Euthanasia In The Giver By Lois Lowry

In life, knowledge is one of the most important things ever giving us insight into the past so we know what to avoid. In the story, The Giver by Lois Lowry the main character Jonas lives in a world where all the knowledge is held with the Giver. In this world there are many rules, there are no ages, just groups like the 1s, 2s, 3s, and so on. One of these rules is that when you are old enough or if you are a twin or you mess up three times you get released. Releasing when you get euthanasia. With no knowledge, there is no freedom of will which is shown by the kids in the book not knowing the history of the world and the tradition of the community.

To start off, the first reason is that the kids don't know about the history of the past. “You’re hit, Jonas! Asher yelled from behind the tree. Pow. You’re hit again. [...] In his mind, Jonas saw the face of the boy who had lain dying on the field and had begged him

The first reason ¨The new child, no longer crying, moved his arms and legs in a jerking motion. … The little twin lay motionless” (Lowry 187).¨ In this quote Janus learns what releasing is and how it happens. As he watches the recording he learns what death is and that his father is a release. This supports the theme because nobody knows what death is because that is hidden from the community. By hiding this from the community people lose their freedom. Moving on to the next reason “I was notified by the Speaker that she had gone directly to the Chief Elder and asked to be released” (Lowry 179). This quote shows that the world is controlled by the elders which then shows that the community is controlled by tradition. With the community being controlled by tradition, there is no freedom for knowledge. This supports the theme because the community is conditioned by tradition and so the world can't learn because freedom is being