Entry 8: Wil You Remember This Too?

The Giver is a very intriguing, coming of age novel that seems, based on its history, to be very impactful for both adolescents and adults. Full of powerful scenes that seem to evoke deep emotions even when you see them coming, the detailed text and content of The Giver is still questioned based its powerful scences that seem to be disturbing, troubling, and that contain inappropriate practices. Thus, five years from now, these are the scences that will resonate the most in my mind. I will definitely remember the scene where Jonas’s father enthusiastically helps kill the unwanted child while Jonas watches and the scene where Rosemary, who was chosen as the Receiver of Memory, requests release and chooses to euthanize herself as opposed to living with her newfound knowledge—that she is The Giver’s daughter. Both scenes are appalling and unnerving; to think that in this society where the individuals of the community are never sad, hurting, or feeling pain, for something like this to occur is pretty chilling and hurtful. Other scenes from The Giver that I will remember years from now are the scenes where The Giver gives Jonas painful memories of poverty, pain, lonliness, and death in order to unload some of the pain that he, himself, is carrying. The scenes where he shares memories of excrutiating pain with Jonas are particualarly memorable. For example, the scene where The Giver transmits the painful memory of Jonas breaking his leg while riding on a sled is difficult to read about because, like all of the other memories given to Jonas, he has never before experienced pain, and this hurt is not just emotional—it is excrutiating physical pain. Lastly, I will also continue to think about one particular scene that is a little bit more optimistic and happy in a way. This scene is the one in which Gabriel is about to be released because of his sleeping difficulties. Yet, having grown attatched to Gabriel, Jonas risks his own life and takes Gabriel and runs away, searching for a place where there are colors, love, happiness, and even pain. These scenes are all affecting because, like Jonas, I want to be able to enter into this ‘utopian’ society and save Jonas and the others in the community from themselves and their desire to remain in this world of “sameness.” Moreover, the scenes are affecting because Lowry’s descriptions are very vivid and lyrical, eliciting strong instinctive reactions.