The Giver

The Giver

Author:Lowry, Lois

Published in: 1993

Reprinted by: Houghton Mifflin Company (2002)

Number of pages: 179 (+12 additional)

Main characters:

Jonas, the Giver, Jonas' family

Plot:

Jonas is, as all other people he knows, a member of the Community. Everything here works perfectly, everybody obeys the rules, has a job and a family. You can ask the Community for a partner or a child and the Community will choose the best one for you. At the age of twelve is Jonas ready to be given a job. The Community decides that he will be a Receiver of Memory. Jonas is trained to hold all memories of the Community: the pain, tyrany, wars, colours, songs, Christmas,...He gets to know, how selfish and cruel the Community is and in the end he decides to run away from it.

Comments:

The idea of the Community is really scary for my, so I liked the message the book says. Some ideas seemd a little bit over the top for me, however, on the whole it is a great book.The level of English is OK, only some difficult words.

Extract:

"Jonas," she said, speaking not to him alone but to the entire community of which he was a part, "you will be trained to be our next Receiver of Memory. We thank you for your childhood." Then she turned and left the stage, left him there alone, standing and facing the crowd, which began spontaneously the collective murmur of his name. "Jonas." It was a whisper at first: hushed, barely audible. "Jonas. Jonas." The louder, faster. "JONAS. JONAS. JONAS." With the chant, Jonas knew, the community was accepting him and his new role, giving him life, the way the had given it to the newchild Caleb. His heart swelled with gratitude and pride. But at the same time he was filled with fear. He did not know what his selection meant. He did not know what he was to become. Or what would become of him.