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Examples Of Individualism In The Giver

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“Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?”(Confucius). This quote explains that without feelings we are no different than animals. Feelings and choices are the major differences between men and animals. Lois Lowry is an inspiring author with her books The Giver and Number the Stars. She is from Hawaii and wrote The Giver in 1993. The Giver has many themes, which include the importance of feelings, individualism and importance of choice, and rebellion. One major theme of The Giver was the importance of feelings. Feelings are something that everyone experiences...at least in our universe. But in The Giver feelings are restricted to the Receiver of Memory. “‘But I want them!” Jonas said angrily. “It isn’t fair that nothing has color!”(97). This quote explains the desire, the feeling to want something because you like it. Jonas early said that he thought the color red was beautiful, and others don’t …show more content…

Individualism is abouting creating yourself through choices. In The Giver this cannot happen because you can’t make your own decisions like what your job will be, or who you will marry, or even your children’s names. “‘...what if we could hold up things that were bright red, or bright yellow, and he could choose?’”(98). This quote is explaining how we can become more individual by choosing for ourselves what color to choose. “Now, for the first time in his twelve years of life, Jonas felt separate, different”(65) Jonas is feeling different because he has become more of an individual by being the only Receiver of Memory. If there were more than just him he wouldn’t feel separate...different. “‘Were any of the Elevens disappointed, your year?” Jonas asked”(16) If you could choose for yourself your career then you couldn’t put the blame on anyone else for your disappointment, just yourself.To be an individual through personal choices is a necessity to be a complete

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632 Words | 3 Pages

He had to face the trials of his new job. He must complete the task that were give to him. This meant accepting memories that were both joyful and painful. He also had to overcome the fear of being the receiver which wasn’t always easy for him. “Jonas did not want to go back.

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1162 Words | 5 Pages

Individualism is when a person has achieved non-conformity, self-reliance, free-thought, confidence, and finding one’s self through nature. Although individualism may be achieved in society, it cannot be fully achieved until one removes himself from society. Chris McCandless did exactly that; he removed himself from society by backpacking and hitchhiking throughout the United States to test and achieve individualism. McCandless’s last great adventure was to Alaska to fully obtain individualism, unfortunately, he died trying to find his spiritual belonging and individualism. Many people would think it was absurd that Chris left his family and threw his life away, and they would think that he was not justified in leaving society, however, Chris McCandless was justified in leaving society because by doing so he could achieve non-conformity and self-reliance without being oppressed.

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671 Words | 3 Pages

This knowledge of pain changed Jonas's likes because when he was told that his training would include pain, he was not so sure that he wanted to receive memories. Now that he knows what pain is, he still wants to receive the memories that The Giver has to offer. Right after Jonas was given a memory of love, he said, "I liked the feeling of love. I wish we still had that."(158). Ths memory in particular is one that Jonas cherishes.

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423 Words | 2 Pages

The Giver then told Jonas he would be glad to share that memory with him. He transmits the memory of a christmas morning, grandparents and love. Jonas liked the memory and wanted to be able to feel it all the time. When Jonas got home he asked his parents if they loved him, They were a little fluster about the word love and told him to pay attention to his precision of language. His father told Jonas that the word love is absolutely meaningless.

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699 Words | 3 Pages

The theologian Paul Tillich once declared, “Individualism is the self-affirmation of the individual self as individual self without regard to its participation in its world.” In Anthem, a fictional novella by Ayn Rand, we see the theme of individualism play out, and it gradually becomes an anthem for the story’s hero. The protagonist, Equality 7-2521, lives in a society that teaches citizens that collectivism is the only option for humanity to thrive. Equality quickly learns this way of life is not ideal and coins his anthem: “I shall live my own truth,” (Rand 48). By wishing to live out his own truth, Equality realizes the significance of individualism and the change it can bring.

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718 Words | 3 Pages

Imagine living in a world with no freedom, choice, individuality, and color. Would you want to live in a world like this? Most of you would have said no, but a boy named Jonas has no choice, but to adhere to his community’s rules. In the book and the movie, “The Giver”, by Louis Lowery, Jonas finds it difficult to accept his community’s way of life. However, after he becomes the receiver of memory, he challenges the community after discovering what the world used to be like before sameness.

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601 Words | 3 Pages

One of the major differences is that we can pick our husband/wife and where we live. We can also have your own kids and raise them where we want and not have the government give us kids from birth mothers. Another big difference is that we can die naturally, but in The Giver they can 't they have to be ‘released to Elsewhere’, which we learned means that they get injected with poison to kill them. ”They haven 't eliminated murder they just call it by different name”Jonas told the giver. He 's trying to say it’s wrong for the elders to be put to death and not be able to die naturally.

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846 Words | 4 Pages

In the book,everyone has the same attribute’s but one twelve year old boy named Jonas. Throughout the novel,Jonas has suffer and has been misunderstood. Jonas opened his eyes to the reality of the community. This causes tears,anger,lonely’s,confused,unaware and misunderstanding. “He killed it my father killed it”,Jonas said to himself” (Lowry 188).

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492 Words | 2 Pages

He believes that people should be able to the the real world with different colors and organisms. In the community everything is the same even the colors. That is why people don’t notice Fiona’s red hair but Jonas does because he received the memories from the Giver. “The Giver” shows a life of not having the freedom of choice. The story also shows the life of sameness and being directed to do everything that the people are told to do.

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865 Words | 4 Pages

Jonas hates how his society decides to keep memories a secret from everyone. Jonas remarks: “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.

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725 Words | 3 Pages

“And we wish to be hungry again and soon that we might know again this strange new pride in eating”(79). Individualism is important because Equality makes a discovery of the word I. “I AM. I THINK. I WILL” (94). I, is individualism because I means by oneself.

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478 Words | 2 Pages

This connects to Lowry’s warning because in Jonas’ society there is no chance to learn through the big mistakes that are made. In the society in The Giver, emotions were not felt, clothing was not one’s own choice, and forcing people out of the society was acceptable. All people should learn that giving up pain and difficult decisions could mean giving up freedom. Diversity in a community is a good thing and should be celebrated. Lois Lowry was trying to send the message to her readers that being their unique selves leads to true

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517 Words | 3 Pages

He is under sameness and the influence of the community. Jonas is chosen to receive feelings, colors, and emotions from memories. As time goes by Jonas sees the community not as a utopia but a horrible place. Jonas wants to change

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771 Words | 4 Pages

One of the main themes in “The Giver” is the importance of individuality. The people in the community are not given any freedom to be individuals. They are not allowed to be different, and this creates less understanding of the world. This is why the community needs a receiver to understand these things for them.

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1073 Words | 5 Pages

Would you give up love and true happiness for a life without pain? In the dystopian novel The Giver, written by Lois Lowry, strong emotion is sacrificed for a peaceful environment. The depicted community at first appears to be a utopia, where hate and discrimination are abolished, but the emotionless society is quickly revealed to be dystopian as the story continues. They live in a world of sameness; there is no hunger, suffering, or war, but also no color, diversity, or sensuality. The protagonist, a twelve-year-old boy named Jonas, uncovers the truth about his community when he is assigned to be the Receiver of Memory, and acquires the memories from the past from an elder called the Giver.

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