The Giver - Lois Lowry

1. Bibliography:

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf, 1993.

2. Genre and Awards:

Science Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

Newberry Medal Award Winner - 1994

3. Synopsis:

Jonas, the main character of The Giver, lives in a somewhat futuristic utopian society where all sense of emotion has been erased from its members. Children are born to a birth mother, whom they never know, are cared for at a center for infants, and then assigned to a family. As they grow, they assume new responsibilities and privileges every year at a ceremony to declare their new age (yes, everyone turns the new age together). At the Ceremony of Twelve, children are given their job assignment based on interests. Jonas is given the hardest assignment of all – he is to be the bearer of all memories, emotion, and experience for the community. There is one person who holds onto all of this as a means of everyone else being able to live as pleasantly as possible.

4. Characters:

Jonas is the main character and his mother, father, and sister all play moderately significant parts in the novel. Lowry uses them more to explain the inner-workings of the society than to be family to Jonas, probably because in their world, there are no emotional ties to others. Another important character is The Giver, who is the previous holder of all the knowledge of the community and whose job it is to transfer his understandings to Jonas. The other character who plays a large role in terms of motivating Jonas in his struggle to do the right thing for the good of the community’s future is Gabriel, a baby about whom I can’t tell you much more without giving away key plot points.

5. Plot:

Lowry spends the majority of the novel telling you about the society from Jonas’ perspective, all the while drawing you into his nervous anticipation about what his assignment will be and then tugging at your heartstrings while he goes through a number of intense emotional experiences during his training. Very little action occurs in the book outside of the emotionally troubling experiences Jonas has as he comes into possession of the knowledge that the Giver holds. Jonas begins to grapple with whether or not the system in place is acceptable and eventually takes a stand based on his decision.

6. Needs of Adolescents:

Katy mentioned this in her review, but the biggest issue this books deals with is isolation. Because of the role Jonas has been chosen to fulfill, he is terribly disconnected from his community of friends and family. In essence, there is little connection to begin with outside the basis of ceremonial relationships, but when Jonas becomes the Receiver of Memory, he has to cut off even those. He is seriously bothered by what his community is asking him to do and is faced with a great moral dilemma. Should he follow the path that is laid out for him because others tell him it’s what he is supposed to do or should he find a way to carve his own way based on his own principles of what is right and wrong? I don’t think these are questions that many adolescents would immediately understand and be able to connect with in The Giver, but with some coaxing, I think they could relate.

7. Possible Classroom Uses:

This is a book that any student could read. While it does deal with some heavy issues, none of them are too risqué for a classroom discussion. There are a lot of different levels of understanding, so I can see advanced readers really buying into some of the symbolism and moral issues in the book while less-advanced readers would love the sometimes intense and always emotionally appealing plot line. I would probably choose it for small group reading or maybe to read aloud in class. It would be a great bridge to discussions about any literature that has elements of science fiction or fantasy in it.

8. Appropriate Age Range:

Ideally, any reader could pick this book up and find something in it to catch their attention. Realistically, the main character is twelve years old, so I would assume most high school students would be turned away from any literary value in the novel because of a lack of relate-ability. I would probably come closer to giving it to seventh through ninth graders.

9. Personal Reactions:

I was really drawn into The Giver, because of the unique nature of the society in which Jonas lives. I don’t generally like futuristic or science fiction novels, but the two that I have read have both centered around young boys coming of age in these societies (this book and Ender’s Game) and for me that is enough to draw me in. I don’t love reading and having to think about these bizarre worlds, but I do like seeing a young person negotiate his way through it, because, let’s be honest, adolescence can make our average American society seem horribly foreign and just as hard to maneuver for many young people!