Book Review: the Giver by Lois Lowry

Have you ever wondered what it would it would be like to live in a life where everything is the same? Everywhere you go you only see black and white. Well, you’re lucky because Lois Lowry shows you exactly what that’s like. This book is tearful and exhilarating, because it is morally driven, and the character development in the main character. The Giver was written by Lois Lowry who will keep reading the book for hours at a time not beng able to put the book.

Jonas is a young boy who lives in a community that is free from crime and sadness, when he turned twelve, he got an assignment at ‘The Ceremony of the Twelves’ which was the most important in his community ‘The Receiver of Memory’ where he keeps all the good and bad memories from the people in his community. This is good and bad for all the people in the community who don’t have these memories, because it keeps them from all the bad things in the world, but it also separates them from the beautiful aspects of life. “Always better, less rude, to talk about things that were the same.” (48), this shows that people want to have everything the same, because they were taught that it was better than being different.

As the story progresses Jonas loses his trust in his parents and when The Giver shows Jonas the tape of his dad “releasing” the baby. “His father turned and opened the cupboard. He took out a syringe and a small bottle. Very carefully he inserted the needle into the bottle and began to fill the syringe with a clear liquid…. He killed it! My Father killed it! Jonas said to himself, stunned at what he was realizing. He continued to stare at the screen numbly.” (186-188)

This story tells the readers that there is no way to make a perfect society such as making people take pills to make the stirring go away. Simply the person can make the choice to not take them like Jonas did, or when the Receiver was “released” all the memories spread out to the community making them all vulnerable.” ‘We failed in our last selection,’ the Chief Elder said solemnly. ‘It was ten years ago, when Jonas was just a toddler. I will not dwell on the experience because it causes us all terrible discomfort’ Jonas didn’t know what she was referring to, but he could sense the discomfort of the audience. They shifted uneasily in their seats.’ (76) Some people might think that The Giver is very boring and there is no action, so they just put the book down, but really all the action starts near the end of the book where Jonas sees the tape of the “realeasing”

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