The Giver – Log 1

By Lois Lowry

Novel

Read from start of term one until the third week of term one.

• Introduction / Overview

The giver was a novel set many years into the future. The book is about a boy named Jonas who is about to turn 12, and find out his job is going to be for the rest of his life. After he gets his assignment of receiver of memories, he is sent to an old wise man called the giver to receive all memories of what had happened in the past. After finding out about colours, pain and love, he is sent into guilt wanting all others to remember what he could. From there Jonas and the giver form a plan that sends Jonas on a wild journey. The book contained a great message behind it and should definitely be read

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In Lois Lowry’s The Giver, there is a character named Asher. Asher was my favourite character from the book. Communities in the book are very strict and have a-lot of rules. If you weren’t sensible you would be ‘released’ (given a lethal injection, but the characters in the book didn’t know that they just knew it was  bad to be released unless you were old or young). Asher, knowing these rules, still found a way to break them. This mostly due to his silly behaviour, and clumsiness. He also seemed to make it seem funny every-time he did get caught making a mistake, for this the elders of the community would let it slide  as it made everyone smile and happy. This makes me happy as-well because it shows no matter how large a community, or how strict the rules are, there will always be that one kid that brightens your day to hang out with. I find some of my closest friends and me included have this quality of always laughing even if things go bad, and that is why I like Asher because he is a guy I can relate to in those situations. When Asher was little, he would always speak too quickly and mix up his words. Said by the chief elder during the ceremony of 12’s… “he one day said “I want my smack” instead of “snack” as he stood waiting in the line for the morning treat”. These kinds of mistakes are what cause people to get released because the elders of the community were concerned that he may not be developing as fast as the other students, but he cleaned his act up, worked hard, and fixed his problems. Now every-time people talk about it, it just creates laughter. This shows us that even though Asher made mistakes, his determination to be part of the community allowed him to fix his problems and for this everyone respected him. I think determination is something that lacks in society, a-lot of people don’t see things all the way through. What’s the point in trying something if you give up halfway through. If people were more determined to do something they want to do or change something that needs to be changed like global warming, there would be alot more success. I think that Asher’s character in the book showed the determination that others in society should have. While also having fun which is why I enjoyed his character.

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“…Having you here over the past year has made me feel like things must change. For years I’ve felt like they should, but it seemed so hopeless. Now for the first time I think there might be a way,” the giver said slowly. “And you brought it to my attention…”. This quote was said to Jonas by the giver. After Jonas finds out what receiving is and wants things to change. The giver had always had that feeling something needed to happen, that what they were doing was wrong, but could never get the courage to do it. Now that Jonas was here to support him as-well, he felt not so alone making him think they can do something. I think a great message comes out of this saying that, if you feel something is wrong, there will be someone else who thinks that too, you’re never alone. A good example of this is if your friends were about to go do something stupid that would get them in trouble, and you felt like you should try stop them but they won’t listen to you because it’s only one of you verses all of them. Though everyone of them will know it’s stupid, and there going to get in trouble as-well they just want to for some reason. If you can just give them a reason why you should change their mindset around, the chances are they will probably hear you out and see that it’s a good point. I know a lot of shy people who are like this, including me, we just need someone to back us up or give us the confidence to confront them. I think that this is an important message that was expressed in this book and should be more well known because it’ll stop a-lot of people feeling guilty because they didn’t say something, and that guilt could lead them down a path of sadness. Overall this is a great message I got from the giver and I think society should know it too.

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Jonas was faced with the biggest challenge in the whole book. He had to sneak out of his community with no knowledge of where he was going, leaving everything he grew up with behind, with a baby to deal with as-well. Thinking back to when I was twelve, I would be way too scared to run away from my home, let alone having to take care of a baby. This really shows me how brave Jonas’s character is, and how he is giving of all the qualities of a hero. Like how he has the courage to sneak past night time crews, and the determination to get to where he’s going even when he is one foot in the grave on a snowy hill during a blizzard. I think this is why Jonas is the main character of the book, because Lois Lowry is trying to influence those qualities on her readers. Jonas’ determination of finishing what he started makes me feel like I could try harder to succeed at things I try, and I’m sure it inspires others aswell. It’s that never give up message that I believe Lois Lowry is trying to show to people through Jonas’s character. Making him the main character also and seeing him make all the sacrifices to leave is also really inspiring and shows how courageous Jonas really is. I think society can gain a-lot from Jonas’s character, by being more full-filling and not giving up on things they want to do or change.

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I think the title to the book ‘The Giver’ is a great title to have. The Giver in the book, until Jonas meets him, sounds like some mysterious, ghostly character that you want to meet because he sounds so epic. Which is actually very common throughout society. People you don’t really know well might end up being cool. When you meet them they can be completely not what you expected and you could become friends. Half of my friends today, I was too scared to talk to at the start because I thought they were going to think I’m lame or something. Eventually I crossed paths with them and was as nice and friendly as I could, and now they are my friends. I think that having this quality of the giver’s character gives up that same feeling of seeing someone cool but you’re too insecure to talk to him. That feeling is the same kind of feeling I get in the book because once Jonas meets the giver, he’s actually a really cool dude. That’s not the only reason the book title is great though, the entire book is based around giving. At the start the giver is giving to Jonas, then it leads Jonas to giving back to all communities by letting them feel the memories he had suffered from, like sadness and guilt. as he biked further and further away they would realise he’s gone forever and suffer. The majority of this book is about someone giving to someone else, therefore making the giver (the person giving e.g the giver and Jonas) a really good title to overlook the story. Though if I were to name it differently, I would call it “Escape from Normalness”. This is because the whole book leads up-to this one big sacrifice/risk Jonas has to take in order to give others the ability to feel emotion again. I also think that society should know that if you think someone seems cool, you shouldn’t be afraid to go start a conversation. It could end up being one of your best friends.

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This book would be a great read from years 12 – 16 because any more than 16 and the book would be too easy and basic for the reader. Any younger the 12 and you may find it hard to keep focused with what’s going on in the story. This is because the storyline is quite slow and most of the book is just leading up to the one epic bit at the end, and thinking back I don’t think I would get through the whole book without getting distracted until I was around 12 because that’s when my wisdom was starting to really grow and I started understanding more about what I was reading. “Jonas felt nothing at first. He felt only the light touch of the old man’s hand on his back… Suddenly, cold… He was moving through a substance called snow, on the vehicle called sledge.”. Understanding what is going on here for me if I was under 12 years old would’ve been so hard. One moment he was in a room now he is riding a sled through snow. Now that I am older I was able to identify that it was some sort of magic and the giver was sharing one of his memories with Jonas. Any older than 16 though, and I feel like it would just be too easy of a book to read. For 16 years and older we should be looking to read longer and tougher books, so we can get better results in english and so we can get better at reading. I think in between ages 12 and 16, would be the best time to read the book because it will not only entertain you, but it will make you wonder.