The Giver Compare And Contrast

The novels Code Talker and The Giver contain main characters that have a share in their similarities and differences. At a glance we see the characters as different in every way possible, but when you look deeper and think harder you start to notice that they are similar. Jonas from The Giver stands out among the dark eyed people because of his light eyes, and Ned Begay from Code Talker stands out because of his heritage. Learning to be different shows the readers that being original is good, but being unique is outstanding.

The main characters in both novels have ways of showing that they stand out in their worlds. In the novel Code Talker, Ned Begay is looked upon differently since he is Navajo. At a young age, Ned had to leave his family

Since Ned was a Navajo kid who moved to a boarding school with whites, he was told to never speak in his native tongue. When he spoke even one word the consequences were to either have his mouth washed out with soap or to be beaten until he could barely walk. However, the Community was less harsh when Jonas said something wrong. For example, when Jonas was young, he had stated that he was starving, but was quickly and strictly corrected by an instructor. “He was not starving, it was pointed out. He was hungry. No one in the community was starving, had ever been starving, would ever be starving. To say ‘starving’ was to speak a lie.” (Lowry

As a recruited Marine, Ned actually went and fought in World War II. Ned went through tough times serving in the war, and had been a primary witness to some deaths. However, since the Community wants everyone to live peacefully, no one has experienced war except the Giver. As the Receiver of memory, Jonas had to receive the Giver’s memories, and he is given a memory of war. This memory of war was hard for Jonas to handle, but it reflects what actually happened. Lastly, since the Community is a place with order, it communicates to the readers that it is different from what we would consider a community. This shows us that Ned and Jonas have a huge cultural difference. Ned lived in a Navajo region, and Navajos have traditions that the Community did not have. For example, one tradition is a Blessingway. These blessing ceremonies are sung to give someone good luck or good health. Jonas’ world did not have traditions such as a blessingway, but you could consider the yearly ceremonies as a tradition. These ceremonies included recognitions of the children from newborn to age 12. Other customs are the releasing ceremonies which recognizes a person being