The Giver takes
place sometime in the future although, it is never specified when exactly this story
is going on which is good and bad because it’s hard to understand this book
sometimes without a reference to time.
However, the book can be applied and used at different points in time
because it is not clarified. The main
character is an 11 year old boy names Jonas.
He lives with his parents and his sister in an extremely controlled
community. Nobody can feel emotion or is
allowed to have an opinion or even their own ideas. But everyone has a role in the community and
everyone contributes equally. Children
at the age of 12 are told what career job they chosen for and begin their
training in that position; they could be “Caretakers of the Old” or be “the Childbarers”.
When Jonas turned 12 he was chosen for a
special job; he was chosen to be “the Receiver.” There is only one receiver and he is an old
man who is ready to pass his wisdom and knowledge onto his successor. “The Receiver” is someone that feels all the
memories, the pain and emotions the people in the community are not allowed to
feel. As Jonas continues his training he
sees what the world is like with color and with feelings. But as he grows in knowledge he grows apart
from his family and friends and he begins to change his point of view on the
way this community lives.
I think
this is a great book for young adults who are beginning to think for themselves
and are trying break away from mainstream thought. Jonas talks about how he feels about taking
on this new honorable position in the community. He feels honored but he gets frustrated
because he can’t share his wisdom with his friends or family because The
Receiver has to bare this knowledge and feelings alone. As he begins this process he starts to see
how ignorant the people in the community are.
The issues that Jonas has with his community can relate to students who
are trying to understand their own society and maybe don’t agree with what they
were brought up to believe. The book it’s
self is well written and is a great book but I found it to be a little abstract
at times, but I feel it’s something students could work through.
Myranda,
ReplyDeleteThis book really intrigued me to the point that I want to read it asap. I do struggle with deciding exactly what age group this would be most appropriate for. I came to the conclusion that 7th or 8th would be the best. This is when the children start to master critical and abstract thinking and I think that they would get the most out of this book at that age. I love how he begins to doubt and look around his world and ask why? The youth of today really do have these moments when the question everything, I know that I sure did! Great Great Book!!
Amanda
I remember this being a very popular book when I was a kid, but never got a chance to read it. Now, it is the very next up on my reading list! You always have a way of picking books that I really want to read, and making them sound very exciting! Kudos to you; you're going to make a fantastic literature teacher (if that's what you choose), because you have a way of getting people excited about literature! This book sounds like it'd be a great one to read in the classroom, because it's not a story you'd hear every day, and it can make kids look around and see if they can see any trends in their own world that are similar to the novel.
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