Where is the Love? -- The Giver

By Taylor Simmons -
Lois Lowry did a tremendous job with this book, The Giver and I really enjoyed the message it portrays about life and well, living life. Compared to the society that we live in, and Jonas’ community, their differences are tremendous. In The Giver, they have no differences, no emotion, no color, no recollection of any memories or history and so much more. Their lives are so controlled that in a sense they really have no freedom. They have to use a “precision of language” and they have no individual identities. Seeing how different life is in the novel makes me appreciate the world I live in. I appreciate being able to have experienced life and having memories and feeling emotion, even pain. The memories I have from my 21 years of life have taught me so much and makes me appreciate that I do not live in a “community” like Jonas and his “family”.

When I think about my own family, I think about what they mean to me and the emotions I feel. In The Giver, they have “family units” consisting of “two children – one male, one female – to each family unit” (11) and the adults are “given spouses” (9). I could not imagine my parents having to apply to be with one another and then again apply to have my brother and I as their children. To me, the idea of family units in the novel is just not genuine at all. It’s like they are applying to purchase a car or a house when applying for a spouse or children. The couples do not have the ability to meet one another and date and then fall in love, like how it normally happens in our society, and it’s like they apply for a spouse only to have children that are not biologically theirs. Not to say there is anything with children not biologically being your own, but to me in the novel, the family unit is not a concept I would feel comfortable agreeing too.

In my family, we are all about loving one another no matter what and sticking together through trials and tribulations. In The Giver, they cannot feel emotion to know that they love one another. I believe that if the characters in the novel had the ability to feel emotions, they could be a possibility that they would be able to love one another over time just from living and growing with one another. When Gabriel comes home with the family, I noticed the connection Jonas and the baby have. It is quite obvious that Jonas feels emotions with Gabriel, and there is a deeper connection between the two of them.


I really enjoyed this novel, it definitely opened my eyes to new concepts about life and love and being appreciate of the fact that I have the memories I have, good or bad. I can’t imagine a life without memories and it makes me want to sit and think about how my life may have been if there were things I never experienced such as color, emotions, the past and maybe even the future. 

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 10, 2017 at 8:43 AM

    You bring up some good points about how the family functions in this society. I really think the concept of the "family unit" is one of the motifs in the novel that really illuminates the limitations of this society. It's weird to imagine spouses being chosen for you, and applying for your children. The families are brainwashed into thinking that what makes a family is living in the same house and talking about your dreams and feelings every day. In reality, these weird rituals are meant to control everyone's individuality and personality. The beauty of a true family unit are the variances among families: interracial couples, gay and lesbian couples, adopted children, blended families with step siblings and half siblings, different family traditions, variances in number of children, age gaps between them, etc. etc. Families and personal relationships aren't supposed to be regulated and uniformed and clinical.

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  2. KeyCOctober 11, 2017 at 8:18 PM

    Yes, I must agree that this book also made me see life differently. It definitely had me thinking deeply about how things are now, and how life would function if we didn't have options for some our ways. Love was also the topic that stuck with me in this novel because I couldn't imagine life without it, and it just made me think of how terribly things would be if we couldn't experience that emotion.

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