Censorship In Lois Lowry's The Giver

Art has been a tool of self expression ever since the Stone Age, when humans first constructed petroglyphs along the walls of caves. Using solely their minds and finite resources, people were able to create images to describe their emotions, ordinary objects, and the world around them. Conveying their thoughts through artwork allowed many to enhance their perception of the world around them. With this in mind, the concept of art has expanded into a variety of mediums such as dance, music, architecture, performance, and literature. As a matter of fact, the term itself can generally be used to describe any article of creativity.
Nevertheless, with any considerable quantities of self expression and creativity comes criticism. This criticism, also referred to as censorship, can be defined as “the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security” …show more content…
The protagonist, Jonas, describes his account of gaining insight about the truth of his society. Once he realizes that he is living in an entirely censored state, he explains that the members of his society “were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on” (Lowry). Regarding this, the members of Jonas’ society are censored from not only literature, but also memories themselves. As Receiver of Memories, he is able to possess all memories from the past and reflects on how the memories have affected his quality of life. Jonas additionally notes that the people around him are oblivious to the ways they are inhibited by the government and what they are missing out on in their own lives. Overall, Jonas’ realization of the truth behind the use of censorship by his government makes it apparent that it used to strip the citizens of their uniqueness and effectively consolidate