The Community in The Giver is Not a Better Alternative to Contemporary Australian Society

The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is a dystopian narrative about a boy who lives in a “utopia” where there is order and, everything is controlled. He alone must contain memories of the past. Unfortunately, many of these memories are traumatic and disturbing. Jonas can do nothing beyond withstanding the pain. Because that is how it had always been in the community. As often paraphrased by the Giver, who is the one giving Jonas the memories, "And back and back and back.”(62) This quote shows how there is nothing that The Giver or Jonas can do apart from accept tradition.

What is The Giver you may ask? The Giver is a 1993 American young adult dystopian novel by Lois Lowry. The Giver takes place in an advanced society which seems to be a utopian but ends up being a dystopian as the story ends. There's a 12-year-old boy named Jonas. Their communities eliminated pain and strife by converting everyone to become so called “equal", they also removed emotional feelings like love. Jonas is selected to become the Receiver of Memory which is the person who stores all the past memories of the time before everyone was equal. There may be times where one must receive the wisdom gained from history to help the community's decision making. Jonas has trouble with concepts of all the new emotions and things introduced to him:

Lois Lowry’s novel, The Giver, offers a thought provoking, well written story, because it changes the perspective of anyone who dares to read it to. Lowry places her novel, at some point in the future when mankind has gone away with changes and choices in life. She forces readers appreciate, or at least re-think the world they live in today. Her novel presents a fully human created environment where people have successfully blocked out conflict, grief, and individuality. Each person follows the same routine every day. Failure comply with standards, to be different, means death. Jonas, the main character, finds himself trapped in this world.

Change is inevitable no matter what difference is made. The Giver by author Lois Lowry is the story of a utopian community that has adopted sameness that actually seems more dystopian later on. The Giver’s protagonist is a boy, Jonas, who is chosen and honored to take the assignment of being the Receiver of Memories. Jonas as the new Receiver of Memories is trained by the previous Receiver of Memories who Jonas calls The Giver. This causes many joys and pains for Jonas, but a curiousness to every new memory that is given. The setting is set in a community that has gained the culture to be a strict community that is controlled by The Elders. Before meeting the Giver, Jonas began as an outcast,later as he met his mentor Jonas was brave, and as he became more mature he became determined.

The Giver is a novel about Jonas who lives in a community where everything is the same and they have no memories. Jonas is selected to be the receiver, which is the person who holds all the memories. The community was not always like this, they decided to do this. Sameness is a negative thing because being the giver is a terrible job , it causes great pain, and the community has no freedom or control over their life.

The Giver is a book written by Lois Lowry, based on a youngster named Jonas who lives in a utopian society. Also, known as a perfect world. And in this perfect world that Jonas lives in, there are no memories, no pain, no color, no feelings, and no love. Jonas thought that this way of life was best. But Jonas’ opinion on the world changed as soon as he had been selected to be the new receiver of memories. Through the book The Giver, Lois Lowry is trying to portray that we learn from memories and gain wisdom. Through the memories Jonas gains, he gains wisdom about individuality, and mistakes that have been done in the past but since we have learned about the cons we make sure that we do not do it again.

The novel, The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is an everlasting story that shows the importance of individuality. This novel is about a young boy named Jonas who was elected as the Receiver of Memories, a person who is given the memories from the world that existed before their current society, Sameness. In this society there is no individualism. People can not choose who to marry, or what they want to do for a living. Over time Jonas becomes more and more wise, and realizes that the supposedly perfect community actually has some very dark and negative aspects. The author, Lois Lowry is a 76-year-old writer who focuses her writing on helping struggling teenagers become individuals. Lowry had a very tragic childhood. After both of her parents were

The Giver by Lois Lowery is a science fiction novel. This novel follows the protagonist “Jonas” who lives in a dystopian society. A dystopian society is a community where there is a constant reign of suffering and injustice. The story begins and the author informs us that Jonas is about to attend his “Ceremony of Twelve” which is a ceremony where the decision makers of his society give the children their future jobs. Instead of being assigned a regular job like the rest of his friends, Jonas is selected as ‘The Receiver of Memory’.

"It wasn't a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to the Sameness.” (84) The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is from the perspective of a twelve year old boy named Jonas growing up in a Utopia. At the Ceremony of Twelve, where every person that turns twelve receives their life-long “job”, Jonas finds out he has been selected to be the Receiver of Memory, the most honored of elders. The current Receiver of memory, who Jonas calls the Giver, transfers memories of color and feelings like pain and joy to him. As he receives each memory, he learns of a life outside of the utopia. This book proves that being perfect and the same as everyone else is not as great as it sounds. The Utopian society of sameness in

Imagine a world with no feelings, no color, no choice; a world where individuality and freedom are exchanged for security and sameness. This type of world is a reality for Jonas, the protagonist in Lois Lowry’s The Giver. After being assigned the next Receiver of Memories in the community, where he has the capacity to see beyond. As he begins his works, he gains wisdom and through that wisdom, learned that protecting the community from the memories, their lives lacked understanding and feelings. Jonas goes on an archetypal hero’s journey and chooses to risk everything to restore memories and wisdom to everyone in the community. Throughout this novel, Jonas is represented as a hero considering he demonstrates integrity despite living in a

Whilst in some instances, justice has to some extent, been achieved, this is not always the case. Euthanasia is one of the most, radically contested issues of today. Activists have continually sought law reform on this topic over the last 30 years. Yet, with similar issues as to that of abortion, it raises strong ethical and moral questions. In this case, the beliefs of those opposed have seen a halt on any reform. Meaning that justice, for those in some of the most horrific of life positions, is not being served. Euthanasia is another matter involving 'choice' and 'sanctity of life', it also continues the argument of liberal versus democratic, utilitarian perspectives. An example of the tension between these two principles is seen in comments made by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, 'the demands of common good must be measured against claims of liberties: a request for voluntary euthanasia is a request to be killed by another… Aspects of common good affected by the legislation of euthanasia include equal protection under the law,… and factors affecting an individuals sense of security a times when they are feeling particularly

Euthanasia, or voluntary assisted suicide, has been the subject of much moral, religious, philosophical, legal and human rights debate in Australia. Euthanasia is defined as the intentional act of terminating one’s life, who is suffering from an incurable illness or a terminal disease. This act requires explicit consent from the person who wishes to die and it must also be done out of concern and compassion for that person who is suffering. Several legislative attempts have been made to legalise euthanasia in parts of Australia. However, at the present time, it remains unlawful. With Euthanasia being illegal all across Australia it has forced our citizens overseas to unregulated medical centres in hope of having access to a

Euthanasia, or voluntary assisted suicide, has been the subject of much moral, legal and human rights debate in Australia. Broadly speaking, this term is used to describe the termination of a person’s life to end their suffering, usually through the administration of drugs. The core of this debate is centred on how to mitigate and pacify competing values; an individual's desire to self autonomy and freedom and choice to die with dignity when suffering, alongside with the devaluation of human life as a consequence that is formed through the legalisation of euthanasia. Due to the nature of the topic of euthanasia that is shrouded with ethical controversy and ambiguity, there is difficulty in legal justification and establishment of voluntary

The giver is a fictional novel authorised by Louis Lowry dedicated to informing readers about the devastating impact of extreme conformity on a community. As we progress throughout the book we start to realise and learn all these new things about the giver's community, such as creating and trying to maintain a perfect community, that comes beyond our abilities, while the givers society is having a huge impact on the individuality and individual choices on the members of the community. We learn that the inhabitants of the society had a hard time handling all the different memories, in a sudden event. All hints and evidence to these statements above are hidden and presented throughout the book.

The dystopian novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry is about a boy called Jonas becoming the new Receiver-of-Memories. Throughout the novel, the protagonist, Jonas matures as knowledge is gained, and begins to understand the deepest, and darkest secrets of the community he lives in that is seemly 'perfect'. The author has successfully analysed a variety of social issues present in today's modern world in the novel. Some issues implied are: lack of individuality which allows for easy control, the abandonment of emotions and the importance of memories.