Gold Mine Thrift Product Quality Supervisor Ingrid Roman recommends The Giver by Lois Lowry.
The Giver is a novel about a boy named Jonas who lives in a seemingly perfect society where emotions have been suppressed in order to maintain a functional community. Basic emotions such as happiness, love, or anger are unknown, as they are believed to interfere with individual efficiency. Sameness is considered more practical; therefore, differences of any kind are eliminated.
When Jonas is selected to be the Receiver of Memory, he learns from the Giver about the past, including emotions, sensations, and memories that the rest of the community has been denied. As Jonas gains this knowledge, he realizes that the community resists change and is comfortable with the familiar.
He comes to understand that a tightly controlled society loses its essential humanity—the ability to think and feel freely. Ultimately, the story follows Jonas as he faces a difficult choice between accepting a controlled life or risking everything to bring truth to his community.
Although a juvenile novel, The Giver possesses the depth and capacity to address complex topics related to societal structures and the human condition. Jonas’s community functions as a dystopia, as its citizens are treated more like subjects than autonomous human beings. Throughout the story, Lowry highlights how the use of norms, methods, and strict control shapes individual behavior.
The enforcement of rules ensures social order, however, it also creates a false sense of safety that can easily turn into oppression.
Additionally, the limited options available to individuals throughout their lives emphasize the absence of freedom of choice. In this way, the author demonstrates through clear examples how the removal of personal decision-making is used to avoid mistakes, such as in the selection of a spouse or a career.
Lowry also effectively incorporates the element of sameness throughout all areas of the story, allowing readers to observe its impact on the psychological and emotional behavior of the characters. This is evident in the lack of identity and creativity experienced by individuals in the community. Likewise, the absence of emotions leads to the dehumanization of basic human needs and normalizes punishment.
Find it in our collection in print, eAudiobook, eBook, DVD, and CD here.
