The Importance Of Memory In The Giver

Superior Essays
The Giver is stresses the importance of human memories. Above all, our ability to recall from the past is significant and plays a major part in how we get along in everyday life. Decision making, taking tests, and using common sense are all examples of how memory helps us. The decisions we make impact our past, present and future. The Giver takes place in what seems to be utopia or a paradise. Life is good and people are happy. Everyone plays games and is polite to each other. But something is wrong and Jonas can sense it.

Jonas becomes the Receiver of Memory. The Receiver takes in all of the memory from the past. There is also no pain, hunger, war, poverty or crime. This is good, however this also includes music, art, color, love, and literature. A world that takes pride in “Sameness”. Equality is good but you also should embrace each other’s differences. Ultimately, being different is what
…show more content…
You could say that memories scar people and are better off without them. However, this is incorrect. There is proof that memories are important. For instance, we use memory to retain and recall what we have learned. “And here in this room, I re-experience the memories again and again it is how wisdom comes and how we shape our future.” (The Giver) This quote is proof that the book is about how essential memories are. Furthermore, it emphasizes the fact that wisdom comes from our memories and how strongly it affects our future. History, math, science and literature all have to do with memories. We memorize and repeat things until we understand them. No one would remember how to do anything without memories. We are independent people unlike the people is Jonas’ community. In fact, they have people who tell them what to do. They are guided through life with no sense of individuality or what came before them. Memories, our own personal experiences help us find ourselves and ultimately help us get through life

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In Lois Lowry’s engaging novel The Giver, we meet a young boy named Jonas who lives in a restricted community where everything is planned out perfectly, when Jonas turns twelve his world is turned upside down when he receives the job, the Receiver Of Memory. As entitled Jonas receives memories and this changes his life forever, he receives memories of joy and pain, this drastic change shows Jonas what him and the community had missed out on for so long. “ Life is meaningless without memories” memories provide joy, pain, and resilience and provide individuality so life with no memories would truly be, meaningless.…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Giver By Lois Lowry

    • 1538 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Giver Essay In The Giver by Lois Lowry, an important job called the receiver of memory must be assigned to an appropriate candidate. This is because society has chosen security over freedom, they have no danger, no pain, no real emotions. So they must select someone to hold all the memories of suffering, sorrow, and elation so citizens don 't have to experience the risk of choosing wrong or getting hurt. There were many pieces of evidence that assigning a new receiver of memory was a rare opportunity.…

    • 1538 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While Jonas lived in a community where knowledge about the world was hidden, in “Examination Day”, it was a society in which knowing more costs your life. The community of The Giver did not ever provide the opportunity of learning the truth, as children were ‘contained’ from their birth. Jonas did not want to keep in the knowledge as Receiver of Memories because he was overjoyed by feelings. One of Jonas’ rules “Do not discuss your training with any other member of the community, including parents and Elders” (Lowry 86). This is meaningful because the communities’ only goal of a Receiver was to prevent information from leaking out to the community.…

    • 1430 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Memories are the connection between their existence in the past, the present and the future. Every lesson learned, mistake made, and relationship formed are chronicled via memories that define who the characters are as individuals and give them a foundation upon which to move forward. Without their memories, their histories are forever lost leaving them blindly heading into the future where the risk of repeating mistakes is high, cherished moments with others are lost, and their individuality is all but…

    • 1945 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Giver Comparison

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Jonas lives in the community where everyone is alike and there are many restrictions. During the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas is chosen to be the Receiver of Memory, but the feelings he is given are too much to bear. There is no question…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The people do not have colors or feelings. When Jonas is given his job he is selected to become the next receiver of memory, he trains alone with a old man who is called the Giver. The receiver of memory takes all of the memories of the past both pleasant and unpleasant. The line between public safety and personal freedoms should be drawn somewhere where public safety does not affect the way people live. One of the first things he discovers is color.…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Giver, By Lois Lowry

    • 1325 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This characteristic makes the world different from Earth. Jonas is always wondering about what there is there to society and where do the people that get “released” head to. His imagination and his thinking make him different from his family and friends, which eventually get him to become The Receiver of Memories. The Giver, Jonas’ mentor, tries…

    • 1325 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Giver Research Paper

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Jonas and the Giver agree that it would be best if the community had the memories. The people in the community are kept ignorant, they do not know what death is or true happiness is. The Elders have kept them ignorant because they feel that this way everything is perfect and the people do not have to worry about anything. Jonas and the Giver are the only people who can see in color. “If everything’s the same, then there aren’t any choices!…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Giver Courage Quotes

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The plot takes place in a “perfect” world where the government makes it so the citizens have no memory or true emotion. However, one person is chosen as the receiver of memory, and this is Jonas. When Jonas realizes what the government has been up to, he rebels and attempts to bring back memory and imperfectness to all the people, but countless risks needed to be taken for him to succeed. Jonas displays courage by remaining determined to achieve a task no one has ever done before. He knew that if he was caught there would be severe consequences and that his life would never be the same, but he did not let that stop him from doing what was right.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Giver Argument Going thru pain and suffering is by far a punishment, Jonas is allowed to do so many things he never dreamed of which makes him question if everyone can. Jonas being the receiver of memory is a punishment. Jonas is worried for the Ceremony of 12 when he will be assigned a job assignment. When Jonas is assigned the receiver of memory, he worries he is not ready and that the elders chose the wrong job for him. Jonas is assigned several new rules that he is required to follow due to his new job assignment.…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Do you have a memory that you have learned something from? Now imagine a world without memories. In The Giver,everyone in that society except for two people have no memories. Memories are only available to receivers. Receivers are people who collect memories from the whole world.…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imagine if you lived in a town where everything is perfect. In the novel The Giver written by Lois Lowry, there is a 12 year old boy named Jonas who lives in a utopian community or a community where everything and everyone is perfect. In this community there certain people that make certain sacrifices to make this community chaos free. In this story Jonas is chosen to hold all the memories of the world so no one else has too. Jonas changes throughout The Giver and as a result, tries to change the community.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Giver Punishment

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Being selected Receiver of Memory is a punishment to whoever is selected to be it. The reason why is that, is that you are exposed to new feelings like love, pain, etc. Jonas learned about that and learned about the lies told by the community of elders. Finally the job is almost pointless because the only thing you do is give advice to the elders so they can make decisions. This essay will explain the reason why it is a punishment to be selected as Receiver of Memory.…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Memory creates a hallucination of the past, Desire creates a hallucination of the future.” - Jaggi Vasudev. Seeing memories are events that have happened in relative time, but seeing the future will guide you on what might take place in your life. Jonas is being taught to be the receiver of memory. The giver is sharing memories with him so the community doesn’t get them.…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The theme of The Giver is the significance of memory to human life. The author, Lowis Lowry decided to write this book after her visit to her aging father who had lost most of his memories. She learns that human beings cannot feel pleasure if they do not know the pain. The members of the society are not terrified of death because the life is not precious for them. Jonas thinks that death is not tragic at the beginning of the story.…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays