Essay on The Perception of Jonas in Lois Lowrys The Giver

Set in a community with no climate, emotions, choices, or memories Lois Lowry tells the tale of Jonas in The Giver. Jonas is selected to be the receiver of memory, which means the memories of generations past, before the community was created, will all be transferred to him to hold. As Jonas receives memories his concept of the world around him drastically changes. Jonas starts out as twelve-year-old boy with perceptions different from those around him, he then begins to see the community for what it really is, and he makes a plan to change it. Even as a child Jonas was unusually perceptive, this is characterized through his pale eyes which appear deeper than the other children’s dark eyes. While he gets along well with his†¦show more content†¦Jonas feels the warmth of the sun, the joy of sledding, and love of a family. He also begins to see color and soon the color transfers over from the memories to his everyday vision. Jonas, already a curious boy, wonders why t he elders would want to take away such wonderful experiences. He thinks everybody should experience these extraordinary emotions and senses. Jonas’ passion soon overwhelms his actions. He tries to allow the people close to him to see and feel what he does. He asks his parents if they love him but they say love is a meaningless word, that instead they enjoy him. Jonas also tries to discuss things with his friends, only they do not understand the things he says. Jonas does find someone to share his memories with though, Gabriel. He helps Gabriel sleep by transmitting peaceful memories to him. Jonas begins to receive painful memories from the giver and he finally understands why the community would want to avoid such painful experiences. If people had these memories it would create choices, which can lead to many mistakes (Lowry 98). People could choose the wrong mate, the wrong job, and people could get angry which can lead to war. The elders, from a time long ago, did not want to worry about incidences like those happening; therefore they created a community with no memories or choices. So they gave all of their collective memories to a receiver of memory. Jonas, after a year of trainingShow MoreRelatedA Comparison of Utopian Societies885 Words   |  4 Pagescreated, the number one goal of its citizens has been to create the â€Å"perfect† society. To a majority of people in the novels Brave New World (c.1932) by Aldous Huxley and The Giver (c.1993) by Lois Lowry, a utopia and â€Å"perfect† society has been accomplished. But at a second glance, the world that Huxley creates and Lowry’s community are actually totalitarian dystopias with many secrets. The similarities of both novels are evident and some readers may make the conclusion that Lowry simply wrote aRead MoreSummary Of The Giver Essay781 Words   |  4 PagesLord, Elyse. Overview of The Giver. Novels for Students. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Literature Resource Center. Web. 27 Mar. 2016. Elyse Lord is one of the many critics who describe â€Å"The Giver† as terrifying but offering â€Å"hope and a constructive view† of the Utopian world in the book. She explains that other critics praise the book with many awards such as the Newberry Medal. Lord goes on to reason that the story is favored by different readers for its complexity, symbolism, metaphors, ambiguous endingRead MoreThe Giver Rhetorical Analysis Essay722 Words   |  3 PagesBecky  Wright   9 ­30 ­14   English   P3rd   Author,  Lois  Lowry,  in  her  novel  The  Giver  she  describes  a  community  that  has  convert   to  Ã¢â‚¬Å"sameness†Ã‚  and  that  has  also  eliminated  pain.  Lowry’s  purpose  was  to  indicate  the  value  of   the  relationship  between  pain  and  pleasureÍ ¾Ã‚  also  how  important  memories  are.  She  creates  a   rebellious  tone  in  order  to  recommend  to  her  readers  of  the  idea  of,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"If  you  feel  something  is   terribly  wrong,  go  beyond  to  fix  it.†Ã‚   Lowry  moves  to  her  novel  by  acknowledging  the  fact  that  the  Elders  (the  government)  Read MoreAllegory Of The Giver By Lois Lowry1436 Words   |  6 Pagesweeks of class we’ve gone through the ideas of many different thinkers and philosophers. Upon further reflection, I would like to touch base more on the Plato’s themes from the Republic, Book X and The Allegory of The Cave in relation to the Lois Lowry’s The Giver. What I would like to be kept in mind while making our comparison, is my previous commentary on the Allegory of the Cave from prior class discussions on Plato, The Allegory of the Cave shows us to not just stare at the known shadows