The Giver, by Lois Lowery, is about a 12 year old boy named Jonas, who is living far in the future in what is called a Utopian community, where there is no individuality, no weather, and no memories of the former world. No one makes any of their own decisions except for the council who rules the community. When a child reaches 12, they are given a job to help the overall well fare of the community. When Jonas turns 12, he is given a rare job: the position of being "The Giver". The Giver holds all the memories of joy, pain, and sorrow life used to have. Jonas, after living in a seemingly perfect world, is alarmed when the Giver, who is a very old man, transmits memories of snow, sunshine, war, pain, blood, the ocean, and even Christmas; many of the things that were simply part of life before civilization was changed completly. After a few months of training with the Giver, Jonas has aquired a whole new prospect on life, and an entirely new set of feelings and emotions, which causes him to realize that if he were to leave, his new memories would be left behind to restore the community's emotions and feelings, as they did to him. So, Jonas embarks on a long journey through the woods to see what the world is really like, and the book closes with Jonas sledding down a snowy hill towards a house warmly decorated with Christmas lights, on his way to a new life.
One of the main themes in The Giver is individuality. Everyone in Jonas's life is almost robotic. Since there are rules on how to wear your hair and clothes, what to say, and what sort of transportation to use, their is virtually no individuality, except hair color and and voice. As he developes new emotions, Jonas sees how wonderful a life with diversity could be.
I would reccomend this book to other 7th graders because it has a very interesting perspective on life. Though it is a dark book, it has a good combo of mystery and happiness. Lois Lowery has written a sequel called, The Messenger, which tells of Jonas's fate, and brings back some characters from another book she wrote called, Gathering Blue. In conclusion, I would reccomend The Giver to teens and adults who like science fiction.
One of the main themes in The Giver is individuality. Everyone in Jonas's life is almost robotic. Since there are rules on how to wear your hair and clothes, what to say, and what sort of transportation to use, their is virtually no individuality, except hair color and and voice. As he developes new emotions, Jonas sees how wonderful a life with diversity could be.
I would reccomend this book to other 7th graders because it has a very interesting perspective on life. Though it is a dark book, it has a good combo of mystery and happiness. Lois Lowery has written a sequel called, The Messenger, which tells of Jonas's fate, and brings back some characters from another book she wrote called, Gathering Blue. In conclusion, I would reccomend The Giver to teens and adults who like science fiction.
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