The Giver, published in 1993 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, is a novel written by Lois Lowry with 225 pages of 23 chapters. It is a story about a young boy named Jonas who lives in a society full of people with no feelings. In this world, everything appears colorless. They live by a set of rules and one of them being where every age has a specific meaning and duty. As the Ceremony of Twelve approaches, Jonas is apprehensive. He will no longer be a child, but will become an adult in training for his chosen career or Assignment.
Meanwhile, his little sister, Lily, is excited to become an Eight, being one step closer to a Nine to receive her own bicycle which is their only way of transportation. Their mother holds a prominent position at the Department of Justice whereas their father is a Nurturer. One day, he brought home a newchild who needs extra care named Gabe temporarily since it is against the rules for a family unit to have more than two children, one boy and one girl. The next scenario of Jonas playing catch with his good friend, Asher, foreshadows that Jonas is different from the others. When they toss the apple to each other multiple times, Jonas sees a sudden change in the apple that he could not grasp. He asks Asher if he notices something strange in the apple and his friend says no. 
Later, Jonas does his volunteer hours at the House of the Old where the Elderly stay. There he is entertained by Larissa who tells him of a recent Release of an Elderly named Roberto. This occasion is a celebration of a life fully lived while Release of newchildren is thought of what the Nurturers could have done to save them. Jonas’ friend Fiona enjoys volunteering at the House of the Old. She is very good in taking care of the Elderly.
The next few days present the Ceremonies. When the Ceremony of Twelve had finally arrived, Jonas is anxious, but ready to find out his Assignment. As he prepares himself to be called on stage in the Auditorium, the Chief Elder skips his number, Nineteen. The Chief Elder apologizes for startling everyone and calls Jonas to the stage. She explains that he has not been assigned, but selected to be the Receiver of Memory. The essential attributes of a Receiver of Memory is intelligence, integrity, courage, and wisdom, which Jonas qualifies. Jonas is confused and afraid how this will change him, yet he accepts his Assignment.
Jonas attends his first day of training at the Annex where he finds a very old man known as the Giver. Jonas experiences his first transfer of memory which is the memory of snow. It is a happy moment that excites Jonas. He is able to see color like how he saw the change in the apple being the color red. Later in the story, the Giver would often send Jonas home because he is in pain. Jonas convinces the Giver to share his pain and Jonas receives the memory of it for the first time. Jonas also receives the memory of love. Now he questions why his community knows nothing of these memories. The Giver says it is because they choose not to and it is their way to protect themselves from feelings and happenings that would ruin their lives.
When Jonas finds out that the Release of the Elderly and the Release of Newchildren are death, he learns that his father has been lying to him all along. Jonas becomes furious and the Giver decides to plan for Jonas’ escape which will heal the community, bringing them feelings and knowledge of the memories. Jonas tries to convince the Giver to come with him, but the Giver says he has to stay. Later, the father of Jonas says that he will release Gabe. As Jonas pedals his way out to find Elsewhere, he takes Gabe along with him.
After a year with the Giver, Jonas thinks he has enough memories for himself and Gabe to survive. It becomes a long journey to find Elsewhere. Jonas begins to struggle to find food. He is starving. He thinks if he would have stayed back with his friends and family, he would not be experiencing this pain and especially for Gabe. Although, Jonas would still be living in a world full of lies and Gabe would have been already dead. If only he had extra time to visit the Giver to receive more memories of courage, Jonas thought. Weak and exhausted, they reach a snow hill and Jonas is confident when he sees a sled, just like the first memory he received from the Giver. Together with Gabe, they slide downhill and Jonas hears music and people singing, waiting for him and the baby. Somehow, he thought he could hear music and people singing from a distance, but it could just be an echo.
The story takes place in the future. There is no specific town, city, or country, but it is stated that everything is black and white. The setting is significant because the author shares to her readers a different world where people are limited in making choices. They have assigned jobs and specific times to express their feelings.
Lois Lowry uses indirect characterization in this novel. Jonas is a dynamic character and the protagonist of the story. The Giver is a static character who trains Jonas in becoming the next Receiver of Memory. Gabriel is the newborn child brought by Jonas’ father who develops into healthy and enthusiastic toddler, who receives memories from Jonas. He is characterized as a symbol. The community acts as the antagonists because they live by rules which Jonas is against. Lily is a loquacious and lively girl who shows interest in taking care of newborns. Jonas and Lily’s parents are both hardworking and “enjoy” their children very much. Asher is Jonas’ friend who is a cheerful boy, but is sometimes careless with his words and actions. Fiona is also Jonas’ friend who is very caring when it comes to the Elderly such as Larissa. The community, including Jonas’ parents, his little sister Lily, Asher, Larissa, and Fiona, are all static characters because they undergo little change which may have happened at the end of the novel.
The story begins with Jonas thinking about his Ceremony of Twelve. He tries to find the word that describes what he is feeling. When it is time for his family’s sharing of feelings, he says that he is apprehensive. This is the exposition. Jonas’ sight of the apple’s actual color is a foreshadowing. The start of the Ceremony of Twelve acts as the rising action. We are introduced to the conflict when Jonas is selected to become the next Receiver of Memory. This is a big challenge for Jonas because it will cause him physical pain. We are also introduced to a mysterious old man known as the Giver. The climax happens right when Jonas sees footage of a release for the first time which revealed his father killing a newborn child. This leads to the Giver’s plan for Jonas’ escape. Jonas uses his father’s bicycle and flees. He brings Gabe with him, the toddler Jonas’ father was about to kill. The falling action is Jonas’ and Gabe’s journey to Elsewhere and their survival. Finally, the resolution is the scene of them reaching snow, sliding downhill in a sled, and discovering music and people singing which are just like the memories Jonas received from the Giver. There is not subplot.
There is more than one theme in this story. One is limiting people’s decisions can lessen the community’s problems, but cannot guarantee true happiness. They would separate themselves from those without such abilities in order to gain wisdom and knowledge. Another is holding onto memories because they are a part of us. Everyone learns from his or her mistakes, and without one’s memories, he or she cannot correct what was done wrong. This leads to the last theme which is you will not be fully content if you do not go through pain.  Just like mistakes, we cannot hope to move forward in the future if physical and emotional suffering is not gone through because it is part of being human. One of Jonas’ goals was to save the community by leaving in order to bring the memories back to them. Another goal of Jonas was to save Gabriel from release. Jonas brought Gabe to escape so Gabe would not be killed. Jonas could not bear to live in a world with Sameness. This is the conflict. People could not express what they truly feel because they do not have the memories.
The Giver is in third-person point of view. Lois Lowry’s style is like a journalist. Her tone is straightforward and simple. The memories are significant and expressive because the images stimulate thoughts, feelings, and emotions. She also uses imagery and stream of consciousness. Lowry uses a writing technique called an open-ended plot, in which it allows the readers to predict what happens in the end. The title is appropriate because the Giver plays an important role in the story. If it were not for the Giver and his memories, Jonas would not have been able to escape successfully.
Lois Lowry was born on March 20, 1937 in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is a popular children’s book author and is known for her flexibility and development as a writer. Because her father was deployed, she lived all over the world. She moved to New York, spent the years of World War II in her mother's Pennsylvania hometown, and then went to Tokyo at age eleven. She attended high school back in New York City, but by the time she went to Brown University in Rhode Island, her family was living in Washington, D.C. Lowry married naval officer Donald Grey when she was only 19 years old during her sophomore year in college. She raised their four children, Alix, Grey, Kristin, and Benjamin, in Maine and returned to college to earn her degree. Then she attended graduate school at the University of Southern Maine, where she could finally write professionally.
After her divorce in 1977, she published her first book, A Summer to Die. Over the next several years, she wrote and published more novels. Number the Stars and The Giver have received the Newbery Medal. During the 2000s, she has published more of her novels. Lowry is currently living in Maine. She is well-known and celebrated as one of the many young adult novelists who have engaged millions of readers all over the world with her vigilant and receptive stories dealing with loss, cancer, and the Holocaust.
“This book examines a utopian society thoroughly and fairly; it is this fairness that makes the novel so riveting and thought-provoking, and so perfect for triggering discussions. The author is true to her determination not to stack the deck for readers; the ending is deliberately ambiguous, with allegorical overtones, leaving readers to decide what they want to believe.” (Matt Berman) I agree with this critique because I have observed all these aspects as I was reading the book. The quote about the ending is extremely accurate because the novel left me thinking what I want to have actually happened. “The Giver depicts life that is orderly, predicable and painless. In the community of Sameness, every individual has a specific, productive role to embody and execute. Choice is nonexistent and personal freedom is not an option.” (Lauren Suval) This critique is definitely agreeable, too. The choices of people were taken away and each person was assigned to a specific job. Everyone feels the same and acts the same.
I really enjoyed reading this novel. Lois Lowry has impressed me with her outstanding and courageous story. I can personally say that it has become one of my favorite books. As a reader, it was very interesting to enter a whole new environment. I like the adventures and challenges Jonas had gone through. The description of the people in the community who lacked freedom and choice inspired me to be grateful of the life I am living. The Giver is highly recommended to those who like to learn about a diverse society with a completely different lifestyle.