Contemporary Realistic and Modern Fantasy Review #2

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lowry, Lois. 1993. THE GIVER. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0395645662

2. PLOT SUMMARY
THE GIVER is the story of Jonas, who, when given his lifetime assignment as The Receiver, discovers that his perfect community in which he lives is not so perfect after all.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This 1994 Newbery Award-winning novel is a gripping look at a futuristic ideal world where there is no pain, no suffering, and no emotions. This book would fall under the category of scientific fantasy, because of the use of advance technology and genetic scientists to create a world of Sameness. More specifically, this would be a dystopian fantasy, “a perfect world gone awry.”

The main protagonist, Jonas is the only fully developed character in the book. All of the other characters seem like perfect people, devoid of feelings and emotions. Children will be able to relate since this story because it told through the eyes of a young boy. They can relate to Jonas’s apprehension of what he will be doing as an adult, his need for the freedom to make choices, and feeling different from others: “Now, for the first time in his twelve years of life, Jonas felt separate, different” (pg. 65).

Lois Lowery does a great job at creating a new world of Sameness and providing the reader with enough detail to be able to visualize this made-up place. Jonas lives in a world full of strict rules that govern every aspect of his life. It is set some time in the future, in a nameless community where everything is orderly and where a person has to apply for and be approved for a spouse and children: “Two children-one male, one female-to each family unit” (pg. 8). However, this society is a world without colors, without animals, and without music. According to The Giver, “…We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others” (pg. 95).

Children will be drawn into this compelling coming-of-age story. The plot is both believable and “internally consistency.” Jonas comes to learn that there used to be more to life than what he is currently experiencing. The reader joins Jonas as he discovers feelings of joy and pain for the first time. He starts to change and he yearns to be able to make choices in his life.

The first half of the book takes place in a single month in which Jonas is anxiously awaiting The Ceremony of the Twelve. When the day finally arrives, everyone is surprised to learn that he has been selected as the new Receiver. The rest of the book covers the span of a year, as The Giver transmits memories to Jonas: “It’s the memories of the whole world” that he must transmit to Jonas. Finally, the last few chapters are devoted to Jonas’s journey in which he actually experiences the things he learns about through the memories. He sees animals, it rains, it snows, and he experiences pain when he twists his ankle.

Lowry sets the mood at the very beginning of the book with Jonas feeling apprehensive. The mood continues to be bleak, shifting to a sense of forbidding, that something is not quite right. There is an especially powerful scene in which Jonas learns what Releasing really is: “He killed it! My father killed it!” (pg. 150). Lowry also does a good job of balancing narration and dialogue, especially between The Giver and Jonas.

Finally, THE GIVER contains some universal truths such as having strength and courage, the power of love, and the importance and power of memories. The themes emerge naturally from the story as Jonas starts to question the world around him. For example, there comes a moment where he expresses a selfless act of love, by taking Gabriel and running away: “For a fleeting second he felt that he wanted to keep it for himself…But the moment passed and was followed by an urge, a need, a passionate yearning to share the warmth with the one person left for him to love” (pg. 177)

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Amazon.com
“…With echoes of Brave New World…Lowry examines the idea that people might freely choose to give up their humanity in order to create a more stable society. Gradually Jonas learns just how costly this ordered and pain-free society can be, and boldly decides he cannot pay the price.”

Kirkus Reviews
“Lowry creates a chilling, tightly controlled future society where all controversy, pain, and choice have been expunged, each childhood year has its privileges and responsibilities, and family members are selected for compatibility…Jonas sets out with the baby on a desperate journey whose enigmatic conclusion resonates with allegory: Jonas may be a Christ figure, but the contrasts here with Christian symbols are also intriguing. Wrought with admirable skill--the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly provocative novel.”

Publishers Weekly
“Lowry's development of this civilization is so deft that her readers, like the community's citizens, will be easily seduced by the chimera of this ordered, pain-free society…With a storyline that hints at Christian allegory and an eerie futuristic setting, this intriguing novel calls to mind John Christopher's Tripods trilogy and Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl. Lowry is once again in top form--raising many questions while answering few, and unwinding a tale fit for the most adventurous readers.”

School Library Journal
“Lowry has written an intriguing story set in a society that is uniformly run by a Committee of Elders…The tension leading up to the Ceremony, in which children are promoted not to another grade but to another stage in their life, and the drama and responsibility of the sessions with The Giver are gripping. The final flight for survival is as riveting as it is inevitable. The author makes real abstract concepts, such as the meaning of a life in which there are virtually no choices to be made and no experiences with deep feelings. This tightly plotted story and its believable characters will stay with readers for a long time.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*Kids’ Reviews
“In the book The Giver, the main character Jonas lives in a utopian community…Jonas is the only child who is honored with the job "Receiver of Memories". He meets with a man known as "The Giver" every day. This man transfers memories of the past to Jonas. These memories give Jonas the power to know and understand feelings. Jonas uses this new knowledge to help him when a family member is in danger. Read the book to find out what is in store for Jonas.”

Frank, November 14, 2006
“When I read the book The Giver it made me think about different things. For instance, how would I feel about living in an utopia?...This is a good book you should read it.”

* Activities
-Have the children write what their own ideal world would be like and then share with the class.
-Have the children discuss what they would miss the most if we choose to live in Sameness: color, music, animals, and the freedom to make choices, ect.
-Have the children write their own story of what happens to Jonas next, after where the book leaves off: Does he join a new family, is the place like our world today, etc.
-Read the companions to THE GIVER:
Lowery, Lois. 2000. GATHERING BLUE. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 0618055819
Lowery, Lois. 2004. MESSENGER. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 0618404414

Happy Reading!
Lonnie