HOW THE GIVER CHANGED OUR MINDS
Word count: 1130
Lois Lowry has written many books including the novel The Giver. The Giver was originally
published in 1993. She was inspired by her father who suffered from memory loss and that
kind of resonates with the story and how they don’t know everything in the world. The
society first appeared as utopian but later on turned out to be dystopian. We think the book is
a great read because you get to know the characters and how you relate to them, the plot is
also very intriguing, and it kind of changes the way you see things and you can also play it in
your mind like a movie.
I think characters are very important in a novel because the characters are part of the plot.
There are a few important roles in the book “The Giver”. First of all, the giver himself, and
the protagonist in the book, Jonas, the receiver. Then, what I think can be the antagonist or at
least part of the antagonist is Asher, someone who doesn’t trust Jonas, and also plays a big
role in the book. Asher makes the story more interesting since there’s an antagonist. I can
relate with the character Jonas because he wants to know more about things, and he wants to
do what’s best for everyone. I can relate to this because I always ask people a lot of things to
know more about a certain subject or search for more information, and I always want what’s
best for people, so I can relate to that a lot too. A quote from the giver about Jonas shows he
has opened up to lots of different emotions: “Do you understand why it’s inappropriate to
use a word like ‘love’?” Mother asked. Jonas nodded. “Yes, thank you, I do,” he replies
slowly. It was his first lie to his parents." When Jonas asks his parents if they love him, his
parents are confused, which hurts Jonas. Jonas’ training with the Giver has opened him up to
lots of emotions, he sees what’s missing from his life. The more he begins to understand, the
more he feels separated from everyone else. His parents don’t even realize how much they’ve
hurt him already. I can relate to Jonas’ mother because she worries about Jonas if he should
do things in the book, and I worry about people or decisions they make too. And finally, I
can't relate with Asher because he betrayed Jonas and I would trust my friends about
something this big because I think if someone told me Jonas’ story, I would trust him and I
don’t think this would be something you could make up.
The plot of the story was very exciting, it did take me a while to get into the book, but after
two chapters I couldn’t stop reading. During the story, you create empathy for Jonas and get
to know him better. I think that the giver is a great story to read, it might be a children's book,
but I think it is also suitable for all ages to read the book. That is because it has a great
storyline and motifs that keep you from stopping reading. The word “release” especially
comes back a lot. During the story, it becomes clear what this means. The giver has an open
ending so one of these things could have happened. Jonas and Gabe freeze to death or they
escape from the community. I think that this ending of the book was a bit of a
disappointment, but I do understand why the author of the book has chosen this type of
ending because even though they didn’t make it, they are still released from the horrible
community. I think it’s beautiful that within the story is a hidden message about what’s it like
in a perfect world “the life where nothing was unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The
life without color, pain or past.” (the giver, page 165, rule 19 t/m 21) After reading the book,
it kept me thinking about the community and what I would do in this kind of situation. I hope
this is never going to happen and that we can lead a happy colorful life even though there
some downsides to this.
Word count: 1130
Lois Lowry has written many books including the novel The Giver. The Giver was originally
published in 1993. She was inspired by her father who suffered from memory loss and that
kind of resonates with the story and how they don’t know everything in the world. The
society first appeared as utopian but later on turned out to be dystopian. We think the book is
a great read because you get to know the characters and how you relate to them, the plot is
also very intriguing, and it kind of changes the way you see things and you can also play it in
your mind like a movie.
I think characters are very important in a novel because the characters are part of the plot.
There are a few important roles in the book “The Giver”. First of all, the giver himself, and
the protagonist in the book, Jonas, the receiver. Then, what I think can be the antagonist or at
least part of the antagonist is Asher, someone who doesn’t trust Jonas, and also plays a big
role in the book. Asher makes the story more interesting since there’s an antagonist. I can
relate with the character Jonas because he wants to know more about things, and he wants to
do what’s best for everyone. I can relate to this because I always ask people a lot of things to
know more about a certain subject or search for more information, and I always want what’s
best for people, so I can relate to that a lot too. A quote from the giver about Jonas shows he
has opened up to lots of different emotions: “Do you understand why it’s inappropriate to
use a word like ‘love’?” Mother asked. Jonas nodded. “Yes, thank you, I do,” he replies
slowly. It was his first lie to his parents." When Jonas asks his parents if they love him, his
parents are confused, which hurts Jonas. Jonas’ training with the Giver has opened him up to
lots of emotions, he sees what’s missing from his life. The more he begins to understand, the
more he feels separated from everyone else. His parents don’t even realize how much they’ve
hurt him already. I can relate to Jonas’ mother because she worries about Jonas if he should
do things in the book, and I worry about people or decisions they make too. And finally, I
can't relate with Asher because he betrayed Jonas and I would trust my friends about
something this big because I think if someone told me Jonas’ story, I would trust him and I
don’t think this would be something you could make up.
The plot of the story was very exciting, it did take me a while to get into the book, but after
two chapters I couldn’t stop reading. During the story, you create empathy for Jonas and get
to know him better. I think that the giver is a great story to read, it might be a children's book,
but I think it is also suitable for all ages to read the book. That is because it has a great
storyline and motifs that keep you from stopping reading. The word “release” especially
comes back a lot. During the story, it becomes clear what this means. The giver has an open
ending so one of these things could have happened. Jonas and Gabe freeze to death or they
escape from the community. I think that this ending of the book was a bit of a
disappointment, but I do understand why the author of the book has chosen this type of
ending because even though they didn’t make it, they are still released from the horrible
community. I think it’s beautiful that within the story is a hidden message about what’s it like
in a perfect world “the life where nothing was unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The
life without color, pain or past.” (the giver, page 165, rule 19 t/m 21) After reading the book,
it kept me thinking about the community and what I would do in this kind of situation. I hope
this is never going to happen and that we can lead a happy colorful life even though there
some downsides to this.
