The Giver: Driven To Become An Antihero

As said by Joseph Roux “Solitude vivifies; isolation kills” and we can see that with Jonas, the antihero in The Giver. Jonas starts out as a kid who believes every single word that he has been told. But as Jonas gains wisdom from the memories he starts to not have as much trust in it. Eventually, Jonas starts to realize that his society isn’t as good as he initially had thought. In the book The Giver, Jonas is driven to become an antihero from him looking for connections with friends and family. At the beginning of the story Jonas trusts everything that he has been told and wants to be able to fit into society. There are many times when Jonas has full trust in his community, like when he hears bad stories about it. For example, Jonas

As Jonas gains more and more wisdom from the memories he starts to realize the flaws of society, leading him to start pushing back. After gaining the memory of color Jonas starts to realize that “ ‘If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?’ “(97). So Jonas is now starting to push away since to him ” ‘It’s the choosing that’s important’ “(98). So Jonas wants to pick and decide things and not let anyone make decisions for him. But later on Jonas starts to contradict himself since he is starting to believe that he “ ‘ really have to protect people from wrong choices’ "(98). Since to them people deciding their jobs and choosing the wrong one was scary. But over all, Jonas is starting to lose his trust within his community, but at the same time still wanting to believe in what he was told word for word. As he believes that everyone choosing is bad but also thinking that choosing is important. After Jonas received the memory of war he “did not want to go back. He didn't want the memories, didn't want the honor, didn't want the wisdom, didn't want the pain. He wanted his childhood again, his scraped knees and ball games”(121). So Jonas is starting to push back and drift away from his society. Even though Jonas' job is highly valued in his society,

Some events that pushed Jonas over is when all of his friendships/relationships start to wither away. For example when it was an unscheduled holiday. Jonas went to play with Asher and some other kids, Jonas saw them playing a game that “was a game he had often played with the other children”(133), and at he it was “a harmless pastime that used up their contained energy”(133). But “He had never recognized it before as a game of war”(133). After realizing it was a game of war, Jonas was unable to play now knowing the full truth about war. So Jonas was left there standing about to cry, while a kid tried to “kill” him and he didn’t move, “ ‘You ruined it,’ Asher said in an irritated voice “(134). Obviously, when Jonas did not move and just stood there Asher was annoyed, but Asher doesn't know that war was real and how many lives were taken because of it. So Jonas feels like he is starting to drift away from Asher and now his friendship with Asher is gone. In Addition, when Jonas went to the Annex to talk to The Giver they talked about releases and how Jonas’s father is planning to release a new born baby. But The Giver suggests that they watch the video of the release so Jonas can find out what a release really meant. But to Jonas’s surprise when he saw the video he saw that ”He killed it! My father killed it!”(150). After watching the video “Jonas felt a ripping