Lois Lowry’s Futuristic Novel

“Lois Lowry’s futuristic novel, “The Giver,” takes place in a community that seems “perfect.” There is no hunger or violence or racism. There are rules that protect people from making bad choices. However, there are also no real emotions and no memories. The main character, Jonas, becomes the Receiver of Memories, and only he becomes free enough to choose to stay or leave the community. Jonas makes the choice to take the child, Gabriel, with him to find a world where there is freedom of choice.

Because the main character makes this choice in the end, the novel takes a stand against a society that restricts freedom, even if that society has no pain or suffering. Jonas realizes this over time in the novel in a series of scenes where The Giver tells him the rules and restrictions of the community are revealed to him. Three significant realizations in the novel are when he learns the real meaning of “releasing,” sees color for the first time, and realizes that to save the life of the child, he must leave forever. Some readers argue that Lowry actually wants her readers to approve of this society’s choice to release people.

When Jonas learns the true meaning of the society’s act of “releasing” people, it becomes clear that author Lois Lowry wants her readers to disapprove of this society. The Giver tells Jonas that he can watch his father release an identical twin. Jonas watches his father inject the baby, who jerks and then stops moving. Then Jonas’s father says, “Bye bye,” waves, puts the body into a carton, and sends it down a chute. Jonas realizes with horror that his father has killed the new child. He realizes that “to be released” means to be killed. Jonas’ negative reaction to this scene shows that Lowry wants the readers, too, to be horrified at a society that prevents a child from living just because it might not be 100% healthy. Despite this, some people who read “The Giver” believe that Lois Lowry actually wants her readers to approve of this society’s choice to release people.”

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