The Giver by Lois Lowry - Essay Example

The Giver The Giver, written by Lois Lowry, is about Jonas who is a young boy selected by the Elders to be the Receiver of Memory. Being almost twelve, it’s the time for the chief Elder to assign him such profession. It was during the ceremony where he saw an old man, the current Receiver, who will then be the Giver. They both have light eyes which are rarely found in their community. The same is true with Gabriel, a sick baby being taken cared by Jonas’ family who also has light eyes. He will be released from the community if he doesn’t get better within a year or two.

Theirs is a rigidly controlled society where there is no suffering, hunger, war and also no color, sex, music or love. The “Elders” controls everything like who will become husband and wife, the son and daughter they will receive to take care of and the job to be assigned at the proper time which is at twelve years of age. A person can be released from the community if he is really old, a sick infant or those persons who break the rules. Jonas discovers after a year of training that people being released were actually being given lethal injection.

Jonas was angered by such discovery so he, together with the Giver, devised a plan of escape for Jonas together with Gabriel, the sick baby who is to be released through lethal injection the next day. But then, their plan did not work out. In trying to escape, Jonas experience so much hardships and starvation. The reader is left to interpret it the way he looks at how the story ended. Critics view this book differently. There are positive and negative criticisms among different readers. According to Graison-Johnson in his book review of the Giver, it states that the book definitely entertains, shows true emotion and portrays a good message.

These are the strengths of the book. Being a book critic, he said that he likes the book because it could entertain the reader. He gave as example the way Jonas first experience happiness, pain and sadness. According to him it’s funny at how Jonas felt simple things like seeing and feeling snow and feeling the warmth of the sun turn incredible for him. He also wanders what love is when given the memory of love by the Giver who told him that it’s his favorite emotion. Another instance is when Jonas wonders hoe life in his world will be if it is filled with colors and memories and emotion.

This critic also said that to show true emotion, the author showed a tearful Jonas when he found out that his father, a doctor, administers lethal injection to infants who are released from the community for being sick and weak. Because of this, he does not want to live with his father who is a killer. Another example is when Jonas begins to fall in love with Fiona, his friend whom he saw naked in his dream. The book also relays a good message saying that war is bad implying that the author is a hippie.

When Jonas’ friends played war, he freaks out because of the memories of actual war. It also shows that burdening one person with many problems is a bad thing to do. To deal with all the communities’ bad memories and emotions is painful to the Giver most of the time. Teresa knight, another book critic, says that the book is uncertain and what really happens is left to the reader’s interpretation. It is agreeable because when you finish reading it, the story could end in different ways depending on how you interpret the story (Graison).

Another critic says that as a book, The Giver is masterfully made. It’s about the change undergone by a Utopian State when the job of being “The Receiver” was given to a boy. Lois Lowry, its author, has won two Newberry awards for being a very excellent writer. According to her, it is a wonderful book until she reviews it again later. In celebration of Banned Book week, a critic read the book but it’s being a challenged movie is questionable because the future it shows is not realistic so children in its intended age group won’t find it disturbing.

An interesting aspect of the novel is the way it made the readers believe that the place is utopia, gradually revealing what they’re given up to have peace and order. Although its plot is not overly original (similar to Logan’s Run), new life was breathed into it through the author’s re-imagining of it. It’s an amazing book according to another critic. He said that he was extremely shocked when the twist came because the author was able to keep everything such a good secret. He suggests that everyone should read this book.

It states that it is a wonderful book with quite a poetic ending. This is a negative criticism from someone who was left confused and disappointed after reading the book. For him it can’t be recommended for someone seeking a fine piece of literature because its contents were dull and predictable. Being a dreadful book, it made him more and more dissatisfied with each page. Reading it was a waste of time and it hardly made sense. Although there were a few interesting lines it’s not worth to finish reading it.

But the critic was able to finish it which he regrets doing so because it was the worst book he had read so he wouldn’t recommend it to anyone (Rip).Works CitedGraison, J. The Giver Book. 2010. 23 Oct. 2010 ‹http://bookercritics.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/the-giver-book-review-by-graison-johnson/.›.ripTM.. The Giver by Lois Lowry. 2010. 22 Oct. 2010 ‹ http://www.teenink.com/reviews/book_reviews/article/25786/The-Giver-by-Lois-Lowry/.›.