Lowry, Lois. The Giver. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1993.
Annotation:
Jonas was born into a seemingly perfect world where there is no pain, no conflict, and no poverty. He has just turned twelve years old, and has been selected by the elders to be the new receiver of memories, the most important position within the community. But as Jonas receives the memories of generations lost, he begins to realize that the perfect community he has always known has been blinded to reality, and have lost their ability to express human compassion. As Jonas becomes more aware that people’s smiles are hiding cold heartless actions, and cordial words are concealing sinister intentions, he must make a decision, accept the darkness that is embracing his community, or try to wake his people from their horrific stupor.
Rejection:
The Giver is a very interesting book that does a wonderful job of presenting a very peculiar world through the eyes of an eleven year old boy named Jonas who is about to turn twelve. Everything seems to be normal to Jonas because, for as long as he can remember, everything has always stayed the same. His family unit is the same as every other family unit, a father and mother, one son and one daughter. Everyone dresses the same based on their age. Everyone performs the same rituals every day, like taking turns explaining their dreams in the morning during breakfast, and discussing their feelings every evening during dinner. Rules are usually followed to the letter, and those who do not are shamed and expected to apologize immediately. And if the offense is serious enough, the person is “released” from the community. Young adults will be no doubt remember a time when their own world seemed so simple, and how life shaking events from their youth seem trivial now by comparison.
But when Jonas turns twelve, he discovers that he has been selected to be the the new Receiver of Memories, a lifelong vocation that he didn't even know existed. It is from this point that everything begins to change for Jonas. As he begins to receive the memories of past generations from the Giver (the former Receiver of Memories), he starts to see that the world is not quite as simple as he once perceived it to be. The memories reveal to him what real happiness feels like, what real sadness feels like, and even what real suffering feels like. And as these feelings begin to open his eyes to the reality that he is surrounded by, he comes to the startling conclusion that there is a serious price to be paid for the artificial happiness that has defined his entire life so far. A teen reader will probably find Jonas as a relatable protagonist as he begins to grapple with understanding the rapidly changing world around him, while at the same time, recognizing the importance of right and wrong. They will also see that freedom is a relative term based on their own environment, and that the basis of freedom in one person’s eyes can look like oppression and domination through another person’s eyes.
But while there are many positive attributes of The Giver, ultimately I find myself having to reject this book. There are two main reasons for this decision. First I felt that the literary quality was a little bit lacking. It seemed that the reader’s intelligence wasn’t really tested with this book. And while there were a couple of surprises in the book, most of the “ah ha” moments were rather predictable and did not seem to challenge the reader. As an example, it was quite clear what it meant to be “released”, and Jonas’s surprise at this realization gave very little credit to Jonas or the reader. And second, there is no real closure at the end of the book. Now while it could be argued that the ambiguity of the ending could challenge the reader to come up with their own conclusion, I found it to be more of a nuisance and feeling a bit like a cunning evasion tactic by the author. But regardless of the pros and cons of the book, it was interesting concept, and should be given credit for showing the reader that true reality will usually take a backseat to each person’s own perception of reality.
Genre Category: Science Fiction
No comments:
Post a Comment