Bibliographic Data
Lowry, Lois. 1993. The Giver. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 0385732554
Plot Summary
Jonas lives in a world of sameness where all children age on the same day and the old are released with a celebration. Each household consists of no more than a father, mother, son and daughter. Children receive their bicycles at age nine, and by age twelve each child is considered an adult and assigned the job they will perform for the community. Jonas gets an unusual and special assignment when he turns twelve that changes him and his community forever.
Critical Analysis
The 1994 Newbery Award winning book The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is a brilliant example of modern science fiction for young adults. It contains several of the main components of great fantasy, but the science fiction elements create the environment and premise of the book.
There is an underlying theme of good versus evil, or embracing difference versus sameness and conformity. Jonas faces pain that only the Receiver must go through, since the rest of the community lives in a world of control and naive acceptance. As he does, the Giver assists Jonas in his journey; no one else understands or knows what these two know.
The Giver is set in a futuristic world that seems to operate logically at first, but as Jonas learns more from the Giver, his world is revealed for what it truly is. As in a large portion of science fiction, The Giver shows what could happen to a society in the future and why perfection is not always the best path to follow. Even in the Utopian society of the book there are severe problems with how people are allowed to interact. Jonas knows nothing of grandparents or birthdays, for instance. Anything that could be viewed as setting one person apart as unique in any way is destroyed or erased from memory.
As with other books that raise questions about humanity, The Giver is also a frequently challenged and even banned book. The reasons for this vary, but most that I found were because of the realizations of infanticide and euthanasia within the story. I have always thought that people want children to understand and accept death. But when a book discusses a culture where death is not know or understood the results are apparently not acceptable. Death is a given, even if you believe that an older person is just going to Elsewhere or a better place. I do not agree with banning books for any reason. Even if a specific child cannot handle a book now, they may be able to when they are more mature. Topics with fantasy and interest can be controversial much of the time.
Review Excerpts
School Library Journal “Twelve-year-old Jonas's confidence in his comfortable "normal" existence as a member of this well-ordered community is shaken when he is assigned his life's work as the Receiver. The Giver, who passes on to Jonas the burden of being the holder for the community of all memory "back and back and back," teaches him the cost of living in an environment that is "without color, pain, or past." 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.”
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. Until the time that Jonah begins training for his job assignment--the rigorous and prestigious position of Receiver of Memory--he, too, is a complacent model citizen. But as his near-mystical training progresses, and he is weighed down and enriched with society's collective memories of a world as stimulating as it was flawed, Jonas grows increasingly aware of the hypocrisy that rules his world.”
Connections
Lois Lowry’s website - http://www.loislowry.com/
Her Blog - http://loislowry.typepad.com/lowry_updates/
I found this interesting tidbit while reading her blog: “…though I am more fond of the bearded man, since he was an actual man whom I knew and was fond of, and I took the photo.” So, she actually took the photo of the bearded man on the cover. Amazing.
The Newbery Award - 1994 Award Winner http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/newberymedal/newberymedal.htm
The Giver is part of a trilogy of futuristic novels that also includes Gathering Blue and Messenger. If you get the three-pack set, it comes with a great map of all three worlds drawn by Lowry.
If you like YA sci-fi, also check out Uglies, Pretties, and Specials by Scott Westerfeld and The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick among so many others.
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