The Giver by Lois Lowry (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide

By Bright Summaries

Unlock the more straightforward side of The Giver with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of The Giver by Lois Lowry, which follows a young boy in a futuristic society who is called on to become his community’s “Receiver of Memory”. As he shoulders the burden of his society’s collective memory, he soon realises that the apparently idyllic world he lives in is based on a shocking lie. As he uncovers the truth about the world around him, the reader is encouraged to reflect on profound themes such as individuality and conformism, euthanasia and the role of language in totalitarian societies. The Giver is the first novel in Lowry’s The Giver Quartet, and won the prestigious Newbery Medal for children’s literature in 1994. It was adapted into a film starring Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep in 2014.

Find out everything you need to know about The Giver in a fraction of the time!

This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:
•A complete plot summary
•Character studies
•Key themes and symbols
•Questions for further reflection

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• Language: English
• Publisher: BrightSummaries.com
• Release date: Oct 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9782806280497

Book preview

AMERICAN WRITER

Born in Honolulu in 1937.

Notable works:

Anastasia Krupnik (1979), novel

All about Sam (1988), novel

Number the Stars (1989), novel

Lois Lowry is an American children’s and young adult author. As the daughter of a military officer and, later on, the wife of a navy officer, she has travelled extensively from a very young age. She became interested in writing relatively late in life, publishing her first novel, Anastasia Krupnik, in 1979. She received the prestigious Newbery Medal for children’s literature in the USA in 1990 for Number the Stars, and again in 1994 for The Giver.

A DYSTOPIAN YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

Genre: science fiction novel

Reference edition: Lowry, L. (2008) The Giver. London: HarperCollins.

1st edition: 1993

Themes: the individual and society, totalitarianism, freedom, euthanasia, dystopia

The Giver is the first novel in the The Giver Quartet series and is aimed at young adult readers. It draws inspiration from the great works of dystopian fiction (meaning works that describe an imaginary totalitarian society and the constraints it places on the lives of its citizens) of the first half of the 20th century, such as Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley (English writer, 1894-1963) and 1984 (1949) by George Orwell (English writer, 1903-1950).

It tells the story of Jonas, a young boy living in a meticulously organised futuristic society, who is called