Gone Girl

Description

Lois Lowry’s novel, The Giver, published in 1993, is a dystopia set in what appears to be an utopian society since it lacks pain, suffering, or emotion because of control over people’s lives. The young protagonist of the book is a boy named Jonas who has been chosen for the role of “Receiver of Memory,” a very honored position in the community.

Now, young Jonas learns from the existing Receiver, old man named The Giver, to understand a world’s past-not one of some old déjà vu, but a world that was filled with pain and war, love and beauty—ideas suppressed so that society can be comfortable, controlled, predictable. Jonas begins to understand that the emotional sterility and the disappearance of the free will have cost quite dearly: people lost real emotions and individuality.

Through his connection to The Giver, Jonas learns to question the value system of his culture; however, eventually he will have to make very difficult choices that will change his life forever. Throughout the novel themes dealt with include control, conformity, freedom, and the difficulty of the humors.

The Giver is one of the modern classics in young adult literature that aptly explores the aspects of society and the nature of humanity. It won the Newbery Medal back in 1994 and continues to be one of the mains in discussions about the consequences of a perfectly controlled society.