BOOK REVIEW : THE GIVER

By:

Anglir Kinanthi//Musicology

Aprillia Intan Irawan/ 18101580131/ Musicologye

Eren

Rena

Bibliographic Citation

Lowry, Lois (1993). The Giver. United States: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Introduction

The Giver , written by Lois Lowry, is one of the quintessential dystopians novel. Lois
Lowry successfully tells thestory of a young boy’s escape from conformity, defining the genre of
dystropian literature and hitting the bestseller list among other numerous awards including the
prestigious Newbery Medal. The Giver is, however, encircled in a pool of contemporary
dystopian literature; nevertheless, it is evident that the novel bestows incredible symbolism and
morals that make it uniqe and worth the read.

The Giver was about a boy named Jonas who is about to turn twelve. Jonas lives in a
community where everything is the same and fair, because with any differences it can cause
arguments. Because everything is the same, everyone gets bicycles at the same age, gets their job
at the Ceremony of Twelve, and is only allowed to one boy and on girl child in their ‘family
unit’. When the Ceremony of Twelve arrives, Jonas has no idea what job he is going to get, but
lots of kids hi age do. When the day finally comes, he gets told that he has the rarest and highest
of honor job there is—he gets to see memories from a long time ago in history. The person
training him, or as Jonas calls him, the Giver, gives him memories of a long long time ago when
things were way more strang. Everything in his community is the same—that means no colors,
animals, and everyone is treated the same. The Giver shows him some very important memories
and Jonas sets out on a quest to show everyone these memories that he has.

Chapters Summary
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9

Critique

In The Giver, society is devoid of reflection and foresight; everything is lived in the
present. However, the present is rigidly controlled by an authoritative committee resulting in no
suffering, war, hunger, color, music, or even love. This committee, or “The Elders”, controls the
life of each individual in the community in regards to spouses, children, and one’s job Although
there is no suffering, it is evident this society lacks emotion and choice, prime dystopian traits.
The soon-to-be twelve year old protagonist Jonas, however, does not realize this as he is merely
on of many victims. As Jonas is approaching the age of twelve, he becomes apprehensive about
the Ceremony of Twelve, a special ceremony where all twelves year olds are assigned a job
perfectly suited to him/her. At the ceremony, everyone is assigned a job except Jonas, leaving
him anxious about his future. At the very end of the ceremony, Jonas’ name is called and he is
assigned with the highly honored position of the Receiver of Memory. Although the community
is deprived of emotion or memory, the memories of the past are kept with on person who uses
the memories to advise the community on dicisions similar to the past. As the Receiver, Jonas
will receive memories of physical and emotional pain as well as color, music, and intense
emotions. Overtime, Jonas slowly gains more consciousness of the dystopia that has
continuously existed around him.

The general theme of The Giver is quite similar to those other dystopian fictions; they all
portray an unideal society where people lack choice and freedom. Yes, these overlapping themes
can make The Giver a little dry and predictable during the process of reading, but what the reader
gets out of reading The Giver is anything but dry, it’s incredible morals are what set The Giver
apart from the other dystopian novels.

Memories play a large role in The Giver, even though they are nonexistent in Jonas’
community. One of my favorite quotes from The Giver that summarizes the importance of
memory is, “The worst part of holding memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it.
Memories need to be shared.” (Lowry 1557). Allow one to reflect upon a few memories that
have changed one’s life—maybe grand achievements, or even just simple accomplishments.
Now imagine if all those memories good of bad, were ripped away from an individual. How
could one feel? Granted, one might feel relieved to forget about the troubled past, but one will
have lost a large part of one’s identity. The people in Jonas’ community don’t feel this loss.
Everyday that passes is a day that passes without remembrance of reflection. Through the text of
The Giver, Jonas’ development in his memory training allows him to realize the importance of
memory; he realizes that although memories hold a lot of pain, they are a source of wisdom.
These memories are what makes Jonas’ roale as the Receiver so physically and emotionally
demanding, but also incredibly enlightening. As Jonas gathers memories everyday, he
experiences lessons in pain and enjoyment that his emotianlly-lacking society never taught him:
that without memory there is no pain, but there is also no happiness. As Jonas gains greater
understanding of reality day-by-day, he begins to realize what the people around him are
missing; he wants to share the memories he has received but he can’t. From this we can learn
that memories are meant to be shared. The value of the memories of a community is far greater
than the memories of a single individual. Futhermore, the collective knowledge of a generation
can easily be passed onto the next. Clearly, Lowry takes a grand stance on the importance of
memories.

The theme of individuality is also inherent in The Giver as seen through the following
quote: “How could someone not fit in? The community was so meticulously ordered, the choices
so carefully made” (Lowry 43). By portraying a society without choices and personal identities,
Lowry is able to reach out to those who are struggling to find a distinct identity for themselves.
In comparison, another incredibly marketed dystopian fiction is The Hunger Games by Suzanne
Collins. This novel, too, bears great morals in the idea of individuality. However, in The Hunger
Games, there are different districts of different types of people, contrary to the The Giver’s idea
of “sameness”. With this difference in plot, The Hunger Games focuses more on sacrifice and
self-sufficiency for freedom rather than The Giver’s more holistic lesson on one’s individuality.
Through The Giver, one can learn about celebrating differences between people rather than
discouraging or concealing those differences. These lessons make The Giver an ideal novel for
those seeking to find personal identities, especially the youth.

Recommendation
 References

Gaiman, Neil. Why Our Future Depends on Libraries, Reading, and Daydreaming. The
Guardian. 26 May 2019. Web

NN. Dystopia meaning. Wikipedia.com. 26 May 2019, 06:15 pm

Collins, Suzanne (2008). The Hunger Games.United States: Scholastic Corporation