The Giver Suffering Essay

“There is no joy without hardship. If not for death, would we appreciate life? If not for hate, would we know the ultimate goal is love?” — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. In the novel The Giver, suffering is a foreign concept to the community in which the main character, Jonas, resides. Although this “utopia” free of suffering may seem like a dream come true at first glance, readers soon begin to realize that this comes with a cost: its citizens are prevented from experiencing the gratification of human emotions and connections. Through his training, Jonas, who is chosen to receive memories of the past, begins to understand the importance of suffering and how it gives life depth and meaning. The novel ultimately challenges the idea that a pain-free

Suffering is an inevitable part of life, and it is something that every person has to face at some point, and though at times we may wish for a world free of suffering, the novel "The Giver", displays how the absence of pain leads to a society that is devoid of true joy and happiness. We are shown that it is only through experiencing suffering that people can truly appreciate the joys of life. In the novel, we see how the citizens of the community are shielded from both physical and emotional pain. They are forced to take pills to completely numb their emotions and medication that instantly relieves any pain is administered, even in cases of insignificant abrasions. This, in turn, leads to a depressing society that is devoid of any emotions and passion. However, no one from the community has ever known anything else, meaning that everyone is satisfied with the depressing lives they are living.

The citizens become passive and submissive, blindly following the rules and expectations set by the authorities. They lose their ability to feel almost any emotions at all, which makes them vulnerable to manipulation and control. This is horrifyingly revealed when Jonas’ father emotionlessly kills a newborn baby. Close to the end of Jonas’s training, he learns that the so-called “Release Ceremonies” are just executions, and his father had become so brainwashed to the point where he carried out the savage orders of killing a new child without batting an eye.“To his surprise, his father began very carefully to direct the needle into the top of the new child's forehead, puncturing the place where the fragile skin pulsed. The newborn squirmed and wailed faintly. He pushed the plunger very slowly, injecting the liquid into the scalp vein until the syringe was empty. As he continued to watch, the new child, no longer crying, moved his arms and legs in a jerking motion. Then he went limp. His head fell to the side, his eyes half open. Then he was still. The little twin lay motionless. His father was putting things away. Folding the blanket. He killed it! My father killed it! Jonas said to himself, stunned at what he was realizing. He continued to stare at the screen numbly. His father tidied the room. Then he picked up a small carton that lay waiting on the floor, set it on the