- the world has been recreated to eliminate any individualism or differences–even topographical (there are no hills) and color (people only see grays)
- 12-year-old boy is assigned his life’s career, which awakens him to what has been lost in this re-creation
- convo: volunteers bathe the naked elderly; one conversation about a boy feeling “stirrings” for a girl (in a dream, he wanted her to remove her robe), which is quickly medicated for
- language: x4 stupid
Type: dystopian novel
Ages: 12+
Author: Lois Lowry
Everything is controlled in this new world Lowry has created: meals, haircuts, stuffed animals, the weather, and even what age children are allowed pockets in their jackets. Pain is medicated for and almost never felt. Bicycles, the assigned mode of transportation, are monitored. Spouses are chosen by a committee and married couples apply for children, who are birthed by women who never see them.
Despite all of that, there remains a friendliness, love, kindness, and normalcy in the day-to-day. Family units care for one another and have seemingly normal conversations. There is school, work, meal times, and best friends.
Jonas’s first day of true work (his assigned career for life) tells him (and readers) what to expect. He is to be the bearer of all memories. Of the whole world. For countless generations. There is only one person in this role, and the current one is nearing the end of his life. He needs to transmit the memories, one by one, to Jonas.
The good memories will be an absolute delight to readers. Can you imagine learning what color is? What snow is? What a hill is and the first time sledding down one? But the bad memories deplete him of all energy, put him through terrible pain, and cause emotions he didn’t know existed.
Ultimately, Jonas and his predecessor make a bold and brave decision. Through this decision, Lowry shows the importance of the individual and how choice is important. If we make the world too safe, life and color drain away. We lose beauty. Readers would benefit from in-person discussions which weigh the individual against the community. Are there not pros and cons on both sides?
There is an even heavier theme I should mention for parents: that of abortion and euthanasia. Neither are mentioned by name but implied with increasing clarity throughout. The younger readers might not pick up on it as quickly as older ones. Toward the end of the book, Jonas has to watch one (of a baby), and the injection is described. He is horrified and moved to save another life, if he can.
The Giver is an excellent work of literature, but parents should be careful in giving it to their children too early. The dystopian genre has saturated juvenile literature these last couple decades, and a lot of it is terrible. Because of this, caution is advised. If, though, your child is ready, I can’t think of a better gateway into dystopian literature than this book. The absence of God and Lowry’s worldview should be part of your conversations.
Hope this helps!