The Giver Analysis

Honest, or a liar?

Do you always have to tell the truth? In The Giver, by Lois Lowry, it is evident that you aren’t always obligated to speak of the truth. This book mainly speaks of a eutopic universe where everyone must obey the rules, Chief Elder assigns everyone a job, and those who disobey the law are sentenced to death via lethal injection. All the populace is equal, except for 12-year-old Jonas. At the ceremony of Twelve, the community’s 12-year-olds eagerly accepted their predetermined life assignment. Chief Elder chose Jonas for a special job, the ‘receiver’ of memories, where his instructor was a man known as The Giver of memories. Part of the rules for becoming a receiver was being able to lie. Furthermore, since The Giver was once
a receiver, he could also lie. When a ‘’Birth mother’’ gave birth to twins, Jonas’ father had told him a tall tale, so that he doesn’t feel sad. Thereby, this situation evidently indicates that lying is sometimes okay.
Depending on the situation, lying is not always wrong. When Jonas received the rules and instructions that he had to follow in his training of becoming the receiver of memories, he was mostly disturbed by the final rule, “You may lie”(pg 87), for his parents had trained him ever since he was an infant to always tell the truth. But then he realised that it was a privilege, since he was special. Therefore, since lying was part of his job, falsity is not always an error.
Verbal fabrication could be permitted depending on who does it. For instance, since The Giver of memories was very important to their life and was also once a receiver of memories, part of his commands was being able to lie. As a result, depending on who does it, lying is sometimes okay.
Telling fibs are not always considered wrong, for he who does not speak of the truth might have positive intentions and lie to benefit the person he’s addressing.
Jonas learned that his father had deceived him after watching a tape where he murdered his newborn twin. When discussing the “release” the night before, Jonas had asked his father about the procedure and had specifically asked if somebody else came to get the baby from somewhere else, and his father had said yes, “That’s right, Jonas-bonus.” When Jonas saw that his father actually killed the baby, not only was he horrified and disgusted by his actions, he was also furious . “He lied to me,” Jonas cried. The Giver tried to console Jonas, telling him that his father was just doing what his boss told him to do. “He knows nothing,” he tells Jonas. His father lied to him for his own good, with the intention to not make him disappointed because he loved him. Lying, in this case was okay.
In conclusion, The Giver, by Lois Lowry, portrayed that lying isn’t always wrong. Since Jonas and The Giver were both receivers during their lives, not only was lying permissible, but it was also encouraged. Jonas’ father lied to Jonas for his own good, because his intention was not to upset him with the truth. Therefore, lying in this case was not wrong. Instead of teaching the world to be honest, Lowry chose to make it the other way round, which made the story more
entertaining.