The Giver by Lois Lowry

This dystopian novel is based on Jonas, an 11-year-old boy, and his life in a perfect society.

Families are designed by a Committee that “gives” children to married couples, where they discuss their feelings from the day, have perfect manners, are obedient citizens, experience no suffering, no pain, and yet, no one reads books, no one experiences the love of a family, no one deals with pain from an injury or trauma from tragedy, and no one has memories to share from their experiences.

When each child turns 12, they’re given their career which they will work until the Committee sends them to “Elsewhere”. Jonas is given a prestigious career as the new “Receiver of Memory” where his mentor, “The Giver”, begins to transfer memories from all of time. Jonas will receive memories of pain, death, love, sensations of temperature and getting sunburnt, he will “feel” peace, even experience color, and more. He learns that these memories are kept from the community members “for their good,” but could overwhelmingly return to the people if the Receiver ever left the community.

With this career, Jonas learns unsettling truths about his society which he handles well until it affects his own family. Jonas then leaves his community in hopes of releasing the memories, but also to escape a terrible loss. Outside of his perfect community, he encounters extreme weather, wild animals, hunger, and thirst as he travels and soon realizes his memories are fading (a sign that they are being released back to the community). The book abruptly ends with uncertainty on whether he died or survived.

Reading Level: Ages 10-13
Read Aloud Age: 14+

As an adult, this dystopian book is a mind-bending, well-written story that causes the reader to relate the topics of the book to the current social and moral issues we are encountering today.

However, the reading level and content of this book do not match. Due to the topics in the book, it should not be on an elementary or middle school reading list because it discusses serious issues that this age group is not mature enough to fully discern on their own such as euthanasia, murder, suicide, sexual thoughts, approved lying, and more. If your child was to read it, I would highly recommend reading it with your child so discussions can be had about these topics.

Questionable Behavior:
While the book never says “suicide”, you learn of a girl who commits suicide although the community views it as “being released into Elsewhere.”
The book also doesn’t mention “euthanasia”; however, it regularly speaks of releasing the elderly, one infant in a twin set, an infant who doesn’t eat or sleep well, and when community members do not follow the rules.
Jonas watches his father happily euthanize an infant and then dispose of it through a chute in the wall.
A friend of Jonas possibly had dyslexia (they don’t call it this), and when he was 3 yrs old and he received “lashings” for it until he went mute. Once he turned 12, the Committee boasts that the discipline cured his speech since now he was a “productive member” of the community.
The elderly, who are cared for by the younger members of the community, are made to obey with a “disciplinary wand”.
When Jonas is given his new career, he is given permission to lie.

Sexual Content:
Jonas tells his family about a dream where he wants to take his friend Fiona’s clothes off and wash her body.
Jonas is told to bathe the elderly which implies he can see their naked bodies.

Other Things to Know:
The role of “Birth Mother” is not revered as valuable to the community.
Jonas’s community focuses on “sameness”. Everyone obeys the same rules, no one celebrates individual birthdays, everyone receives the same privilege at specific ages and no one experiences prejudice or injustice.
Once children grow to adulthood, with their own families, they don’t speak to their parents anymore as the community views this relationship as unnecessary.
Some of the memories that are transmitted to Jonas are of death, tragedy, and pain. Since Jonas has never experienced these things, they are written in such a way that you are experiencing them as well.

This review is written by contributor, Ashely. To learn more about Ashley, click HERE.