The Giver Symbolism

Authors often use symbolism to give their writing a new level meaning. There is a self-evident, literal meaning. This one is just straight forward from the writing. Then there is the meaning, which doesn’t stand out and is hidden. This way of writing creates a interest throughout the reader, and shows the significance of the characters and objects in the book. The theme of a story is what the writing reflects as the message. Theme is also the hidden message in the writing. Symbolism helps the reader understand what is the theme of the story and supports it. The author, Lois Lowry, incorporated a way of meaning and significance to objects and characters, and supported the theme, in her novel The Giver. In the book the themes were the importance of memories, feelings and individualism, These aspects of the book were supported by symbols such as the color red, the sled and snow hill, and pale eyes.
One theme that was reflected by in the story was the importance of memories. In this story, everybody in the whole society hasn’t experienced certain parts of a normal life, which also …show more content…
In the novel, nobody has feelings. They have all been so oblivious to many aspects of life, and being exposed to feelings is one of them. Since there are only a few people who actually have memories they also have feelings, which means Jonas is part of it. The first sign Jonas had seen of “seeing beyond” and showing he has the ability to obtain memories, was when he saw the color red. The color red has shown up many times in, one example is when Jonas was going down the hill and “looks down and sees a bright color on the sled-red”, (Lowry, 105). Red can represent many things, such as love, danger, and passion. Jonas had felt feelings such as love, fear, and many other things. In short, the color red represents the emotions that Jonas has experienced. This shows how the theme of feelings is supported by the symbols by the color