Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that there is a disturbing scene in which Jonas witnesses his father euthanizing a baby by injecting it with a needle in the head. Also there are mild sexual references.
Families who read this book together could discuss the utopian society depicted. Are the tradeoffs worth it? What would you be willing to give up in order to have a safe, clean, peaceful society in which everyone is happy and cared for? Do you think Jonas did the right thing? Also, what do you think happens at the end?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
Lois Lowry earned the Newbery Medal for this book, so unlike any other for children--or for adults. There have been utopian novels before--though few for children--but none that give the utopia such a fair shake. It is this fairness that makes THE GIVER so riveting and thought-provoking, and so perfect for triggering discussions.
Jonas's world is very appealing. The people are genuinely content, and there is no evil overlord forcing them into submission, no totalitarianism. Instead, logical decisions were made far in the past, decisions that involved giving up some good things in order to get rid of the terrible things. Now the community runs by common agreement to its rules; some freedom is sacrificed for security; joy, for avoidance of misery. We face the same choices every day in our own society.
The choices, which provide the catalyst for discussion, all involve one central decision: to forgo the highs of life in order to get rid of the lows--to find the middle way. There is a lot to be said for this, though Jonas, speaking presumably for the author, ultimately rejects it. Some children will agree with Jonas, but others will find themselves attracted to a life that is uniformly pleasant, if never exhilarating.
The author is true to her determination not to stack the deck for readers; the ending is deliberately ambiguous, with allegorical overtones, leaving readers to decide what they want to believe.
From The Book
From the distance, Jonas could hear the thud of cannons. Overwhelmed by pain, he lay there in the fearsome stench for hours, listened to the men and animals die, and learned what warfare meant.
Finally, when he knew that he could bear it no longer and would welcome death himself, he opened his eyes and was once again on the bed.
The Giver looked away, as if he could not bear to see what he had done to Jonas. "Forgive me," he said.
Plot Summary:
Jonas lives in a perfect society--no pain, no crime, no unhappiness. But when he receives his life assignment to be the Receiver of Memories, he discovers secrets about the past, and the terrible choices that make this world possible.
In the perfect future world in which Jonas lives, twelve-year-old children are given their life assignments at the Ceremony of Twelve. Jonas is shocked when he is chosen to be the new Receiver of Memories, a mysterious position of honor held by only one person at a time.
He is trained by the previous Receiver, now called the Giver. The training consists of transferring to him memories of a past--before the imposition of Sameness--that the others in the community can't even imagine, in which there was war, hunger, and disease, but also color, weather, and strong emotions. Gradually Jonas comes to understand, and resent, the choices that had to be made to create his world, and the terrible secrets behind its perfection.
Together he and the Giver concoct a plan to change the way his world works, but before they can carry it out Jonas is forced to make a decision that may destroy them all.
Related Books:
Sequels
Gathering Blue
Messenger
Also by Lois Lowry
All About Sam
Anastasia Krupnik
Number the Stars
The Silent Boy
Gossamer
Future Societies
Among the Hidden (Shadow Children, Book 1) by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Feed by M. T. Anderson
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
The Goodness Gene by Sonia Levitin
Uglies (Uglies Trilogy, Book 1) by Scott Westerfeld
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Sexual ContentYoung teens bathe the elderly. Jonas begins experiencing "stirrings" and sexual dreams. |
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ViolenceUnwanted members of society are executed. Jonas and the baby are lost in winter. Jonas discovers that his father executes unwanted babies. |
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Social BehaviorThe hero risks his life to save an infant. |
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