Literature Companion: The Giver

By History World

When Jonas comes to know about the truth of his dystopian society in which he has been living, he begins to struggle with the weight of that truth.

Several other sensitive issues such as the onset of sexuality in adolescence and suicide are also dealt with very skillfully in the story.

The Giver encourages Jonas and consequently Jonas begins to explore several such aspects of human nature which the other members of the society have never faced.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Oct 20, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310726590

Book preview

Literature Companion: The Giver

History World

Copyright

Literature Companion: The Giver

History World

Copyright@2014 History World

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Chapter One: Introduction

The Giver by Lois Lowry was first published in 1993. It is an American children’s novel. The story is set in a society that is initially presented as a utopian society in the novel, but it slowly begins to appear more and more dystopian.

The story is centered on a boy named Jonas. It follows twelfth and thirteenth years of the boy’s life.

With the help of a plan called Sameness pain and strife has been eliminated from the society, but at the same time the emotional depths has also been eradicated from the people’s lives.

As the story progresses, the boy Jonas is chosen as the Receiver of Memory. It is an inherited position in the society. The Receiver of Memory happens to be the person who stores all the past memories of the time before the ‘Sameness’ was introduced to the word. The memories of the past are stored in case they ever need those memories to help in the decisions they make or to provide the experience which the others lack.

When Jonas comes to know about the truth of his dystopian society in which he has been living, he begins to struggle with the weight of that truth.

Several other sensitive issues such as the onset of sexuality in adolescence and suicide are also dealt with very skillfully in the story.

The Giver encourages Jonas and consequently Jonas begins to explore several such aspects of human nature which the other members of the society have never faced.

In other words, it can be said that Jonas becomes more of a mature adult than his parents in many important ways. His parents have never experienced the Stirrings and they have already been unaware of the suppressed sexual desire.

The book was initially banned by many school libraries because of its content that deals with budding sexuality, but with the passage of time the defenders of the book began to speak that such topics are very important for young adults.

One year after its publication, the book won the Newbery Medal. More than ten million copies of The Giver have been sold to date.

Now, The Giver is a part of several middle school reading lists in the United States, Australia, and Canada. However, it is one of the most challenged books.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

Jonas is the central character and the protagonist of the novel. He is an eleven years old boy. As the novel opens, he seems to be a little scared about the upcoming Ceremony. During that Ceremony, Jonas will be given his assignment.

It transpires that the society in which Jonas lives does not allow privacy. Even in the private houses there are two-way intercoms through which the conversations can be heard and the intercoms can be used to listen in for