The Giver by author Lois Lowry

Revisiting The Giver: A Timeless Dystopian Tale

Introduction

Do you remember reading Lois Lowry’s The Giver as a middle schooler and feeling your world shift? I certainly do. First published in 1993, this Newbery Medal-winning novel sparked something profound in me the first time I cracked open its pages.

Rereading as an adult, that familiar magic swept over me again. I found myself instantly immersed in the story of 12-year-old Jonas living in a dystopian society where there’s no suffering – but also no choices. Have you ever felt that niggling sense that something wasn’t quite right but struggled to pinpoint what? That’s Jonas. And his growing realizations about his “perfect” community fascinate and horrify.

If you’ve ever felt like an outsider or questioned the status quo, Jonas’ journey to empowerment will resonate. Continue reading for an in-depth exploration of the themes and that famous ending we all love to debate. I’ll also suggest similar thought-provoking reads to fill the hole this short but mighty novel leaves behind.

The Giver by author Lois Lowry

You can find The Giver by author Lois Lowry on your favorite bookstore, including Amazon.com and Amazon UK.

About author Lois Lowry

Author Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry is a beloved and prolific children’s book author known for tackling complex societal issues in her works. With over 30 books to her name, Lowry’s bibliography features diverse genres like historical fiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, and science fiction. Her most critically acclaimed works include Number the Stars (1989), The Giver Quartet series (1993-2012), and Gooney Bird Greene (2002).

Born in 1937 in Hawaii, Lowry developed a passion for writing and literature from a young age. She took inspiration from her childhood experiences and family stories, many of which dealt with difficult topics like racism, illness, and death. After earning a degree in English, Lowry worked as a freelance journalist for magazines and newspapers for nearly 10 years, sharpening the very skills that she would later bring to her fiction writing.

In 1977, Lowry published her first children’s book, A Summer to Die, about a young girl coping with her sister’s terminal illness. The book was met with critical and commercial success, earning Lowry a devoted young readership. However, it was the 1993 Newbery Medal-winning futuristic novel The Giver and its sequels that rocketed her to international fame. Set in a dystopian world without memory, emotion, or even color, The Giver series sparked important discussions about individuality, freedom of choice, and the dangers of an overly-controlled society.

Never one to shy away from complex themes, Lowry continued pushing boundaries over her decades-long career. In novels like The Silent Boy (2003) and The Willoughbys (2008), Lowry explored topics like disability, abandonment, homelessness, and morality. Her tenderness and honesty in portraying difficult issues have earned her a loyal, multigenerational readership.

Now in her mid-80s, Lois Lowry remains an active and relevant voice in children’s literature. She continues working from her home in Massachusetts, where she lives with her photographer husband. With over 10 million books in print worldwide, translated into more than 30 languages, Lowry has solidified her place as one of the most significant authors of our time. Her works have not just entertained young readers; they’ve challenged social norms, encouraged acceptance of differences, and helped generations of children grapple with the moral issues underlying our world’s complexity. Though the future is unclear, one thing is certain: Lois Lowry’s contributions to children’s literature will continue impacting readers for decades to come.

WARNING: Spoilers Ahead!

I’ll be discussing major plot points and the climax. Proceed with caution if you haven’t read the book yet. Or better yet, grab a copy and come back when you’ve turned the last page!

Jonas’ Awakening

Can you imagine a world without hunger, poverty, war – even choice? The people in Jonas’ community don’t have to imagine. Custom-designed families, appointed jobs, and daily medication to suppress emotions and creativity. On the surface, it seems ideal…right?

But when Jonas turns 12, he’s selected as the Receiver of Memory. As he trains with the Giver, the community’s memory keeper, Jonas realizes the horrifying truth behind his “utopia.” Stripped of history, culture, and even color, his people experience only a hollow shell of life.

Like Neo swallowing the red pill in The Matrix, Jonas wakes up. And once his eyes open, he can’t ignore the lies. His supplier of truth? An unlikely mentor.

The Giver: Guide or Manipulator?

The Giver is essentially the Atlas of Jonas’ world, bearing the weight of memory on his shoulders. As he transfers those memories to Jonas through supernatural means, we can’t help but question his motives.

Does he genuinely want to embolden this young soul for positive change? Or is Jonas just a pawn to help the old man finally rest? Most children chosen before Jonas broke under the pressure – some even died. So is the Giver’s purpose self-serving or society-serving?

As Jonas gains awareness of concepts like disease, poverty and war, we hold our breath hoping this knowledge will empower, not crush him. While the Giver had good intent by selecting Jonas as Receiver, his methods leave much open to debate.

Nurture vs Nature

Jonas’ society is the ultimate nurture experiment. Genetically engineered infants assigned to family units determined by the Elders. Each year, a new child granted to a household to replace the Child turned Elder after their graduation ceremony.

Everything engineered for balance and control – from population size to climate. All emotional extremes neutralized. It’s the pinnacle of order…on the outside. But what happens when you strip human nature from the equation?

We see the strain of this unnatural order through Jonas’ father. As the Nurturer responsible for the infants, Jonas Sr. struggles to reconcile his intrinsic care for the infants with the Elders’ cold detachment.

This conflict shows that despite the extreme conditioning for “Sameness”, humans still need emotional bonds, creativity, and choice to thrive. While Jonas’ society removed pain, it also removed authentic joy and purpose.

That Cryptic Ending

After learning the truth about “Release” (hint…it’s NOT nice), Jonas and the Giver hatch a plan. Jonas will escape his community and enter Elsewhere – the land of memory that exists beyond. This will release the memories he carries back to the people.

But the plan goes awry, forcing Jonas to flee into the great unknown with baby Gabriel. Snow, freezing wind, the strange voices of animals – sights and sounds completely foreign to them in their climate-controlled world.

As they huddle together starving and hallucinating…the novel ends. No resolution to their fate. Over the years, many readers complained about this abrupt conclusion. Personally, I love its poetic beauty. Like Jonas, we feel lost and disoriented as our footing in his world disappears.

Does their escape unleash memory on Jonas’ community? Do he and Gabriel integrate into Elsewhere or perish in the icy wilderness? The mystery leaves us unsettled but also hopeful.

Why The Story Resonates

While we’d all love to know what ultimately happens to Jonas and Gabriel, the ending speaks to why this novel still feels so relevant. It leaves us questioning and curious – and isn’t that what great art is meant to do?

In only 180 pages, Lowry crafts a profound tale exploring conformity, individuality, trauma, and the complexity of morality. Her sparse writing style and use of symbolism drops breadcrumbs inviting deeper analysis.

Is Jonas’ community really so different from today’s world consumed by screens and instant gratification? As technology creeps further into customizing our existence through AI and algorithms, this book’s message echoes.

There’s a delicate balance between order and choice integral to human happiness. And when we try to suppress emotion and creativity in the quest for comfort, we lose our sense of meaning and purpose.

Ultimately, that’s why The Giver continues to feel so resonant over 25 years later. In Jonas’ journey we recognize the vital gift of our own feelings – even the painful ones. And like him, we realize numbness is too high a price to pay for bliss.

Read-Alikes

If you identified with Jonas’ awakening, here are a few thought-provoking dystopian tales I recommend:

1984 by George Orwell

No list is complete without Orwell’s classic dystopian vision of government thought-control enforced by ever-present surveillance known as Big Brother. Echoes of its themes around censorship, propaganda, and mass manipulation still ring true.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Another story centered around burning books and suppressed information. Bradbury’s masterpiece envisions a world where media is censored and reading banned. The symbolic title refers to the temperature when book paper catches fire.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Atwood’s infamous novel also depicts the dark side of social engineering. Readers experience the horrors of the misogynistic Gilead through a woman forced into reproductive slavery after a theocratic coup. Hulu’s vivid adaptation captured our cultural zeitgeist a few years back.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Huxley also wrote about a future society based on control of information and emotion…except through biological and psychological manipulation rather than brute force. Many ideas like prenatal conditioning feel ominous in light of today’s modern fertility options.

The Final Word

I hope I’ve convinced you to squeeze this short but mighty novel onto your reading list soon if you haven’t already. Like many middle-grade books, don’t let its accessible writing and concise length fool you.

The complexity of themes explored belie the simple prose. And the cryptic ending leaves us reflecting long after the last page turns.

If you remember this story from childhood, I highly recommend revisiting through adult eyes. You’ll uncover added dimensions that deepen Lowry’s messages around individuality and morality.

Not only did The Giver spark the zeitgeist of dystopian YA fiction, its ideas still feel disturbingly prescient decades later. And given societal debates around topics like censorship and conformity, something tells me we haven’t seen the last of Jonas and his upside-down world.

So fire up your memories, and enter the community of the Giver and Receiver one more time. Just try not to get too depressed over the loss of emotional highs along with the lows. There’s a delicate balance, after all.

FAQs

What is the setting of “The Giver”?

The Giver takes place in a dystopian society set in an isolated community sometime in the future. The community is very regulated, with rules for nearly every aspect of citizens’ lives, but the exact time period and location are vague, perhaps to underscore the universality of the themes explored.

What are the rules that the society in “The Giver” follows?

The society has many strict rules in place to control citizens, including rules about politeness, sharing feelings, language precision, apologizing, rudeness, bragging, timing routines like mealtimes, and assignments that dictate citizens’ roles. Everything is done to cultivate conformity and suppress individuality.

Why did Lois Lowry write “The Giver”?

Lois Lowry was inspired to examine utopian societies and explore the relationship between safety and freedom/individuality after her father’s death. She wanted to discuss the importance of memory, history, and human connection and prompt questions about whether control and conformity are worth forfeiting choice, passions, and human complexity.

What does characterize Jonas in “The Giver”?

Jonas is unique in his community because unlike his peers, he has pale eyes, which indicate his capacity for “seeing beyond” — a rare quality assignments are based on. He also has an ability to see color, is more emotional and curious, and gains wisdom that makes conforming harder.

Is there a specific role played by memory in “The Giver”?

Memory plays a pivotal role. Citizens don’t have history, culture, or a real sense of identity without collective memory, just their regulated present. Jonas receives the community’s memories to gain wisdom so he can advise them, but it isolates him because he can’t share things others can’t comprehend.

Why are Jonas’s training sessions significant in “The Giver”?

The training sessions with The Giver represent his loss of innocence, independence of thought, and understanding of the flaws in his “utopia.” As his knowledge from the memories grows, it estranges him from his peers because he can no longer conform comfortably after learning about choice, feelings, trade-offs around safety, pain, death, and the lack of freedom.

What is Jonas’ evolution during the period described in “The Giver”?

At first Jonas is a rule-abiding citizen who conforms to community expectations. As his training progresses he realizes the absence of meaning, choice, passion and he gains a more complex understanding of life. He becomes frustrated with his society’s restrictions and false perfection, uprooting everything he knows.

Is Jonas breaking any rule in “The Giver”?

Rules Jonas breaks include failing to take his morning injects to stifle emotions/stirrings, keeping secrets from his family unit, lying about training instructions, deseiving authority figures, failure to speak precisely, conveying dangerous wisdom, developing a romantic partnership, and defying customs around rudeness.

Does Jonas find Elsewhere at the end of “The Giver”?

It’s ambiguous if Jonas finds the mythical Elsewhere his community doesn’t believe exists. As he escapes with baby Gabe through harsh conditions seeking life beyond his world, the endings imply hope and redemption can exist even in sacrifice. Their triumph over oppression suggests that fighting for ideals may lead to meaning whether the physical place exists or not.

Why is “The Giver” still relevant today?

Despite being written in 1993, The Giver remains popular because it explores timeless and universal themes about individuality vs conformity, freedom vs security, passion vs precision, wisdom and ignorance, societal control over choice, mass compliance, and memory’s role in constructing identity and culture. These deep philosophical questions never age.

Leave a Reply