Gothic Motives in The Giver - Essay Example

Gothic: The Giver The story "the Giver" by Lois Lowry focuses on the story of Jonas, in the story the (Lowry) uses and omnipresent viewpoint, in that he reveals only the thoughts of the character Jonas. Lowry bases the story in the future; Jonas the main character in the book is an eleven-year-old boy living in a community that is a rigidly controlled community. Through the eyes of Jonah, the author tries to display how the community is in utopia, in that the community is in a good place (Lowry). The community as per the book is isolated and self-contained from the other communities in the world. All through the story, there is no evidence of natural calamities such as hunger, war or diseases that are evident in other communities. Also, the residents in this community lack the ability to see color; there is no suffering, sex music, or love. Everything in the community is controlled by "the elders" as Lowry calls them, ‘the elders control who to marry, what job on is to do and who ones receive as a child. Everyone in this specific society is like anyone else, and the each persons identity has gone the way the cassette tapes go (Hanson). Through reading the book, it is evident that no one has ever left the area except when visiting the neighboring communities (Lowry). According to the author "getting released" is a big deal, this only happens to the sick people including the sick infants and those that break the rules. From the communitys residents point of view outside the community is ‘the worst place to be and no one would like to leave the communities perimeter. Once one is about twelve years of age, then he or she is ready to get assigned a job (profession).During the assignment of jobs the community usually holds a very big ceremony, during the ceremony in the book Jonas watches all his friends get jobs from caretaker of the old to even recreation director, but Jonah is skipped over. The chief ‘elder and the one responsible for assigning jobs to the children, ends the ceremony and assigns Jonas the duty of being a receiver which according to the community is a great deal. Same as Jonas, the receiver before him an old man has light eyes, which as per the author; only a few people have light eyes. The author also attempts to describe Jonas family, who at the point of the story are taking care of a sick baby who does not get better and is possibly going to be released from the community (Hanson). As a receiver Jonas needs to follow new rules assigned to him by the receiver, from the rules Jonas is not allowed to discuss the training (of a receiver) with anyone else in the community. In this, the author shows that once one is selected for the ‘special job then he or she is allowed to lie and can ask anyone any kind of question he likes (even if its rude). Jonas first training is all about receiving memories, in his first training the old receiver known as the giver passes his past memories to Jonas, this are memories of humanity going way back to how the world came to be. This memories are somehow haunting for Jonas as they are a series of wars and killings, also the memories to some extent show the beauty of the world from when it there was love, sex, color, music, emotions and even hills snow and the sunshine (all these are absent in the current world) (Lowry). From the training, this changes the whole concept of how Jonas thinks and how he views the community and the existing rules. This training also enables him feels the real emotion that nobody in the society ever feels except for ‘the givers. Through this, Jonas discovers that the rules just oppress the community members in that they are just nothing but "lethal injections," apparently the past giver also had the same views (Lowry). From this Jonas and the past giver device a plan in which Jonas was fake his own death and escape the community to the land outside the communities. However, before this Jonas learns that Gabriel the child his parents were taking care of had troubles sleeping and was going to be released (killed). To prevent the baby from the action Jonas takes the baby and leaves with him to ‘elsewhere (outside the communities. By escaping the community all the memories of Jonas are transmitted back to the citizens of the community, they receive the ability to feel emotions and see colors and remember their past (Lowry). Once Jonas escapes the community the author writes about Jonas life outside the communities, Lawry writes of how Jonas travels many days with Gabriel, who at the point is dying of the cold weather and starvation. Finally, he causes a sled to ride downhill towards a house with Christmas lights and music (Lowry). From this end, the author leaves the author leaves the reader with many questions that need answers. The question such as, what happens to Jonas? Are they dreaming or is it exactly real? Do they reach the house with the music and Christmas lights? Whom do they find there? And do they ever find their original community? The author Lowry intentionally writes the whole story and gives an ambiguous ending leaving the readers to decide what happens to the two (Jonas and Gabriel) at the end of ‘the giver. Throughout the book, the author portrays some interesting character by possessed by Jonas, Jonas feelings are easily altered from what he sees. At some point in the book the Jonas has a lot of trust in his parents; however, the trust is lost once the giver shows Jonas of the giver releasing (killing) a new born baby. This process involves killing and then disposing of the baby; from this, Jonas loses his admiration and his trust for his father. All these are the things that force Jonas to leave the community, even before they devise a plan (Jonas and the Giver). The deviance in the story makes it even more interesting; Jonas defies all the rules of the community once he becomes ‘the reliever of memories.’ Through this, the author portrays a symbolic change from an innocent child who starts questioning the beliefs of the society (Hanson). The communities in the book can be viewed as metaphors that symbolize censoring and restrictions, in that it limits all the choices of the individuals in the community to an extent that there is none left. The community is governed by the ‘elders, they provide all the rules which basically removes the joy of life.by leaving the community Jonas portrays the ability of the community members to make their own choices, which to some extent demonstrate to the readers that they can make their own choices and decide on how to live. This is an important message to the children and the young adults as experiences such as bullying limit individuals from being themselves. An important theme in the story is the importance of memory, all through Lowry focuses on the importance of memory. From different reviews, the author wrote the book from the inspiration he got from his own father who lost his memory from his age. From the book, Lowry shows how important it is to possess ones past memories as they can dictate ones future. Another theme is the relationship between pain and pleasure, the author shows how the two concepts are related through Jonas story, in that pain cannot exist without pleasure, and neither can pleasure exist without pain (Lowry). This theme relates to the theme of memory; Lowry shows that no matter how an experience is delightful, one cannot value the pleasure derived from it unless one possesses the memory of when one suffered. The book ‘the giver is a powerful book as its ending teaches that every individual ending depends on oneself. The ending gives a reader a choice to think what it means, just as Jonas made a decision (sacrificial decision) to better his community then one has to make his own decision. The book is interesting to read and captures the reader all through; the ambiguous ending also makes the book even more interesting (Lowry) Works Cited Hanson, Carter F. "Extrapolation." The Utopian Function of Memory in Lois Lowrys The Giver (n.d.): 45-60. Lowry, Lois. The giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Read More