The Giver - Lois Lowry

Synopsis: 

Intelligence. Integrity, Courage. Wisdom. 
These are the qualities a Receiver of Memory must have. And one more which can only be named, but not described. The Capacity to See Beyond.

Jonas lives safely within the community, a place where there is no war, no hunger and no pain. But when he is selected as the Receiver of Memory, he starts to discover dark secrets that lie beneath the surface if his perfect world. Secrets that will lead him to undertake an incredible journey. 

Review:

I was highly anticipated to read this novel as I had studied over it multiple times at my local bookstore. The concept of the plot interested me every time but for some unknown reason I put off obtaining the novel. I eventually let in and purchased the book and thankfully my awaited buy did not leave me disappointed.

Dystopian novels are a consistent genre on my bookshelves and unsurprisingly ‘The Giver’ is no exception.

The story of ‘The Giver’ follows a young man named Jonas. He is brought up in a strict Utopian community. It is here in this society that the novel takes place. Jonas is about to become a ‘twelve’. In this community the age of the children changes all at the same time. So, for example, all of the children born in a year all turn one the following year. The most important age level for a child in particular is the twelfth as this is when the child is assigned the career that they will have until they are elders. This is done after much research by a committee of elders whom observe each child as they are growing up and then assign the job they would be most suited for. However, when the ceremony comes around he is not assigned to a job…… he is selected to be the next Receiver of Memory. The Receiver of Memory is the one person who revives all the memories of the world for this society.

And so the old Receiver of Memory has to pass down all the memories to Jonas, this man is called the ‘Giver’.

 After being received many memories, Jonas becomes aware if the inner workings of this community and he becomes aware that everything is not as perfect as it seems. He discovers that the people of the society essentially have no choices. They don’t choose their own spouses, their own job or even their own children. He also learns about darker aspects of the community that other citizens are oblivious to. In particular, the term ‘released from the village’. To the community this is assumed to be exile, they are being sent away. But we come to know that the term is a euphemism for something much, much darker. After Jonas is aware of this he becomes a confused and even angry to how people have let this happened. However nobody within the community knows any better. The lifestyles of the community would solve many of our world problems. For example, over population – the community only allows a certain amount of children to be born a year, joblessness- everybody is assigned a job, climate control – everybody rides bicycles. The system of the village has been running precisely the same for a very long time and the most frightening thing is that it actually works. Nobody remembers the way anything was before the systems of society except for the Receiver of Memory.

I will admit, there was part of me that looked back on this novel and didn't believe it was a very effective dystopian novel as there were some fantasy elements and  therefore had some scenarios that were not plausible. But as one who absolutely cannot stand reading fantasy, I did not find these few elements distracting in anyway.

In conclusion, I am very impressed by Lois Lowry’s work.This novel puts the reader in an interesting and unusual perspective while still being logical. I am enthused by my discovery of this novel actually being series and I will defiantly pick up the remaining novels without hesitation.

As always thank you of reading and don’t forget to  leave a comment on what you think about ‘The Giver’

Until next time,

Ally xox