Why The Giver's World Is Called Perfect

Jonas’s world is called perfect. No feelings, no real knowledge, no animals, nothing special; that is the “perfect” world that Jonas lives in. Would one consider that perfect? After receiving memories from the Giver, Jonas learns so much about life he did not know, and he no longer thinks of his world as perfect. In the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry, Jonas learns the power of pain, sorrow, and joy through memories he receives from the Giver. First, Jonas learns the power of pain when the Giver gives him the memory of the broken leg. For example, after Jonas receives the memory of the sledding incident, he realizes, “They have never known pain” (Lowry 139). His whole family is happy all the time because they have never felt true pain. The realization that only he and the Giver know the power of pain makes him feel lonely; and Jonas wishes that others could undergo a minimal amount of pain and everyone could share so the burden would be less on him and the Giver. But the Elders made the community this way so that all people except Jonas and the Giver would never experience pain, making Jonas feel more isolated than ever.

Next, Jonas learns the power of sorrow when he learns what a release is. For instance, after Jonas watches his father perform a release, Jonas feels, “a ripping sensation inside of him, the feeling of terrible pain
For example, after Jonas receives the memory of family, he says “I couldn’t quite get the word for the whole feeling of it, the feeling that was so strong in the room” (Lowry 157). The Giver then explains to him that the word he was looking for was love, and Jonas tells the GIver that he likes the way love feels. Love gives him warmth and happiness, except that in this “perfect” world Jonas has not gotten to know love. Jonas wants there to be love, for that would allow there to be for happiness. Because of happiness and love, Jonas feels like everything is more