Lois Lowry · 1993 · Children’s novel
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The Giver is set in a Community that appears ideal. There is no crime, hunger or conflict. Families, spouses and careers are assigned, language is kept precise, and life follows strict rules designed to remove pain and uncertainty. Jonas, about to turn twelve, waits to learn what role he will be given.
He is selected as the next Receiver of Memory and begins training with an old man known as the Giver, who holds the memories of a time before the Community adopted Sameness. Through these memories Jonas experiences colour, snow, love and joy for the first time, but also suffering and loss. Gradually, he begins to question the price his society has paid for comfort and order. Lois Lowry’s short novel explores freedom, memory and choice.
Key insights
- Removing pain also removes much of what gives life meaning. The Community’s pursuit of comfort has cost it love, colour and real choice.
- Memory, including painful memory, is a source of wisdom. A society that forgets its past loses the ability to make informed decisions.
- Pay attention to language. Euphemisms and tightly controlled words can hide uncomfortable truths and make harmful practices seem routine.
- Choice is risky but essential. Protecting people from making wrong choices also removes their chance to choose well and to grow.
- Seeing what others cannot can be lonely. Jonas’s new knowledge isolates him from friends and family who have no way to share it.
Read it if you want a short, thought-provoking dystopian novel about the costs of comfort and conformity, suitable for teenagers and adults.