The Giver, by Lois Lowry, takes place in a dystopian future in North America. Jonas is approaching his Ceremony of Twelve, which determines what job you will train for, and basically sets your future. When the Ceremony arrives, Jonas learns he hasn’t been assigned. He’s been Selected to be the new Receiver of Memory. During his training, he learns the truth behind his community. Jonas, with the help of The Giver, plans to run away to escape from his community. One lesson the story suggests is that while things might seem perfect, they rarely are.

This lesson is built up throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Lowry shows that everybody strives to be perfect. There is no such thing for them as imperfection. “The Giver” describes how everyone strives to be perfect, saying, “‘They acted like… like…’ ‘Like animals?’ ‘Yes. They acted like animals.'”  Lily, Jonas’s younger sister, says this statement. The way she says this shows that no one acts unnatural or steps out of line in the community. Another detail that shows how everybody strives to be perfect is that  whenever they step out of line or do something incorrectly, they are threatened with Release or actually released. The book says, “‘That’s it, Asher! You’re released!'” In this instance, Jonas’s friend, Asher, loses the game for his whole team. Because he messes up “everything”, Jonas yells this at him. This shows that everybody strives to be perfect with no flaws or mistakes.

In the middle of “The Giver”, Jonas is selected to be the new Receiver of Memory. He goes into training with The Giver, as the old man calls himself. While he is training, little by little, Jonas learns that things could be different in his community; People could make decisions that actually mattered and nobody really has to be perfect. In “The Giver”, the text says, “The Chief Elder made no mistakes.” This shows that nobody really makes mistakes in Jonas’s community. Lowry says, on page 83, “‘But what happened to those things? Snow and the rest of it?’ ‘Climate Control. Snow made growing food difficult, limited the agricultural periods. And unpredictable weather made transportation almost impossible at times. It wasn’t a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to Sameness.'” This shows how Jonas is learning that things could be different. The leaders of the community changed things to make everything perfect.

The community is thought to be perfect, but it really isn’t. Some could say that it really is perfect because there is no hunger or poverty or anything, and it’s basically utopia. While this is a good point, because everything does seem to be perfect, it doesn’t include the fact that people are killed to control the population and that nobody but the people who kill off the sick, elderly, and the extra children actually know what happens. We see this several times in “The Giver”, first on page 7 where Jonas’s father, who is a Nurturer for the newchildren,  says in a conversation with his family, “‘…But the committee’s talking about releasing him.'” Another example of this is on page 150, which says, “He killed it! My father killed it!” So in all, this claim isn’t supported throughout the entire book.

The final paragraph finishes the whole building-block-theme. Nearing the end of “The Giver”, Jonas is training with The Giver. He is learning the truth behind his community. He is struggling with the truth, though. For Jonas, everything he knows and knew to be true is suddenly changing as he receives more memories. In the book, Lowry describes how Jonas is regaining his emotions through his training. She also shows how he struggles with the truth behind his community. In “The Giver”, the book says, “‘I felt angry because someone broke the play area rules,’ Lily had said once, making a fist with her small hand to indicate her fury… But Lily had not felt anger, Jonas realized now. Shallow impatience and exasperation, that was all Lily had felt.” This shows that Jonas realizes that everything that the people in his community feel is all really just lies. The book goes on to say, “He knew with certainty because now he knew what anger was… Experienced injustice and cruelty… Reacted with rage that welled up so passionately inside him that the thought of discussing it calmly at the evening meal was unthinkable… Jonas had experienced real sadness. He had felt grief. He knew that there was no quick comfort for emotions like those. These were deeper and did not need to be told. They were felt.” This shows that he struggles with the way things are and the way things should be.

This final part ties the whole theme together. First, all Jonas knows is that he has to try to be perfect. Then, he begins to learn how things should have been. Finally, he learns the whole truth behind his community. In conclusion, the theme of this story is that while things might seem perfect, they rarely are.

The Giver, by Lois Lowry, takes place in a dystopian future in North America. Jonas is approaching his Ceremony of Twelve, which determines what job you will train for, and basically sets your future. When the Ceremony arrives, Jonas learns he hasn’t been assigned. He’s been Selected to be the new Receiver of Memory. During his training, he learns the truth behind his community. Jonas, with the help of The Giver, plans to run away to escape from his community. One lesson the story suggests is that while things might seem perfect, they rarely are.

 

This lesson is built up throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Lowry shows that everybody strives to be perfect. There is no such thing for them as imperfection. “The Giver” describes how everyone strives to be perfect, saying, “‘They acted like… like…’ ‘Like animals?’ ‘Yes. They acted like animals.'”  Lily, Jonas’s younger sister, says this statement. The way she says this shows that no one acts unnatural or steps out of line in the community. Another detail that shows how everybody strives to be perfect is that  whenever they step out of line or do something incorrectly, they are threatened with Release or actually released. The book says, “‘That’s it, Asher! You’re released!'” In this instance, Jonas’s friend, Asher, loses the game for his whole team. Because he messes up “everything”, Jonas yells this at him. This shows that everybody strives to be perfect with no flaws or mistakes.

 

In the middle of “The Giver”, Jonas is selected to be the new Receiver of Memory. He goes into training with The Giver, as the old man calls himself. While he is training, little by little, Jonas learns that things could be different in his community; People could make decisions that actually mattered and nobody really has to be perfect. In “The Giver”, the text says, “The Chief Elder made no mistakes.” This shows that nobody really makes mistakes in Jonas’s community. Lowry says, on page 83, “‘But what happened to those things? Snow and the rest of it?’ ‘Climate Control. Snow made growing food difficult, limited the agricultural periods. And unpredictable weather made transportation almost impossible at times. It wasn’t a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to Sameness.'” This shows how Jonas is learning that things could be different. The leaders of the community changed things to make everything perfect.

 

The community is thought to be perfect, but it really isn’t. Some could say that it really is perfect because there is no hunger or poverty or anything, and it’s basically utopia. While this is a good point, because everything does seem to be perfect, it doesn’t include the fact that people are killed to control the population and that nobody but the people who kill off the sick, elderly, and the extra children actually know what happens. We see this several times in “The Giver”, first on page 7 where Jonas’s father, who is a Nurturer for the newchildren,  says in a conversation with his family, “‘…But the committee’s talking about releasing him.'” Another example of this is on page 150, which says, “He killed it! My father killed it!” So in all, this claim isn’t supported throughout the entire book.

 

The final paragraph finishes the whole building-block-theme. Nearing the end of “The Giver”, Jonas is training with The Giver. He is learning the truth behind his community. He is struggling with the truth, though. For Jonas, everything he knows and knew to be true is suddenly changing as he receives more memories. In the book, Lowry describes how Jonas is regaining his emotions through his training. She also shows how he struggles with the truth behind his community. In “The Giver”, the book says, “‘I felt angry because someone broke the play area rules,’ Lily had said once, making a fist with her small hand to indicate her fury… But Lily had not felt anger, Jonas realized now. Shallow impatience and exasperation, that was all Lily had felt.” This shows that Jonas realizes that everything that the people in his community feel is all really just lies. The book goes on to say, “He knew with certainty because now he knew what anger was… Experienced injustice and cruelty… Reacted with rage that welled up so passionately inside him that the thought of discussing it calmly at the evening meal was unthinkable… Jonas had experienced real sadness. He had felt grief. He knew that there was no quick comfort for emotions like those. These were deeper and did not need to be told. They were felt.” This shows that he struggles with the way things are and the way things should be.

 

This final part ties the whole theme together. First, all Jonas knows is that he has to try to be perfect. Then, he begins to learn how things should have been. Finally, he learns the whole truth behind his community. In conclusion, the theme of this story is that while things might seem perfect, they rarely are.