The giver door Lois Lowry

General information

Lois Lowry,
The Giver
Young Blackbirds
Wolters – Noordhof Groningen 2005
©1993 by Lois Lowry
168 pages text, -187 glossary

My first impression

Before I’ve read the book I thought it was a boring book because I didn’t know the writer and I had never heard of the title. But we had to read it for this book report, so I started to read it, and I liked it much because it is in a world we don’t know about.
First I was thinking off the title what it would mean because it’s just a vague title. Not like “Mary saves a dog” or something. I thought it was about a boy who gives much to the poor people.
When I started reading, I expected a difficult book because of the title, and I got it!!! The book isn’t written in a time we know like the Middle Ages or now, no it’s written in the future! I really like those books because they look most of the time back to the “past” and it’s nice to see what they think of us.

After I read the book I think it was nice to read and I couldn’t put it away. I finished it in 7 hours reading at one piece! But that was meanly because the book was so different than all the other books that I’ve read. When I finished the book I felt a bit weird, that we’ve such a “good” world. It started me thinking.

Summary

Jonas lives in a world that is perfect: there has never been war, he has friends, he enjoys his volunteers hours, and he likes his parents.
Every morning they discussed their dreams. And every evening they discussed their day. In December they had the ceremony of The Community, when the Elevens became Twelves. The Tens Eleven ect. Jonas became that December a Twelve, that’s an important age because then you get your Assignment, which means your job for the next years of your life.
He get the Assignment of the Receiver of Memories, that isn’t a really Assignment but a special job which is only available once in the forty years.
While he’s at the Giver’s house, the previous Receiver, he discovered that the Releasing Ceremony is just the killing of people. He’s going to fight for it and for his “brother” Gabriel……

Characters
The main characters are:

• Jonas, the I person. He is a person who wants to be big and likes to make fun with friends. He doesn’t really know what his Assignment would be.

• Asher. He’s a good friend of Jonas, they knew each other from when they were Fours

• Fiona. Jonas is a bit in love with Fiona. Fiona wants to be a caretaker of the Old. So she spends many volunteers hours at the house of the Old. Jonas is there also many times for Fiona.

• Lilly. Is the little sister of Jonas. She listens perfect to her parents. But sometimes she irritates Jonas.

• Father. He’s a Nurse. He lies to Jonas and sometimes to his mother.

• Mother. She cares very much. She wants the best for his son, but sometimes she highly exaggerate

• Gabriel. Is the New child his family is taking care off. Later he will get a Ceremony then Jonas takes him with him.

• The Giver. Is the man who is learning to Jonas the Memory Receiver rituals. He knows a lot and is very kind.

Jonas grows in the story from a playing child to a serious young man. You also see him growing in the puberty.

I like The Giver the most because he is a very wise man, it will be wonderful to know everything.
I dislike Lilly the most because she’s fake I think. Because I’ve never seen a little sister who listens to her brother.

Narrative space

All the events take place in The Community. But most in the Annex, the house of the Giver. Some of the story’s take place at home or at school.
Sometimes the places really impress the persons like Jonas in the Annex, he felt it like a Dungeon… He became then a bit afraid, and that changed the situation a bit.

Time frame

The events take place, I think, in the future, that’s important because they think back how it was long ago (our time)
The time progression in the story is a bit weird because first it is 3 pages about 3 minutes and then a half page about ¾ year.

The end is a bit closed and a bit open because the last sentence is: ‘But perhaps it is only an echo’ so you know it is ending good but you don’t know of those people are friendly or not.

There aren’t really flashbacks only small films witch the Giver gives to him. Then he sees for a minute a rainbow or he feels sunburned for example.

Point of view

The point of view is told from above. So it’s like there’s one big “god” who sees all happening. EG: Jonas blurted out what he was feeling. Or: Without being instructed, Jonas closed his eyes again.

This point of view is a quit reliable because you don’t know the feeling every time but most of the time you do.
The reader isn’t manipulated by this point of view because you also hear things from the other (bad) side.

Style

The book has a very bad style. There are very many mistakes in the book!!! EG: Fiona didt now what she want fot her birthday. Instead of: Fiona didn’t know what she wants for her birthday.
Theme(s)

There isn’t a main theme like “horses” or something. It’s about many things. I think the future is a good definition for it.
EG: ‘In the past everybody saw colors, now only we see them’ says the Giver.
It’s difficult to comment the writer on the theme because I think he treated the theme very well.
The title is just the person who teaches Jonas everything
I can’t compare it with another film or book because this is so original; I’ve never read such a thing like this.

Literary history

Biography Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry was born on March 20, 1937 in Hawaii. Her father was an Army dentist and the family lived all over the world. She attended Brown University, but left after her sophomore year to get married and raise a family of four children. They settled in Maine, where she returned to college and received her degree from the University of Southern Maine. Lois Lowry fulfilled a childhood dream when she began writing in the mid-1970s. Now divorced, she lives in West Cambridge with her dog, Bandit, and spends weekends in her 19th century farmhouse in New Hampshire.

She is the author of over 20 novels and winner of the Newbery Medal twice. She has become a favorite of both children and young adults. She has tackled a number of topics in her literature including adoption, mental illness, cancer, the Holocaust and futuristic societies. Whatever the theme, Lowry portrays realistic life experiences to her audience.
In her books, Lois Lowry throws her characters and readers into many thought-provoking situations. The contemporary young adult reader is compelled to confront society with all of its imperfections.

The book is much like she always writes because you think thousand-and-one thing. In the book they talked also about adoption.

Reading Experience

I really liked the book but I also found it a bit weird and vague. I liked the part of the Ceremony the most with the confusion that Jonas was turned over. And also who was going to be what. EG:
She skipped me Jonas thought, stunned. Had he heard wrong?
The least successful part is, I think, the part at ¾ because it then goes too fast. At the same time it is an important part of the story and I couldn’t follow the story.
Yeah, I would like to read more of her books. Now they interest me because they are all about “heavy” subjects.
I advice all of you to read this book, it will let you think different at our world, it will let you look different at colors, it will let you look different at allthin gs!!!!