The Giver Review

What would you be willing to give up for ease and contentment? Would you give up your freedom, your individuality, your choice to make your own decisions? In The Giver, the people of the Community weren't able to make this decision for themselves. Instead, their government made this decision for them many centuries before. They knew nothing of the freedoms of their ancestors, therefore they didn't know what their lives could be like. But, having lived like this their entire lives, they didn't want to know about the past. They were taught that only one person, The Receiver, was to know the secrets of the past. Every aspect of their lives were controlled. They made no decisions of their own. Their jobs and even their "family units" are decided for them. For Jonas, the job that he is assigned changes his way of life and makes him second guess everything he thought he knew.

Every year, the kids who are 12 years old are given their assigned jobs at the Ceremony of Twelve. At this time, the kids are told what field they are going into and then become apprentices. Most jobs are occupations such as Director of Recreation or Birthmother, jobs that benefit the Community in some way. But when the Chief Elder skipped Jonas's number, he knew something was wrong. At the end of the ceremony, when all the other Twelves had recieved their new Assignments, Jonas was called up and was assigned the prestigious, honorable job of becoming the new Receiver of Memory. Because he was given this job, he was set apart from the other children. He was not to tell anyone of his training, for it was written in the rules. What shocked him the most was that he did not have to follow the Community's very strict set of rules any longer. He was permitted to say "offending" things to other people and was not expected to apologize for it. His set of rules given to him at the Ceremony of Twelve were simple. There was no instruction manual telling him how to prepare for his job. He recieved a single sheet of paper with 8 little rules on it.

Upon meeting the current Receiver of Memory, Jonas learns what the ability of "seeing beyond" really is. Throughout the following days and weeks, he begins to aquire the knowledge of what the past was like. He starts to unearth many different qualities of life that have been lost to people of his time. He begins to see color, he feels emotions that he's never felt before. And just when he starts to feel all of these amazing feelings, the Giver starts transferring memories of pain, suffering, starvation, and war. Not only does he learn of the misery of the past, but he is shown that his own community is not as perfect as it seems. With the knowledge that he has acquired, Jonas must now make a crucial decision that could effect everyone around him. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a gripping story that keeps you interested throughout the entire thing, wondering what's going to happen on the next page.