#25 A book you were supposed of read in school but didn’t: The Giver, by Lois Lowry.
This has to be one of my favorite dystopian novels. Lois Lowry plays with the idea that in the future, to keep the peace and sustain a united society, the government established “Sameness” in their communities. This sameness means that all choices are made by the government to ensure total and complete equality among people because they believe if people have a choice, they will always choose wrong. Everyone wears the same clothes and eats the same meals, they even eliminate color in our vision to avoid discrimination because everything we see would be on a grey scale. Your career, your spouse, your children, everything in your life, is selected for you by the Elders, based upon what they consider your aptitude match best. At the end of our childhood, at the age of 12, you are placed in the community role that suits you the best, and you begin the training to make it your career. There are Birth Mothers, Teachers, Nurturers, Doctors, etc.
Birth mothers have the babies, which are then taken care of by the Nurturers, when the babies of that year turn one in December (this eliminates birthdays), based on their strength and health, they would be assigned to a family that has applied for a child, and those that are not well enough are released to Elsewhere; a place of resting and eternal happiness. This was also done with the Elders, where they were released to Elsewhere as a celebration for living a long and productive life.
When it was Jonas' turn at the age of 12 to be placed in his future career, he was terrified when everyone in his year was assigned but he was never called. After the Chief Elder apologizes for the mistake, she announces that Jonas was selected to become the next Receiver of Memories, a role that hasn’t been held in 10 years. The purpose of this role is to become the next vessel in which all the memories of the world before Sameness would be stored within him, so the Elders could seek his guidance for the wisdom of the old world if ever needed to make decisions for the future, to not repeat humanities mistakes.
During his training with the last Receiver, now calling himself the Giver, he is introduced to colors, feelings, emotions…humanity. Culture, laughter, happiness, and love were all new feelings and emotions. He began to see the green in the leaves of the trees around him, and the red in his friend’s hair. What happens when a person that grew up without pain or suffering is introduced to the darkest parts of humanity? What happens when he sees war for the first time, witness death, and understands death. When he comprehends what actually happens to the individuals that are “released to Elsewhere”, that they are actually executions, he is disgusted and tormented by the truth, and what makes it worse is that nobody around him other than the Giver, understands this too. The only way to change the wrongs in his perfect community was to make people feel again, but how would Jonas do this?
This book has won the 1994 Newbery Medal, and in the United States, and other countries, The Giver is a common title found in middle school and high school reading lists. I’m glad I didn’t read it when I was supposed to, because I doubt the story would have impacted me as strongly as it did. 5 out of 5, a must read! Add it to your reading list!
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