ipl-logo

Choices In The Giver

790 Words4 Pages

Options and choices are the best part of life. Choosing and making decisions is a part of becoming more independent and having freedom. But what if there was a restriction on family, the job one could have, or the memories one could make. In The Giver, Jonas’s society has no decisions, no choosing, or picking. Is this the idea of a Utopia where people take all the responsibility of making all of life's hard decisions? Or a Dystopia of having no freedom to make any choices or having a say? The three main differences between Jonas’s society are family, memories, and assignments. A Family is one of the most cherished things life have to offer. In Jonas’s society, citizens must apply for a Spouse and children. The Committee of Elder observes …show more content…

In Jonas’s society memories are held by one person, The Giver. The Giver is selected by The Committee of Elders after being observed very closely; The Giver is the one who holds all the pain so the people of the community don't have to feel them. According to the novel, the narrator states, “‘Jonas was identified as a possible Receiver many years ago. We have observed him meticulously. There were no dreams of uncertainty”’(Lowry 62). This quote shows that there is only one person who contains all the memories. In Jonas’s community, unlike society today, people have their own memories and memories from other people that have shared them. If The Giver’s memories were released it would cause the community terrible pain. According to the novel, The Giver stated, “‘It was chaos,” he stated. “They really suffered for a while. Finally, it subsided as the memories were assimilated. But it certainly made them aware of how they need a Receiver to contain all that pain”(Lowry 104). This quote shows that there is a Giver. In Jonas’s society, there is one person who obtains all memories, people don't have their own memories, while in today's society, people make their own memories, and don't have someone else hold the memories for them. What would life be like if there was only one person to have all the good and bad

Show More
Related
351 Words | 2 Pages

Lea Vilna Santos Mrs. English, 7th September 1st, 2015 The Giver, by: Lois Lowry Log Entry 4: Chapters 7-8: Question 2: In chapters 7 and 8, Jonas is assigned the job of Receiver of Memory and although the Chief Elder calls it the greatest honor,it might give him more hardship and pain than fortune. She explains that the selection is rare and his role is very important because there is only one Receiver and it takes integrity, intelligence, courage, wisdom, and the capacity to see beyond to be that person. At first he wants to tell he has no idea what she means and that he doesn’t have it until he notices a change in the crowd that was quick but he knows that he isn’t dreaming because it’s happened before but to his apple. Then he realizes

Read More
607 Words | 3 Pages

In the beginning of The Giver, Jonas was missing the quality to that would allow him to fight against the government. However, after becoming the receiver of memory he began to obtain that quality. “He would need those to help him find the elsewhere they were sure existed. They knew it would be a very difficult journey.” We can tell that because he was willing, nothing would be able to stop him from rebelling, even though he could die.

Read More
1015 Words | 5 Pages

The Giver’s job is to show Jonas all the memories from the past and to teach him how to guide the Council of Elders using the memories that the Giver passes to him. Throughout the

Read More
671 Words | 3 Pages

However, The Giver has a memory of the past, color, and emotions. The Giver transmits these memories to Jonas, and the two of them are the only people in their community with this knowledge. In the novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry, the author proves that knowledge has the power to change a person's opinions, likes, and dislikes through the memories that The Giver bestowes upon Jonas. Once The Giver had given Jonas memories of the community's past, Jonas's opinions of how everyday life in the community should be changed. After The Giver had transmitted the memory of hills, sleds, and snow, Jonas immediately wanted to be able to get rid of Sameness.

Read More
542 Words | 3 Pages

But he realized that the choice wasn’t his. The giver repeatedly reminded Jonas that there are many good memories. After that, Jonas received another good memory, family. He learned many new things, both good and bad memories. Another example is that although after receiving the memories Jonas experienced the pain of loss and loneliness, he also experienced the joy of understanding solitude.

Read More
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.

Read More
601 Words | 3 Pages

Is Jonas’s society different than ours? Utopian (N) an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. The key word there is ‘imagined’ as we haved learned in The Giver that not everything can be perfect; it 's just limiting the being of a human. By having such limitations, the people can’t hold their memories, can’t see color, and the government chooses their family. Jonas’s society is vastly different than ours in various ways.

Read More
712 Words | 3 Pages

Outline Imagine being chosen a job for a lifetime, but this job had a lot of pain, and loneliness. Well that what it was like for Jonas. Which makes Jonas being selected to be the receiver of memory is more like a punishment than an honor. Jonas has to deal with the pain that comes from the memories. He is missing out on things others can do.

Read More
733 Words | 3 Pages

The Giver and Jonas were tired of being the only ones who have to keep the memories and feel the pain. Therefore, does Jonas leave the community so the memories will bit by bit, come back to the citizens of the community. Firstly, I would point out that the community in “The Giver” has a lot of resemblance with the political ideology we call communism. When we look at the history of the word, Karl Marx’s ideology has been an inspiration to a lot of political party’s throughout the centuries, for instance communism.

Read More
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.

Read More
544 Words | 3 Pages

Furthermore without memories, you can not make responsible decisions. On page 130 of The Giver explained that the Committee of Elders comes to him for advice because he has memories. Jonas asks if they ask for advice often and the Giver says, “Rarely. Only when they are faced with something they have not experienced before.” Without memories, Jonas can not make decisions because he has very little experience.

Read More
517 Words | 3 Pages

The most important assignment in the community. He must receive memories from the current receiver. The chief elder made the decision to make only one person bear the burden of the memories. Everyone thinks the community is perfect, a utopia, but Jonas sees all the flaws .Jonas changes throughout The Giver and as a result, tries to change the community.

Read More
535 Words | 3 Pages

Jonas’ Hardships Lois Lowry, the author, wrote a novel titled “The Giver” which took place in a dystopian society with ideas like climate control, sameness, and precision of language. The main character, Jonas, was selected for the assignment “The Receiver of Memory” and this assignment caused him many hardships. Throughout the story, Jonas faces many hardships related to his assignment, his friends, and the community. The theme to the story is overcoming obstacles because Jonas has to conquer many hardships throughout the novel.

Read More
754 Words | 4 Pages

Although in our society, anyone can get opportunities to make their life great and can prevent some pain from entering their life like physical or heartbreak, but everyone loses someone they love and that’s something no one is able to control. Everyone has to bear the pain and learn to live without them knowing they can never be replaced, but not in Jonas’ society. Since there is no love, no one knows how to care for others who have passed or been ‘released’, “He pushed the plunger very slowly, injecting the liquid into the scalp, vain until the syringe was empty.” (Lowry 149). Before

Read More
1073 Words | 5 Pages

When Jonas experiences both painful and pleasurable memories, he becomes willing to accept pain and suffering in order to experience the fullness of life. He decides to leave, that he will no longer live within the constraints of his community, and that security is not worth the absence of freedom. The line between public safety and personal freedoms should be drawn where extreme harm can occur, and most freedoms are more essential than an orderly society. These freedoms include color and diversity, personal freedoms such as dress code, speech, and religion, and love and marriage.

Read More

More about Choices In The Giver

Related Topics

Open Document