do? I can 't go back! I can’t!’” (Lowry 192). This evidence demonstrates that Jonas is becoming more righteous because he realizes the truth about his society and does not want to be a part of it anymore because of their cruel actions. The community gives Jonas a haven to live in, but he does not want to stay when he learns about the killing. This shows that he is righteous because he is willing to be in danger for the right thing to happen. Jonas becomes more righteous after he becomes the Receiver because he believes in doing the right

Show More
Related

  • The Giver Rhetorical Analysis

    313 Words  | 1 Pages

    At this point, Jonas has realized what release really means. He finds out that the little baby Gabe that has lived with his family is being released at the very next morning. And the large plan that has been made with The Giver, to get rid of sameness within his community can’t be carried out because he knows that he must save Gabe’s life. He starts to really understand what it means to truly live and truly love. He knows he loves Gabe and, therefore he must sacrifice himself in order that Gabe might live. So, he quietly leaves in the middle of the night, and takes Gabe with him and they leave the community. Jonas is running for their lives because he knows they’re being hunted down. He hopes that they will just give up and assume that maybe

    Read More

  • The Giver Literary Analysis

    269 Words  | 1 Pages

    In The Giver, a narrative by Lois Lowry, Jonas’s father illustrates his feelings during his Ceremony of Twelve and Jonas tells about his own feelings concerning the forthcoming event. In the text it states, “‘But to be honest, Jonas,’ his father said, ‘for me there was not the element of suspense that there is with your ceremony. Because I was already fairly certain of what my Assignment was to be,’”(Lowry, paragraph 3). This segment of text elucidates the reason of Jonas’s father’s lack of surprise of his Assignment. As stated above, Jonas’s father was already certain of his Assignment, which he continues to explain to be a Nurturer. Jonas’s father explains that as a result of the love he showed all the Newchildren and the time he spent at

    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

    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 gets freedom, the community is left without someone to take the memories from The Giver. This is an example of conformity because a few of the Receivers before Jonas had left the community due to the things they were learning and finding out about the community, which changed the way they viewed the society. They then realized that they do not want to do this for the rest of their life, and for their job to sit around and hold memories as no one else is capable of knowing them is not something they want to do. To conclude, Jonas’s action to run away from the society follows in the footsteps of the others, and if others follow Jonas, there may never be a Receiver for the Jonas’s

    Read More

  • Essay Questions For The Giver

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    This book is about a community where everything is stainless. It is a blank world with no color or feelings. At the ceremony of Twelve, everyone is accepting their Life Assignments as they are going to the path of maturity. However, a boy named Jonas is instructed a special job with The Giver to learn about the power of feelings and lies. When he puts his power at his own risk, he gets his family and everyone he loves in danger.

    Read More

  • The Giver Should Not Be Censored

    1121 Words  | 3 Pages

    In an early discussion with the Giver, Jonas concludes that "`We really have to protect people from wrong choices... [It's] much safer'" (99). However, it is with the progression of his training as Receiver of Memories that Jonas learns the impact of the sacrifices his community makes. After receiving a memory of a family celebrating together, Jonas speculates with the Giver about the emotional potential of the situation. He contemplates "`The family in the memory seemed... complete...

    Read More

  • The Giver: Analysis of Jonas

    501 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Giver: Analysis of Jonas On the surface, Jonas is like any other eleven-year-old boy living in his community. He seems more intelligent and perceptive than many of his peers, and he thinks more seriously than they do about life, worrying about his own future as well as his friend Asher’s. He enjoys learning and experiencing new things: he chooses to volunteer at a variety of different centers rather than focusing on one, because he enjoys the freedom of choice that volunteer hours provide. He also enjoys learning about and connecting with other people, and he craves more warmth and human contact than his society permits or encourages. The things that really set him apart from his peers—his unusual eyes, his ability to see things change in a way that he cannot explain—trouble him, but he does not let them bother him too much, since the community’s emphasis on politeness makes it easy for Jonas to conceal or ignore these little differences.

    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

  • Argumentative Essay On The Giver

    543 Words  | 2 Pages

    When he becomes 12, he goes through a huge ceremony and all the elders assign them their jobs. In this community, there is no lying, stealing, racism, pain, sunlight, or color. Jonas was chosen to be The Receiver, and he didn’t know what to do because this job was such a big deal. Jonas then goes through training with the current Receiver, who is now The Giver. Training consists of The Giver passing down the memories from when the community was not what it is today.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Perfection In The Giver

    544 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Essay On The Giver

    508 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the history of the world, there has been many societies. All these societies had similar structures and ideas, but they all are different by their own special traditions and ways of life. Similarly, both our society and the society in The Giver share similar ideas, but they are different in certain areas. For example, they both celebrate birthdays and have family units, but they have their own way of doing so. Based on the celebration of birthdays and the formation of family units, our society is better than the society in The Giver by Lois Lowry.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Sacrifice In The Giver

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    As Jonas receives these memories, he ponders how their community would be different if they could make more choices. For example, after the Giver transmits Jonas a memory of family, Jonas thinks how crazy it is that they have generations and he says about his community, “‘What if they were allowed to choose their own mate?’”...”’Or what if’”...”’they could choose their own jobs?’” (124). Jonas then thinks if people should make these choices, and things that could go wrong if they did. For instance, while he is thinking about how crazy these choices are, he says, “‘I can’t even imagine it. We really have to protect people from wrong choices’”(124). People in his Community don’t choose their own spouse, the Community leaders assign them a spouse and children if they want. Jonas’s Community is brain-washed into not having opinions or choices. Although they have no divorce and wrong choices, Jonas would rather have choices and a real

    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

  • The Giver Book Report

    565 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jonas always tells his dreams. He always was there for chastisement. He always shared his feelings at the evening meal. He also always took his pill every morning. “Now he swallowed the pill his mother handed him.”(Page 38). By the end of the book Jonas is rebellious. He stops taking pills for emotions that he is supposed to take everyday. Jonas stays at the Giver’s house when he sees his father kill a baby. Jonas also tries to escape from the community when Giver creates a plan to escape from the community which Jonas barely follows because of Gabe’s release. “But your role now is to escape.” (Page 162). This means that Jonas has to escape and the Giver must stay to help the community after he is gone.

    Read More

  • A Critique of The Giver

    680 Words  | 2 Pages

    The purpose of this book was to show us a possible version of a "Utopia".

    Read More

More about The Giver Essay

Open Document