The Giver by Lois Lowry

Bibliography
Lowry, Lois. 1993. The Giver. Boston. Houghton Mifflin.

ISBN: 0-39564566-2

Summary
In a society of sameness, at the age of twelve, Jonas is selected for his life job, the receiver of memories. In his training for his assignment, Jonas realizes the terrible things about his society.

Critical Analysis
Two-time Newberry Award author has written an exceptional modern fantasy story in The Giver.

Lowry's human characters are believable. They differ from humans in that they live in a society of sameness, where they don't have feelings, emotions or memories. The main character, Jonas, is the only one with memories and feelings and has to deal with the idea that his society's ways are wrong. Jonas is well-developed, where we can understand his actions, root for him, and feel his emotions.

The story takes place in Jonas' community, a place where they live in houses, go to work and school, and function as families. The fantasy aspect is noticed when we learn about the way their community functions. For example, married couples are "assigned" two children. Also, at the age of 12, community members are assigned their role as an adult. There is also no inequality, no injustice, and no poverty.

Jonas struggles with the way his community lives and is shocked when Gabriel is going to be "released." His struggles are plausible and maintain the plot through out the story. Also, the plot is also internally consistent, where Jonas stays in his community of sameness until he escapes to elsewhere at the end of the story.

Jonas' love for Gabriel is powerful and an undercurrent theme, until the end of the story, where we learn Jonas has escaped with Gabriel to elsewhere to save Gabriel's life. Additionally, Lowry's writing style helps us believe in Jonas' world. For example, the dialogue among characters is very precise, almost seeming formal. Jonas' world is a world where preciseness is of utmost importance.

Exciting and entertaining, the audio book version narrated by Ron Rifkin makes the story even more enjoyable. Rifkin manipulates his voice to help the reader grasp the emotions and events in the story. The background music played intermittently throughout the story keeps the listener engaged.

The Giver, in book or audio book format, can be enjoyed by adults and young adults. In any format, it is a story well worth your time.

Review Excerpts
Horn Book reports, "The story is skillfully written; the air of disquiet is delicately insinuated; and the theme of balancing the values of freedom and security is beautifully presented" (1993).

Amy Kelleman with School Library Journal reports, "In a complete departure from her other novels, Lowry has written an intriguing story set in a society that is uniformly run by a Committee of Elders. . . . The author makes real abstract concepts, such as the meaning of a life in which there are virtually no choices to be made and no experiences with deep feelings. This tightly plotted story and its believable characters will stay with readers for a long time" (1993).

Review excerpts accessed from http://www.titlewave.com/

Connections
The Giver is a perfect story as a springboard for a class discussion about the value of life. There are two sequels to The Giver by Lois Lowry:
Gathering Blue
The Messenger