Memories are one of the most important parts of life, there is no true happiness without the reminiscence of pain or love. This concept is portrayed in "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. The story tells of a 12-year old Jonas, who lives in a “utopian” society, where all bad memories are destroyed to avoid the feeling of pain. Jonas becomes the receiver, someone who receives good and bad memories, and he is transmitted memories of pain and pleasure from The Giver and is taught to keep the secret to himself. The author shows one should cherish memories, whether it be good or bad, as they are all of what is left of the past, and we should learn from it as to better ourselves in the future. The characters and conflicts reinforce the idea that if you do not learn from the mistakes you have made in the past, you can repeat them. To …show more content…
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. Furthermore, memories allow the community to gain wisdom from remembering experiences of the past. Moreover, the Giver disagrees with how the community runs things. He believes that memories should be experienced by everyone as well, because life is meaningless without memories. The Giver states: “There are so many things I could tell them; things I wish they would change. But they