The Giver
The Giver
The Giver is a 1993 young adult dystopian novel written by American author Lois Lowry, and it is set in a society which at first appears to be utopian but revealed to be dystopian as the story progresses. In the novel, the society has taken away pain and strife by converting to "Sameness", a plan that has also eradicated emotional depth from their lives. In an effort to preserve order, the society
"In one ecstatic memory he had ridden a gleaming brown horse across a field that smelled of damp grass, and had dismounted beside a small stream from which both he and the horse drank cold, clear water. Now he understood about animals; and in the moment that the horse turned from the stream and nudged Jonass shoulder affectionately with its head, he perceived the bonds between animal and human."
"His mind reeled. Now, empowered to ask questions of utmost rudeness-and promised answers-he could, conceivably (though it was almost unimaginable), ask someone, some adult, his father perhaps: "Do you lie?" But he would have no way of knowing if the answer he received was true."
"My Instructors in science and technology have taught us about how the brain works," Jonas told him eagerly. "Its full of electrical impulses. Its like a computer. If you stimulate one part of the brain with an electrode, it-"’ He stopped talking. He could see an odd look on The Giver’s face. "They know nothing."
"It was a game he had often played with the other children, a game of good guys and bad guys, a harmless pasttime that used up their contained energy and ended only when they all lay posed in freakish postures on the round. He had never recognized it before as a game of war."
"It didnt worry him. How could someone not fit in? The community was so meticulously ordered, the choices so carefully made."
"But at the same time he was filled with fear. He did not know what his selection meant. He did not know what he was to become. Or what would become of him."
"The Old were always given the highest respect."
"If everythings the same, then there arent any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!"
"He was left, upon awakening, with the feeling that he wanted, even somehow needed, to reach the something that waited in the distance. The feeling that it was good. That it was welcoming. That it was significant."
"Its the choosing thats important, isnt it?"
"They have never known pain, he thought. The realization made him feel desperately lonely."
"Jonas tried to be brave. He remembered that the Chief Elder had said he was brave."
