The Giver by Lois Lowry



The Giver by Lois Lowry

Jonas lives in a perfect world living with his seemingly perfect family, where there is no color, hunger, pain, sufferings, crime.  Their only objective is to conform. Everyone is given a role in the community and Jonas was chosen to be the next Receiver of Memories, an honorable position held by only one person in the community.  The Giver will transfer all the memories of human experience, feeling of love, suffering, loss, human defeat, achievements, war, famine, rain, snow. Jonas must keep all these memories to himself, he is prohibited to transfer and share them to anyone, the community protects his people from the whole range of human emotions, protects them from experiencing pain.  But how can Jonas handle such range of emotions all by himself? Little by little he learns about the imperfections of the community he lives in and thought of a plan together with The Giver to change the beliefs and the ways of life of the people in their community.  

The ending of the The Giver is rather vague, it can be read in two ways, it is for the reader to determine what they want to believe in.

The Giver is an excellent and yet thought provoking book, it makes you think deeper while reading, the kind of book that will sparkle a lot of discussions, it tackles various subject such as  euthanasia or the practice of taking one's life to ease their suffering, restriction of sexuality, the utopian society, family and relationships, diversity, feelings, political activities.  All in all it is a rather hopeful novel, a recommended read for everyone.