Growing Up In The Giver

When kids grow up in “The Giver,” by Lois Lowry, everyone in the community is the same. Every December, everyone has the same birthday and gets the same gift. Everyone is a year older at the same time. No one singled out; no one left out. It’s all the same. When someone gets an year older it means they are getting to be a part of the community and becoming more mature. Even the land is the same--flat. In the book, Jonas is part of this community where everybody is the same, everything is the same (pg. 104-106). When Jonas’ age group turns twelve, he gets chosen to be the Receiver of Memory, which means he collects all the memories from before the world started treating everyone the same. One day, Jonas realizes that sameness is not right, so he makes a plan with the Giver, who is the previous Receiver of Memory. The plan was for Jonas to run away, leaving memories behind him, forcing the world to be different again. On his very long journey, Jonas spots a hill and realizes he has reached Elsewhere, a place where everything is not the same. He realizes that growing up in a atmosphere where everyone and everything is the same can influence a developing mind. …show more content…
The texts points out that, “He left his dwelling shortly after the sky became dark” (pg. 163), but there is also a very big decision within the very, very big decision. When Jonas flees the community, he takes a baby named Gabriel (pg. 166). Most readers would say that in this time of the book, Jonas goes from being a child to an adult. This connects to the central idea because Jonas is growing more mature in his decision making, and he is mature enough he can make decisions on his