Human Bonds In Lois Lowry's The Giver

Imagine shutting away the memories in one’s mind; covering them with a cloak, never to be seen again. The brain could spend hours searching, tearing itself apart before adapting and becoming numb to the feelings and moments from the past. This is the case for the numerous communities in Lois Lowry’s The Giver. By masterfully twisting together the idea of the the community’s lack of wisdom, the suffering of the Giver and his trainee, Jonas, and finally the lack of human bonds, Lois Lowry writes a tale of loneliness and heartache. Through words, she proves to the reader that memories are meant to be shared.
Humans are constantly making mistakes, but what keeps them from repeating the error? Memories from the past provide wisdom for the future, and in order to stop causing havoc, the people must share their past mistakes to keep others from following in their footsteps. In The Giver, Jonas and the Giver hold the memories in order to advise the people against making terrible
In The Giver, almost all signs of human bonds are removed; love is classified as dangerous, friendships are believed to lead to war, and falling in love is thought to cause heartbreak and chaos. Human bonds mean nothing to the people of the community. " 'Your father means that you've used a very generalized word, so meaningless that it's become almost obsolete' " (160). Jonas's mother speaks of love in this quote during a conversation with Jonas and his father. In order to create a friendship or fall in love, one must find things both common and different with another. This is nearly impossible without speaking of each other's past. Love is non-existent in The Giver because when the creators removed the sharing of memories, there was no way to keep friendship and human bonds. Sharing memories allow for connections to be made, and without that, love cannot