The Giver

1
The Giver

• Lois Lowery

2
Background

• Published in 1993, The Giver reflects some of
  the social criticism
• of the times. Abortion, family ethics,
  euthanasia, and assisted
• suicide are all issues that were hotly debated in
  the 1990s.
• Lowry deals with these issues by creating a
  seemingly perfect
• society that never experiences any of the
  unpleasant realities of
• life.
• Like its predecessors Brave New World and 1984,
  The Giver is
• Lowrys attempt to criticize reality by creating
  a utopian
• society.
• As we read, we discover that the act of
  controlling a society is
• often worse than the disappointments it is meant
  to eliminate.
• We quickly realize that this utopian society is
  really dystopian.
• However, Lowrys society, unlike the others,
  offers some hope
• in the end.

3
Setting

• Lois Lowrys The Giver is set in an imaginary
  world
• during an unspecified time.
• The community in the novel is isolated and
• seemingly utopian in nature, with no pain,
  illness,
• or color.
• Each individual has a designated place in
  society.
• Many of the unique traits and rituals that set
  people
• apart in other societies have been eliminated.
• The author is deliberately vague in further
  defining
• the setting, for to narrow it down any more
• specifically would detract from the ominous
• atmosphere of this society of Sameness.

4
Characters

• Jonas He is the main character. The Committee
  of
• Elders chooses Jonas to become the next Receiver
  of
• Memory. Jonas assignment distances him from his
• family and friends and forever changes the way he
• looks at life in the community.
• Lily She is Jonas sister. Shes a talkative
  and simple
• child.
• Jonas mother She works at the Department of
  Justice.
• Her job involves handing out punishment to
• community members who break one of the many
  rules.
• Jonas father Because of his nurturing
  qualities, he is
• chosen to work as a Nurturer.

5
Characters

• Asher He is Jonas best friend. Hes a boy who
• frequently uses imprecise language, a punishable
  offense
• in the community. He enjoys making up making up
• games and is assigned the job of Assistant
  Director of
• Recreation.
• Fiona Fiona is gentle and caring with the Old
  she is
• assigned the job of Caretaker of the Old.
• Larissa Larissa lives in the House of the Old.
  She tells
• Jonas of two releases.
• Chief Elder She is the leader of the community.
• Rosemary Rosemary was selected as the new
  Receiver
• of Memory before Jonas. She lasted only five
  weeks
• before she requested release.

6
Characters

• Committee of Elders They make sure that all
  rules are
• followed and occasionally asks The Giver for his
• opinion about the rules. They are responsible for
• assigning all jobs at the Ceremony of Twelve. The
• Committee of Elders is responsible for bringing
• sameness to the community.
• Gabriel He is the newchild that Jonas father
  brings
• home to live with the family. He has light eyes
  like
• Jonas.
• The Giver The Giver has pale eyes like Jonas.
  He is an
• old man who appears to be much older than his
  actual
• age. His job as Receiver of Memory, although a
  position
• of honor, has caused him to live with great pain
  and
• loneliness.

7
Synopsis

• Eleven-year-old Jonas seems to live in a perfect
  community.
• Everything is very well planned, and the
  community takes care of all
• needs. No one ever feels pain, sadness, or
  hunger. There is no
• competition between the children in school, and
  the Committee of
• Elders assigns a career to each child. The
  Committee has many rules
• designed to keep the community running smoothly.
  After careful
• study, the Committee selects which men will marry
  which women.
• Every couple is presented with one male and one
  female child. Only
• fifty children are born each year. It seems to be
  a perfect place to live.
• At the annual December ceremony where each age
  group
• receives its new privileges and responsibilities,
  Jonas and his agemates
• receive their adult assignments. Jonas feels
  apprehensive before the
• Ceremony because he has no idea what his
  assignment will be. When
• the Committee chooses him to serve as Receiver of
  Memory, his life
• changes dramatically. People begin to act
  differently toward him. As
• Jonas enters training with The Giver, he begins
  to see the real
• consequences of the perfect life of the community.

8
Welcome to Utopia

• Utopia is a place of
• ideal perfection,
• especially in laws,
• government, and
• social conditions.
• Dystopia is an
• imaginary place
• where people lead
• dehumanized and
• often fearful
• lives.

9
Who invented rules?

• No one knows for sure when the first rule was
• invented.
• There have been formal rules for people to
  follow since
• ancient times.
• Golden Rule- Do unto others as you would have
  them
• do unto you.
• Bushido- unwritten code that guided the samurai
• Gravitas- a traditional rule of dignity that
  Roman
• citizens were expected to live by

10
Watching your words

• Early in the novel, we learn that the citizens of
• Jonas world are taught to use precise language.
• Not only are rules and apologies recited in
• unison at school, but students carefully choose
• the right adjectives to describe certain
  situations
• or what they are thinking or feeling.
• This makes the use of connotation and
• euphemism important tools in Jonas world, as
• well as ours.

11
Euphemism

• A euphemism is a word or
• term that has mild or vague
• connotations and that serves
• to mask the offensiveness or
• harshness of the actual word
• or term. What euphemisms
• are used in our society?
• Example
• A used car being called
• certified pre-owned
• Think of two other
• examples of your own.

12
Connotation

• The connotations of a word are the suggestions
  and
• associations that go along with the word,
  stretching
• beyond its dictionary meaning.
• Notice the first sentence of the novel.
• It was almost December and Jonas was beginning
  to be
• frightened.
• The word December is rich in connotations
  cold,
• darkness, the death that comes to plants in
  winter.
• The opposite of connotation is DENOTATION, or
  the
• dictionary definition of a word.
• Every word has both a denotation and a
  connotation.

13
About the Author

• The Giver was inspired in part by Lowrys
• relationship with her father who was, at that
  time,
• in a nursing home having lost most of his
  long-term
• memory.
• She realized one day while visiting her father
  that,
• without memory, there is no pain, and began to
• imagine a society in which the past was
  deliberately
• forgotten.
• The flaws in that supposedly ideal society show
  the
• need for personal and societal memory and for
• making connections with the past and with each
• other.