The Giver: A Didactic Journey

As most of you guys probably do, I remember having read this book in grade school. I think that I read it twice, actually, and yet....still that unresolved ending! Nonetheless, this book was the one that was used in class to introduce us to the unresolved ending. Was Lois  Lowry’s choice to have Jonas’ escape from the Community “fade-out” merely a cop-out? I don’t think so. Now I think that this book was designed as a lesson in unresolved endings. Even a lesson within itself.

As a receiver, Jonas is exposed to all the joys and sorrows that the rest of the Community is deprived of lieu of “sameness.” His world becomes filled with options, discovery, and uncertainty. If this sounds familiar, maybe you’re thinking about the class activity that followed reading this book where you and your classmates came up with alternate endings where you resolved Jonas’ attempted escape. My class did this, and we also discussed the ups and downs of leaving the reader hanging...but you don’t need a class activity to reflect on these things. The book naturally leads the reader to consider them. Maybe we end up deciding that we prefer consistency and predictable endings, or maybe we decide that we like endings without a solid conclusion and a “to be continued........”

For those of you who may not be familiar with The Giver it is a dystopian novel in the vein of Farenheight 451 and 1983 wherein a society appears to live in an ignorant bliss, but then this later turns out to not be the case. The protagonist is named Jonas who lives in a “Community” wherein everyone’s senses have been dulled to complete, bland consistency. No one sees colors, tastes flavors, everyone takes pills to squelch their libido as birthing is done á la the production line model by a selected crew of birthmothers. Babies who don’t meet standards are given a lethal injection, and so this safe community turns out to not be so humanitarian after all, but actually awfully dictatorial. Jonas, when he turns eleven receives his designation for his role within the community and he is chosen to be the next ‘Receiver of Memories’ from the last. As the receiver, then, he gains the knowledge of human past including the range of sensations both good and bad, and suddenly his bland world is filled with color and depth. Naturally, his distaste for this forced limitation of human experience leads him to become at odds with the philosophy of the Community and this gives rise to the main conflict within the novel.

So, as I saw it, this novel takes its reader through a didactic journey reminiscent of Jonas’ journey within the novel.  In both cases, the predictable structure is taken away and the individual most confront a mysterious new world.

I think that The Giver is also a great novel to introduce students to other books that address dystopian themes, even books that take on a real issue/threat to our own society within a fictional context. Some may believe that this book is too “classic” to appeal to today’s readers, but to me, this book’s setting and main theme is perpetually contemporary.

Thank you,
Robert