The Giver Language Analysis

In The Giver, the community places great importance on language and requires the use of certain words or phrases. Many specific words are used to distort or hide the actual meaning of the words, making them sound less emotional. To the people living in the community, these words are used every day and appear normal; however, to a reader certain words and phrases appear awkward and disturbing. Some interesting examples of manipulated language are “telling,” “comfort object,” and “Naming list.” The members of the community must follow rules about precision of language or face punishment. Saying what one means is important and is part of the controlled, organized society.
Every morning, family units are required to “tell” one another about their dreams and, every evening, they are required to “tell” their feelings about what happened during the day. This is a ritual that must be followed. Each person in the family unit has to take a turn. This could be a good routine to allow people to gain insight, but in The Giver, the telling is not meant to be helpful. People are required …show more content…
Each child is given a name at the December ceremony when he or she becomes one year old officially. Instead of children being named by their parents, the committee in charge of the community selects all names from a “Naming list.” This name will replace the number that each child was originally given at birth. For example, Jonas was number Nineteen indicating he was the nineteenth child born that year. Eventually, each child is assigned a name but only the committee can select the name from its private list. The Naming list is a formal document that is kept in the Nurturing Center and is not allowed to be viewed. Using a “Naming list” to identify something as personal as one’s name seems extremely impersonal. It allows the community to control things and creates emotional distance between nurturers and