Jonas 'Receiver Of Memory In The Giver'

Memories are considered a practical part of existence, and many don’t think of the consequences without them. Feelings would be felt but not known, memories made but not kept. This world is interpreted in The Giver where the citizens that populate the community only know simple concepts like their name, their age, their family. As they grow up to become twelve, a life-long job is assigned to them. Jonas is a citizen chosen to have the most important job in the community; the Receiver of Memory. During the adaptation of his job, he discovers that elements lie beyond his eyesight like colors and emotions. He begins to see and feel them and wonders why they are missing. He begins to think what is more important, equality and safety, or memories?
Jonas and The Giver were discussing color when Jonas started thinking... “‘Well…’ Jonas had to stop and think it through. ‘If everything’s the same, then there aren’t any choices! I want to wake up and decide things! A blue tunic or a red one?”(Lowry). This quote shows that the community erased memories because they did not want the citizens to feel injustice and want to change the community; they want to stick to the same things. Even though the community is blocked from the outside world, they are still not safe from the chief elders which control them. The chief elders have also been proven to lie to the community, for example, by using the term “released”. The citizens don’t have feelings so they can’t grow up discovering new things and creating their identity. In The Giver movie, Fiona mentions during the preparation and performance of her release that something has been taken away from each individual.It is important to keep memories to perceive the pain of those who suffered injustice and fight those who want to change them. Six million Poles and three million Jews, about half of all Jews murdered in the Holocaust, were killed by the end of World War II in
This quote shows that at times sharing the pain with those who have suffered through the same things can be easier than keeping it bottled up. The people understood that the event happened and they couldn’t change it but change the chances of it reoccurring. The article mentions that the Polish president signed a law impeding the blame of Poland towards the “Polish death camps” and prohibited the expression “Polish death camps”. He knew the gruesome barbarities committed by the Nazis and how important it was in history to not want to be a part of it. Many nations want to change history because of the effects it has on the world and the clarity of it. Many people say that it is better to have equality and be safe than have memories and that memories cause pain but safety is never guaranteed without choice and memories can be shared to make them hurt less. The Polish law banning “Polish death camps” in general, “Adversely affects freedom of speech and academic inquiry”(Santora 1). This quote supports that even though the Poles did not want to be a part of World War II and made a law, this made the Jews feel with no freedom to tell their story and speak