-
Essay / The Giver by Lois Lowry - 579
In a utopia where residents thrive on the simple idea of identity, the truth of the unsaid past has been entrusted to the unexpected young mind of a boy named Jonas . Lois Lowry's The Giver created an entire community that lives each day full of happiness while completely ignoring what they're missing. When Jonas was chosen to do the heavy, exhausting work of receiving memories of things like colors, feelings, and music, he was finally able to understand that a utopia without these elements is not a utopia at all . the word love is “meaningless” and “inappropriate to use” (p. 127). Instead of Jonas' parents saying they love him, they would simply state that they are proud of his accomplishments or that they appreciate his business. In saying this, they are not trying to be rude and insensitive, but the entire community is incapable of understanding the foreign idea of love because they no longer possess the memory of it. In our culture, love is abundant and brings happiness to many people. These warm feelings are absent in The Giver. On the other hand, however...