By: Lois Lowry
I enjoyed reading The Giver and never expected to enjoy this story. I was always one of those kids who couldn't wait for our teacher to assign us the next classroom read. Sometimes, there were stories I was really dreading and this is how I felt when I saw the front cover of The Giver. I knew there was something special about it, though, because it won a Newbery Medal. :-)
To me, even though this is considered a "child's" book, it was not as easy to read as I thought it would have been. There is definitely some different language used-like Assignment instead of occupation. When I think of assignment, I think of homework I have to do. My point is, though the language isn't difficult, per se, it's different. I know if I had to pause every now and then to really ingest and understand what the author was saying, I would think students 10-15 years younger than me would have to as well. The language used really alerts the reader that this place and community is unlike ours.
It's hard to imagine what life would be like if everything was perfect and I think Lowry did an excellent job at trying to relate this image. There have been many times when there has been so much going on in my life that I think to myself, Why can't everything just work out and go smoothly? This would make life much easier. On a deeper note, what would life be like with no war, hatred, disagreements, or any emotion at all?? I think this world would be a very boring place. (Just a side note, war and hatred were just examples.) Don't we, as humans, learn from our mistakes and misgivings? It makes me think, how much can a person grow if there's really no learning taking place? I'm not saying Jonas didn't learn anything in the story, because of all people, he did. But, what about everyone else? Would it be such a wonderful thing to have such a utopian society?
This story, again, was an incredible one which I was glad I ended up reading. It makes you think and, ultimately, appreciate the fact that maybe it's okay to not have a perfect world.
3 comments:
This is a book that 7th graders at my school read, and most of them come up to 8th grade talking about how much they love it. But-when I start discussing it with them, they start to revise their ideas--"well, I don't know why I like it because I sure wouldn't want to live there!" --kind of like what you said.
That brings us to the interesting idea that you can like a story but not want to be a part of the story, something many of my students had not considered in their previous reviews.
I'm personally on my fifth reading of the book (the other four reads were done many many years ago), and I think it makes me ponder different ideas each time. I like The Giver, much better than her two follow-up stories that interweave a character here and there. Surprisingly, this story seems much more realistic to me than the other two, Gathering Blue & I can't remember the other name off the top of my head.
I cannot imagine a perfect life either although I would like to try! Jonas and his friends did seem to learn a great deal academically and socially. They only lacked emotional growth. However, only Jonas and the Giver knew that everyone lacked emotional growth. Good review!
I enjoyed your perspectives about the negative implications for living in a Utopian society. I agree that what we often learn most from the strifes and challenges we face in life. In a society devoid of these life experiences, I also believe that people wouldn't grow and evolve. It is frightening to imagine a world such as this. The society Lowry skillfully created did effectively convey the notion that "sameness" and a world without negativity may not be as desirable as we may have initially imagined. It makes me think of John Lennon's song Imagine. What would his society have been like?
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