Examples Of Release In The Giver

In ‘The Giver’, there is a practise called release. In today's society it is known as euthanasia, a painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. Throughout the novel it is mentioned that release is performed on the old and unhealthy young. The practice is illegal in most countries around the world. Yet, it is still a topic of controversy and this subject plays an important part in the novel of ‘The Giver’. In chapter nineteen (pg 149) of ‘The Giver’ a release is performed on a twin. Twins are not allowed in Jonas’ Society because having identical people would be confusing to the everyone. When identical twins are born, they are weighed and the smaller one is released. Jonas watches the video of the release with the Giver, and sees his father with the twins. Around this time his father cleans up the smaller twin and "makes him all comfy." Then Jonas watches as his father gives the baby a needle into a vein in his forehead. The needle is a lethal injection which kills the baby. Jonas is shocked when he sees this. Here, it gives a clear example of the society's attitude towards death and what they view release as. They see release as a peaceful death with a ceremony celebrating that person's life, rather than losing a precious life.

Reasons for release may be that a new child is not developing fast enough, a member of the community broke a rule or an elderly person is too old and cannot function. In chapter four (pg 31-33), there is a mention of release of Roberto, an elderly man. As well as release of an elderly woman named Edna. Euthanasia is only used in the community under certain circumstances. If the novel condemned or promoted the practise, I think the overall outcome of the novel would be different. Simply from why the community uses the practise of release, I think it shows that the practise is conditionally