The Giver By Lois Lowry

Jack Caroll once said “the greatest utopia would be if we could all realize that no utopia is possible; no place to run, no place to hide, just take care of business here and now” (Caroll). Is it possible for our world to become a complete utopian society with no problems and no worries? The chances of this happening are slim to none. There is no way for every person to agree on the same thing and be able to like the way it is. People have different views on the way anything should be done and not every time people agree. A utopian society will never be accomplished. In the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry the people live in a utopian society and everyone lives with like emotions. The people of The Givers community feel no pain, no happiness,
The main character is an eleven year old boy named Jonas. He is reaching his twelfth birthday which means he will become an adult member of the community. This is also where he will be assigned his career. Jonas was not assigned an ordinary job. He was assigned to be the Receiver of Memory. This was the one person that could remember actual life like war, emotions and pain. To prevent all these from happening again there is one person, Jonas to make sure none of the same mistakes occur again. His assignment is completely different from everyone else’s. The people of the community do not see color, have no emotions, and have no memories to remember good and bad times. But Jonas received memories after The Giver places his hand on his back. As he was receiving the memories everything came alive to him he was now able to see color, feel excitement and terror, feel the weather conditions if it warm and sunny or cold and rainy. These were all new emotions that no one else could have. Once he received them all he realized how bland and plain his community really
There biggest one is they have a celebration when you reach the age of twelve. This marks your step into adulthood in the community and this is when they assign you your job. You are assigned a job based on your abilities and interests. At the ceremony of twelve, Jonas is given the highly honored Receiver of Memory. The Receiver is the community’s memory vault. When the community decided to go to “Sameness” (its painless, warless, and emotionless state of tranquility and harmony) it abandoned all memories of pain, war, and emotion. The memories cannot disappear completely because someone must bear the pain so the community does not make the same mistakes. Jonas is selected for this job by the current Receiver who is a wise old man who tells Jonas to call him The Giver. The Giver transmits memories by placing his hands on Jonas’ bare back. Jonas receives memories of pleasure and pain, hunger and love, and happiness and fear. After receiving these memories Jonas realizes how bland life is in the community. The memories make Jonas’ life better and more meaningful and he wishes that he could share the happiness he is experiencing with the people he loves. Jonas cannot share the joy with the community because they have never felt the joy of life before so they would not know what he is talking about. This is what Jonas has to deal with in exchange for his community’s peaceful existence.