The Giver Maturity Essay

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.

Potter Stewart once said, “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself.” Often times, people try to censor works of literature because they feel that they contain inappropriate content that should not be shown to the public. Many have attacked Lois Lowry’s novel The Giver for its controversial content. The Giver is centered around Jonas, a boy who lives in a seemingly peaceful community where differences within people have been eradicated and people have no memories. Each member of the community is assigned a position in society to help the community function as a whole. When Jonas turns twelve, he is selected to be the Receiver of Memory. Only he and his predecessor, the Giver, know the truth and memories of the past. Feeling burdened with these memories, Jonas decides to flee the community altogether. Many people believe that this heart-warming novel contains questionable content that should not be shown to the public. Although some argue The Giver contains explicit sexual content,

In the novel "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, Jonas' progression as a character is shown before Jonas receives the "memories" then following after Jonas receives the memories. In a society where feelings are required to be shared at night, "This evening he (Jonas) almost would have preferred to keep his feeling hidden. But it was, of course, against the rules." Although Jonas would prefer to keep his feelings hidden and not discuss them, he would rather not disobey the rules even if nobody would find out. The readers can infer that Jonas would prefer to follow the rules because he does not know to do different nor does Jonas know about a different life "elsewhere". After Jonas receives the memories, Jonas then has a different view of his community

Jonas starts out with a very low understanding of what it means to be mature. He has no knowledge of pain, love, or any other emotion. He proves this by acting like a normal child. He plays with his friends after volunteer hours. He attends school on a regular basis. Jonas is a stickler for the rules. He has been told that it is wrong to not follow rules and that there

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

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

Jonas does not know any better, so he blindly follows the rules. Every night at the dinner table his family shares their feelings, and every morning shares his dreams. Before leaving the house for school he takes his medicine or daily injection. Jonas plays with his friends, and goes to school when told. Jonas is obediant and does what he is told.

     This book is about a boy names Jonas. Jonas lives in a futuristic society where there is no pain, fear, war, and hatred. There is also no prejudice, since everyone looks and acts basically the same, there is very little competition. They have also eliminated choice.

The Giver is in many ways Jonas’s coming-of-age story. Jonas reaches maturity only when he is given memory, and through memory, experience. In this way, Jonas becomes more mature at twelve than the "adults" of his community. But The Giver also teaches Jonas the wisdom to recognize his own shortcomings. Jonas truly becomes an adult at the

Jonas lives with his parents and one sister. His parents were allowed to have only two children, a boy and a girl. It was one of the many community rules that couldn’t be broken.

Jonas changes from a completely acquiescent kid to a wise, and mature young man throughout the book. At the start of the book he's simply a standard eleven in his community. Jonas solely will do what he's told and does not question things, however he's terribly introverted and thoughtful. Throughout the Ceremony Of Twelve the Chief Elder describes Jonas. He's has integrity, is intelligent, has courage, wisdom and obedience. Once he receives his rules he is aware that he's totally different from his classmates. His rules are short and embrace weird ones just like the ability

Jonas goes through a lot while receiving the memories from The Giver. He first gets happy memories such as the sled, but then The Giver has to give him painful memories. He first receives the memory of physical pain from sunburn (Lowry 86). The pain is minimal compared to the memory of a broken leg (Lowry 109) and an injured arm during a war. During the war memory, he sees death (Lowry 119, 121). He experiences grief when he receives the memory the shot elephant (Lowry 100). Most haunting of all are the memories of the release of old and the part his father plays in the release of new born (Lowry 150). These trials at first horrify Jonas but he learns to deal with the

“’Memories are forever”’ (Lowry). People make new memories every day without even realizing it. Some good some bad, that’s just the way of life, but in The Giver nobody knows what happened before them. People barley remember what their childhood was like, they don’t understand the importance of memory and that memories are forever. Aspects of life, rules, and prosperities between our world and Jonas’ world are very different yet have some similarities. Things that are crucial to the characters in The Giver are not as meaningful to the people in our world.

In her 1994 Newberry Acceptance Speech, author Lois Lowry recalls a memory of a girl in her college dormitory. She describes the young woman saying “She’s a smart girl, a good student, a pleasant enough person, but she is different, somehow alien,” (Lowry, “Newbery Acceptance Speech”). One can see how Lowry had inspiration for the character Jonas in her novel, The Giver. When writing, The Giver Lowry creates a dystopian society where the government has taken away the population’s ability to remember the past, see color, or have feelings. In the novel, Lois Lowry presents the protagonist and hero, Jonas. Jonas gets chosen to be the Receiver of Memory and his whole life changes. The current Receiver, an old man Jonas calls The Giver shows Jonas memories from the past that contain aspects ranging from history to feelings. He becomes aware of the government’s actions in hiding all the qualities and rebels against them in the end, leaving the city behind. Jonas is a twelve-year-old hero who is different, yet intelligent, and more selfless than the majority of the population in the novel. Jonas’s heroic personality can be analyzed through his vision, his reactions when receiving memories, and when he risks his life.

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.