The Giver By Lois Lowry: An Analysis

“They know nothing” These were the words of the Giver. In Lois Lowry’s The Giver the old man harshly said that the community and Elders did not know anything despite their scientific intelligence, the lack of memories does not allow the community to make choices. The Elders, or leaders, do not grant the people of the community to have memories of the past. Instead, they are to not mention the topic. Without the memories people who lack knowledge of information are easily manipulated. Every December the thirteen year olds get a job in the community. Unlike nowadays the citizens do not get a choice in choosing their career. Instead the Elders choose all of their jobs for them, limiting their choices. “Jonas was surprised. There was no way, really to know in advance. it was a secret solution, made by the leaders of the community, the Committee of Elders.” If there was no way of knowing what job you would get, then the Elders control the lifestyle of every citizen in the community. The Elders control the peoples jobs and the people have no …show more content…
Jonas, the receiver of memory, is being trained to retain all of the memories for the citizens. After a rough day of training Jonas’ thoughts were temporarily revealed: “His leg ached horribly, still, and his face felt raw… He could hear his parents and sister laughing as they gave Gabriel his evening bath. They have never known pain ever before, he thought. The realization made him feel desperately lonely.” Jonas’s thoughts retorted the bitterness of the fact from having a presence of pain and misery. Being the only person to have knowledge of memories makes Jonas realize, that the people in charge of his community have been manipulating them by reducing their ability to feel any pain and negative emotions. Thus destroying any form of experience and wisdom. If you never experienced pain, then you would not be able to prepare and cope