'The Giver' written by Lois Lowry is set in a Utopian society that has the morale of 'Sameness'. This story follows a young boy of twelve named Jonas who is selected to become the Receiver of Memories. Lowry evokes a variety of literary techniques to elucidate the brutality of war and its diverse aspects such as chaos, loss of life, fear and agony.
Lowry effectively establishes a sense of fear and agony through a lexical set. She portrays the various feelings seen and felt by Jonas in the memory. Jonas felt overwhelmed seeing all the 'suffering' and 'pain' felt by him, the soldiers and the animals around him. Through repetition of the word ‘pain’ Lowry lays emphasis on agonizing environment. The atmosphere was of 'anguish' as all around were the cries of wounded men; the whinnies of wounded horses. This memory seemed to be 'torching' Jonas, as never before had he experienced true pain. These similar themed words are grouped together to empathize and draw the reader into the diversity of emotions felt by Jonas.
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In this memory Jonas saw the death of men and animals. He noticed 'wild-eyed' horses that ‘trotted frantically’ around the men that lay on the ground wailing, until suddenly the horses ‘fell’ and 'did not rise'. He further notices as they 'fell silent' and the heads ‘fell back’ while a ‘dull blackness’ slid into their eyes. The word choice here is powerful as Lowry uses euphemism to mask the unsettling truth of death in the atmosphere. These words illustrate the harsh and callous setting of the armed conflict. The reader is able to visualize and understand the complexity of feeling that Jonas