How To Write A Personal Response On The Giver

Would life be better if people did not have memories? That was how life was in Lois Lowry’s book, The Giver. The main character, Jonas, was selected by his community’s elder committee to be the next Receiver of Memory. That job was the most honorable job in the whole community because he would be the person who could receive memories of the past. Thankfully, Jonas was not all alone in this important job. He was trained by the current Receiver, and Jonas called him ‘The Giver.’ Jonas was selected to be the man who keeps the community safe by not letting the memories escape to the people or else they would have very disquieting feelings. In the book, the Committee of Elders choose everyone’s job and spouse; therefore, there is a a day called the ‘Ceremony’ where the kids who are twelve are given their jobs. I was astonished when I read that! That would be like my petulant younger sister going out into the real world and doing something that she would do for most of her life! On the day of the Ceremony, all the Twelves were given their jobs except for Jonas because the Chief Elder skipped his name! Everyone in the audience knew it. The text says, “She skipped me, Jonas thought, stunned.Had he heard wrong? No. There was a sudden hush in the crowd, and he knew that the entire community realized that the …show more content…
I am also grateful that Jonas was chosen as the Receiver of Memory even though I did not expect it. If Jonas was not the Receiver, his community would probably still be using Sameness as their way of life. I was affected deeply by Jonas being selected as the next Receiver of Memory because it instantly changed my views about the community. I had thought the community was a safe and fun environment but it actually holds dark secrets (Lowry 151). I am very thankful for memories and being able to see colors! Lois Lowry makes it very clear that she thinks the same (Lowry