Review: The Giver By Lois Lowry

Jonas, during the twelfth year of his life, was assigned the job, the receiver of memory. The job was not very well known in the community, and the duties of the receiver was very secretive. Jonas soon discovered that the receiver's job was to hold all the memories and emotions throughout history that were taken away from the people living the community. He learns about the way people used to live, how they could make their own decisions and had access to more information. Jonas decides that what the community is doing to the people is wrong and inhumane, and that essentially the community is taking away their individuality Lois Lowry in the book, The Giver, used the point of view Jonas to demonstrate that a perfect world, where everyone is
From the moment they were born, the community decides what family they are going to be placed into, where they are going to live and what their names will be. “We really have to protect people from wrong choices” (Lowry 99). Jonas at one point in the book, had been so manipulated and controlled by the community, believed the thought of people actually being allowed to pick their own jobs was laughable. The government created the system so that the most important decisions in life, such as marriage and career, will be made for the people, believing that if they were given the power to make these decisions, it would only end up hurting them. They assign these jobs, and they are all given the same amount of food and clothing, no matter the level of difficulty and intelligence required for that particular job. Everyone is middle class, there is upper or lower. Jonas, early on the novel started to experience some stirrings about his friend Fiona, and was quickly give a medicine to stop his hormones and mind from thinking about her in that way. The community will not permit the people to experience attraction towards another human being. “The people are devoted only to the community. Sexuality (“the stirrings”) is inhibited, as are any romantic relationships. Couples are paired based on temperament. The only devotion anyone has is to the community and its continued well-being.” (Kahn). The people are so dedicated to the community
He was the receiver of the memories and began to see other things that the rest of people in the community could not. If the story was told from another point of view, such as Asher and Fiona, they would neglect to show the audience the problems of their society. They could possibly see that everybody being equal was acceptable, Jonas shows the reader that every person cannot be treated the same, as it takes away their basic human rights and individuality. In the beginning of the book, Jonas had also been completely unaware of the control that the community had over the people. He decided that people need to make their own decisions and feel emotions, even if they could end up hurting the person. He made the ultimate sacrifice by leaving the community along with Gabriel, to give the people the power to experience their life without limitations.
The Giver demonstrates the inappropriate and overbearing ways of a communist government. Jonas as the receiver of the memory began to learn about how people used to live before the control of community and decided the world, although there was pain and unhappiness, was more desirable that the current system. Jonas had developed from believing that the community he lived was perfect to seeing the harsh reality of the communist all-controlling government. Lois Lowry showed that a perfect, communist society was