This sense of contentment comes mostly from the fact that the Elders go at great lengths to assign people’s roles in lives according to what they are good at. He has time to play with his friends, he has FUN, his family may not be loving per se, but Mother and Father are nice, supportive people and Jonas’ sister is an adorable kid. Here is the twist: Jonas, as everybody else in the Community is perfectly content.

These first few chapters, almost half of the book could be seen as a horrendous glimpse into a kind of controlled Big Brother society. Members of the community do not lie, do not ask each other questions that could be seen as intrusive, do not feel pain or confusion and Jonas lives his life in accordance with all that and as an Eleven, he is preparing for the Ceremony of the Twelve when he will learn what his role in society will be and to his surprise, he is chosen to be the new Receiver of Memories.

How he lives in a family Unit with his Mother and his Father and his Sister and every morning they have the sharing of the dreams they had the night before. How his life is dictated by the community and he has a daily routine. At first glance, the Community is a perfect place to live: set in some point in an undisclosed future, where life is well- balanced, everybody has everything they need to survive, everybody has a role in the society and there is no war, no pain, no suffering.Īs Jonas narrates his life under the Sameness, the Utopia created a long time ago by his ancestors comes into close scrutiny for the benefit of the reader. He is an 11 year old boy, one of the inhabitants of the Community. The Giver is the story of Jonas, our third person narrator. I opened the book and read it under 3 hours and had the most visceral reaction to it in what I can only describe as an incredibly disturbing experience. With the YA Dystopia Day approaching, I had to pick one book to read and The Giver was the natural choice especially because Thea has been talking about it ever since I met her. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth.

The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. Every person is assigned a role in the community. Publication Date: September 10, 2002/ (First edition was 1994) Publisher: Laurel Leaf /HarperCollins Children’s Books

Gathering blue graphic novel