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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Chapters 13-15

Chapters 16-18

Chapters 19-21

Chapters 22-23

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Further Reading & Resources

Discussion Questions

What does it mean to be “released” from the community Jonas lives in? Name a few reasons people are released and explain how the act of releasing someone reflects the community’s values.

Receiver is described as a position of honor, while the Birthmother assignment is said to lack honor. Why is this the case? What might happen if the status of these roles were switched?

At several points in The Giver , Jonas expresses that having choices is dangerous. Why does he feel this way, and how does his opinion about choices change as the story unfolds?

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the giver short essay questions

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Sometime in the future, an 11-year-old boy named Jonas lives in a seemingly perfect community in which there is little pain and little crime. People are polite. Everyone belongs to a supportive family. But this harmony comes at a price. There is also no choice, and real emotions are nonexistent. Life is dictated by strict rules. A committee of elders matches spouses and assigns them children born from women whose only job is to give birth. The committee names all babies and chooses every person's career. Sex and love are prohibited, being different is shameful, and families are dissolved when the children are grown. Everyone looks similar in skin color and dress. Everything serves a purely practical purpose—to serve the common good of the community and minimize conflict. The old and the sick are "released," which the community believes means sent to live "Elsewhere," outside the community.

During family time, Jonas shares his uneasiness about the upcoming ceremony, where he will be assigned his job. Jonas's father , a Nurturer who cares for newborns, shares his concern over a baby to be named Gabriel who is not growing fast enough. When Jonas's father brings the baby home, Jonas notices that Gabriel has pale eyes like him, an unusual trait.

The next day Jonas does required volunteer hours with his friends Asher and Fiona at the House of the Old. A woman named Larissa tells him an old man was recently released in a beautiful ceremony. Jonas asks what happens when someone is released, but no one knows. That night, Jonas has a dream about bathing naked with Fiona. When he tells his parents, his mother says they are natural feelings called Stirrings, and that Jonas must take a pill to stifle them.

A few weeks later, at the annual ceremony, Jonas's friends are assigned jobs that seem to fit them perfectly. But the Chief Elder skips Jonas's name. After everyone else has been assigned, the Elder announces that Jonas has been selected for the great honor of being the next Receiver. She says Jonas has the Capacity to See Beyond, which explains the strange changes happening to his vision.

The next day Jonas meets the current Receiver, who is now an old man. He tells Jonas his job is to transmit the memories he holds, which are all the memories in the world, to Jonas. He tells Jonas to call him The Giver . He then lays his hands on Jonas's back and gives him the memory of sledding in the snow. Jonas realizes there are hundreds of wonderful memories no one in the community has ever experienced.

Over the next year, from The Giver's memories, Jonas learns about color, nature, beauty, pleasure, love, and family. (For Jonas, the Capacity to See Beyond means that he can see in color, while everyone else sees in black and white). Jonas is also given painful memories of loss, loneliness, poverty, injury, war, and death. The Giver explains that the community is founded on the principle of Sameness, which requires the stability of a world without deep emotion or memory. But he adds that the memories give the Receiver the true wisdom needed to guide the committee on their decisions.

Meanwhile, in his efforts to help Gabriel avoid being released, Jonas also secretly learns that he has the power to transmit memories to Gabriel. While asking questions about release, Jonas learns from The Giver that ten years earlier, his previous trainee (later revealed to be his daughter) couldn't bear the pain of being The Receiver and asked for release. All her memories were traumatically released to the community. Later, at Jonas's request, The Giver shows Jonas a release ceremony Jonas's father is performing on an identical twin baby. Jonas realizes with horror that to be "released" means to be killed. He convinces The Giver to create a plan in which Jonas will escape from the community and release all his memories to the community members, to stop them from living such numb and ignorant lives. The Giver will stay behind to help the people cope with their new memories.

When Jonas learns that Gabriel is to be released the next day, he rushes forward with the plan: he takes Gabriel, crosses the river , and flees the community by bicycle. On the road he encounters beautiful things from his memories like rain and birds, but he also encounters hunger and cold. As he is growing weak, and despairs about being able to protect Gabriel, he sees a snow-covered hill from his first memory from The Giver. At the top of the hill, they find a sled and sled down, where they hear music at the bottom of the hill and see colored lights in the windows of houses in the distance.

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by Lois Lowry

The giver study guide.

The Giver combines themes of young adult fiction, such as that of the protagonist Jonas 's coming of age, with themes taken from dystopian novels such as George Orwell's 1984 or in particular Aldous Huxley's Brave New World , which deals with a society in which the majority of the population has been manipulated into a sense of blithe submission. Within the novel, Jonas learns that despite the apparently idyllic aspects of his society, the general absence of history, deep emotions, and individuality has driven the community into stagnation and, in significant ways, dystopia. In the process, he discovers the wisdom and maturity necessary to choose his future while cognizant of the likely consequences of his choices.

Lois Lowry has named several aspects of her childhood as influences on her writing. By her account, she grew up in a very safe community and lived a kind of predictable existence that parallels Jonas's apparently idyllic community in The Giver . In addition, her lack of a father during wartime has often led her to focus on the role of the father figure in the family, a theme that she explores in depth in the interactions between Jonas and his father. That Jonas eventually learns that the community is not as perfect as it once seemed is a sign of disillusionment, yet it is not so far from the usual awakening of maturity associated with becoming an adult and moving out of the community's safe boundaries.

The novel also deals with several sensitive issues such as suicide and the onset of sexuality in adolescence. Jonas, under the encouragement of The Giver, explores aspects of human nature that are never faced by the other members of the community. Jonas thus, in significant ways, becomes more of a mature adult than his parents are. Whereas his parents have never experienced the Stirrings and thus have suppressed all sexual desire, Jonas eventually ceases taking the pills in favor of embracing this aspect of his coming of age. The inclusion of such topics as budding sexuality has in the past led The Giver to be banned by many school libraries, but defenders have argued that it is important to engage topics of death and sexuality among young adults.

Lowry wrote The Giver in 1993 as a science fiction novel aimed at young adults, and it was critically acclaimed in that context, winning the Newbery Medal in the following year. Lowry later wrote two novels set in the same literary universe as The Giver , Gathering Blue in 2000 and Messenger in 2004. Although the protagonist differs in each novel, Jonas reappears as a character in Messenger , and the three novels form a trilogy.

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The Giver Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Giver is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Chapter 13-16

Jonas advocates choices, as well as real family units rather than created family units.

why didnt the game of good guys and bad guys that jonas's friends play seem harmless to jonas anymore? chapter 17

When he looks for Asher at the play area, he sees Tanya, an Eleven, being play-ambushed in a game by Asher. For the first time, Jonas recognizes this not only as a game of good guys and bad guys but also as a game of war. He watches the children...

What do you think of the theme of Freedom&Choice after reading Lois Lowry's The Giver,Dystopian, 1993,Teen and Young Adult genre?

By eliminating as much personal variation as possible in favor of Sameness and a predictable society, Jonas's community has rejected the truly utopian possibilities of a society where people are free to move society forward. The result is a...

Study Guide for The Giver

The Giver study guide contains a biography of Lois Lowry, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis of The Giver.

  • About The Giver
  • The Giver Summary
  • The Giver Video
  • Character List

Essays for The Giver

The Giver essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Giver by Lois Lowry.

  • The Cost of Security
  • A Lonely Mind With a Heavy Burden: Hope in The Giver
  • Is the Society of The Giver a Utopia?
  • Reproductive Regulation and the Construction of Relationships for Populace Control in The Giver and “Pop Squad”

Lesson Plan for The Giver

  • About the Author
  • Study Objectives
  • Common Core Standards
  • Introduction to The Giver
  • Relationship to Other Books
  • Bringing in Technology
  • Notes to the Teacher
  • Related Links
  • The Giver Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Giver

  • Introduction
  • Analysis of themes
  • Literary significance and reception

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Introduction to The Giver

The Giver is a dystopian story by Lois Lowry , an American writer. It first appeared in the United States in 1993 and became an instant hit on account of the unusual story it presents. The story comprises a boy, Jonas, who experiences disenchantment with the living style of his community based on the sameness and ordinariness through the community’s own decision-making process. Recognized quite later in life, The Giver won Newbery Medal in 1994. It was later adapted into a movie in 2014.

Summary of The Giver

The story starts with a 12 year old boy living in a seemingly ‘perfect’ community with no war, hatred, hunger, poverty and crime. The community is established to spread sameness among all of its members for justice and fair play . Jonas, the boy, sees that the community elder, the Chief Elder, has assigned a specific role to every infant he is going to assume in the future after he grows up. Jonas’ father works as a Nurturer, while his mother works in the Justice Department in the community. When his Ceremony of Twelve, a ceremony to allot roles to each 12-year old person, arrives, he is rather shocked but seeks no guidance from his parents. They assure him that the Elders never commit a mistake.

On that day, all of his classmates receive orders to stand in the order of their birthday dates during the ceremony presided over by the Chief Elder. Jonas becomes surprised when he comes to know about his assigned role of getting training as the Receiver of Memory, a high official, who sits beside the Chief Elder during ceremonies. Despite his initial jubilation for having status and position in the community later, he finds himself isolated at this stage even from his childhood friends. He gets further instructions about the secrecy of his job and training with orders not to reveal details even to his close family members.

The main task of the Receiver of Memory is that they should have the collective memory of his community not only of the present but also of the past generations. Once the training starts, he becomes happy that at least he is the Receiver of Memory, having everything at his fingertips tips. The current Receiver of Memory, ‘the Giver’, trains and instructs him how to store vast data in his mind. The very first lesson in memory retention techniques is of the sliding down which surprises him that such a simple task receives such as high confidentiality merely for the sake of sameness, a plan that involves that involves uniform geography, climate and discouraging individuality including skin color. Sameness involves eliminating choice, emotions which could possibly lead to happiness or pain in turn causing war-like situations. As the time passes, he learns about colors, human nature, war, and several other such things strange and bizarre to him. Although he tries to learn about Rosemary, the former student of the Giver but does not get any information about her.

Soon his father informs about his worry about a fragile child in his custody at the Nurturing Center. He has won permission to take him home to improve his health. Eventually, Gabriel, the same boy, grows into a healthy child. His pale eyes, like that of Jonas, attract his attention toward the boy who finds him similar to himself, having the capability of retaining memories. However, it also transpires to him that if Gabriel does not become strong, he will be “released” soon to reach Elsewhere, a concept equal to death and graveyard. The Community has rules to send all such persons including the former student, Rosemary, to Elsewhere where they live in peace.

The Giver further informs Jonas about such things through a video camera in which he sees his father, the Nurturer, sending two boys to Elsewhere through a poisonous injection. This video rather shocks his morality after watching his father killing two children. Also, his friend Fiona is being trained in the fine art of ‘released’. However, the argument of the Giver to justify this action falls on deaf ears. He tries to explain that his father and people like who are being trained for this job do not know this is evil since feeling are not part of the life. He informs him that Rosemary has released herself. The ensuing polemic wins Jonas a place in the heart of the Giver who acquiesces to his argument that they must do something to change the Community and join hands in this venture. Jonas’s idea is that he can do it by leaving the community early, providing the Giver an opportunity to help the people to manage memories.

Feeling the intense need for such an operation, the Giver devises a plan, helping Jonas escape the Community, showing the Community that he has been drowned. However, Jonas comes to know that Gabriel is going to be released prematurely at which he has to amend his plan and take Gabriel with him.

During the hard journey, Jonas ponders if he has made the right choice since the bike journey becomes even more difficult and experience starvation for the first time. But later realizes that if he had stayed back he’d have starved for the feelings and most importantly Gabriel would have not been alive. He dwells upon the risk of making a ‘choice’ has consequences but concludes that ‘physical hunger is less destructive than emotional one’. He feared for the life of Gabriel than his own expressing compassion, love which was never felt by his community.

After many hardships and travelling in the snow , both of them reach near Elsewhere where he comes across the same sled riding that he sees in his first experience as the Receiver of Memory Both ride a sled and see colorful lights with a Christmas tree, hears music for the first time and while experiencing the symptoms of hypothermia.

Major Themes in The Giver

  • Individual and Freedom: The Giver demonstrates the theme of individuals and their freedom through the character of Jonas as well as Gabriel, the child that his father brings home to save from the likely release. Even Jonas experiences restrictions once his ceremony of twelve is held and he later comes to know that he is going to be the new Receiver of Memory after the departure of the Giver. When both realize their role in molding the Community into sameness, they plan to release the memories to revive the community. However, coincidently, Gabriel is released too early at which Jonas has to drop his plan and move ahead with his plan earlier than the fixed time. It shows that an individual has no freedom and choice of freedom except to merge with the community.
  • Threats of Stability: As the Community requires stability, it is decided by the Chief Elders of all the communities that sameness must be applied at all levels. However, this sameness has its own risks; it does not make all the people same, it robs the people of their individual qualities, and it forces them to adapt to the sameness forced upon them. It happens with Jonas despite his being unable to follow it. He feels disgusted toward his father when he releases two kids to Elsewhere. When his plan fails and he releases his memories, the attempts of the sameness cause threat to the stability rather than vice versa .
  • Human Emotion: The novel highlights the theme of human emotions through the character of the Nurturer, Jonas’s father, Jonas as well as Rosemary. When Jonas is inducted into the memory retention department as the Receiver of Memory by the Giver, he feels as if he has been alienated from his close and childhood friends. Almost the same goes with his father when he sees him through a video camera, showing him releasing two innocent kids with poisonous injections. He feels the same situation of having no human emotions in the Community when he hears the tale of the death of Rosemary, the daughter of the Giver.
  • Memory and Wisdom: The Giver shows the relationship between memory and wisdom through the character of Jonas and his selection for being the Receiver of Memory. That is why the position of the Giver is significant, for the Committee of Elders turns to him to have the sane advice after he reviews the whole history where such instances might have caused disruption or havoc on account of the destabilizing roles such incidents might have played. It is stated that although Jonas has no wisdom having practical value for the Community. Yet as the retainer of the memory, he would be playing a positive role as the successor of the Giver. So, memory and wisdom have been shown going together.
  • Dystopia : Despite having initial signs and symbols of building a utopia , the ultimate community that comes into existence is a dystopia where the craziness for the individual sameness takes not only the lives of individuals but also robs them of the natural human emotions. Jonas is surprised at his selection as well as forced isolation that he is not permitted to meet even his childhood friends. He is also horrified to learn that his father, the Nurturer, is involved in the murder of the kids not able to live for adaptation. He also feels for Rosemary who has committed suicide after she is unable to cope with the memory retention task. These developments have made the Community a dystopia instead of a utopia.
  • Isolation: The novel also shows the theme of isolation through the Giver as well as Rosemary, for each of them experiences extreme isolation and becomes the victim of its consequential impacts. For example, the Giver experiences it as his own daughter has become the victim of his obsession with memory retention after she commits suicide. She herself experiences the torture from the looming isolation and resultant alienation. This is almost the same isolation that Jonas experiences and comes to the point to spread or release memories to make the Community return to its normality.
  • Death: The theme of death occurs in the meanings of release from the Community that initially Jonas does not understand but becomes familiar with it during the anecdote of Pilot-in-Training. Soon he comes to know that release is used to make the Old people, kids, and those who do not fit into the Community, leave it for Elsewhere.
  • Individual and Society: The novel shows the significance of individuals and society and their interdependence through Jonas, Rosemary, and Gabriel as well as the Community in which they live. The storyline, activities of Jonas, and death of Rosemary show that individuals suffer because of the demands of the Community to transform it into utopia but their interdependence continues.
  • Rules: The novel shows the reverse use of rules not to facilitate individuals and society but to create a new experimental society based on individuals already trained to live in that society. This distortion of rules has been shown through the elders, their sameness, and Elsewhere.

Major Characters in The Giver

  • Jonas: Jonas is the central character and the protagonist of the story. He’s12-year-old, who has to join the professional life of the Community by becoming an intern of the Giver as the Receiver of Memory. Yet he soon becomes disenchanted after reviewing two events: first his father’s act of sending two kids to Elsewhere by injecting them poison and second the death of Rosemary, the daughter of the Giver. His work of acquiring and keeping memories expands with his intimate relations with the Giver who also joins him to plan their release into Elsewhere after spreading their memories to make the Community properly humane. However, it happens that his father brings Gabriel who is to be released earlier. After this, he prematurely leaves the Community causing the release of memories earlier than the planned time after which both Jonas and Gabriel freezes to death. However, his perceptual power , his wisdom, and his intelligence won him laurels from the readers on account of his struggle to pull the Community out of the clutches of the autocratic dystopian government.
  • The Giver: Despite his being a significant character, the Giver does not stand tall before the young and little Jonas with his ancientness likening to Tiresias of the Grecian plays. His worldly wisdom seems to surpass his memory acquisition job, the reason that he tolerates the suicide of his daughter, Rosemary, and continues working as the Giver. The weight of the memories of the entire Community and his responsibility of making decisions on the behalf of all makes him crumble down before Jonas after which both of them plan to release all the memories. It could be that he gives way to Jonas’s energetic efforts to bring transformation in the Community by making people independent and humane instead of making individuals the same.
  • Father: Working as a Nurturer in the Community, Jonas’s father takes care of the toddlers and dedicates his life to them, yet he does not believe in love as he states it clearly to his wife. Although when releasing two kids with poisonous injections he does not feel anything, yet his concern for Gabriel makes his family members feel the transformation in him, though, he is to live in the system and perform as per his duties. So, his character stays flat until the end of the story.
  • Mother: Jonas’s mother is an ambitious and career-oriented woman who has killed all of her emotions for her progress in the justice department where she punishes the rule-breakers of the Community. The training that she imparts to Jonas and other children shows her qualities akin to Lady Macbeth in resolution , yet she joins her son to deride the sentimentality of her husband when he fondles with his daughter, Lily. She becomes a model in society who wants societal ideals to be followed at every cost.
  • Gabriel: The young toddler that the Nurturer intends to save at every cost, Gabriel becomes a lively child whom Jonas loves for his excellent memory and intelligence. As soon as he becomes dependent on Jonas for his sleep, his father resolves to send him to Elsewhere by releasing him. Although this premature action of his father disrupts Jonas’s plans, Gabriel causes a stir in society by releasing memories.
  • Asher: Jonas’ childhood friend, Asher realizes others his discomfiture in such a Community due to the failure of the concept of Sameness. Although he does not seem capable of winning release from the Community, yet his foibles continue flabbergasting the people around him. Finally, both of them part ways after Jonas joins internship of the Giver and stops meeting him.
  • Lily: Lily is Jonas’s sister shows great love for him nurtured by her father, the Nurturer when he fondles with her. She is a chatterbox and lively and takes care of Gabriel when her father brings him home.
  • Fiona: Fiona has distinct red hair, and one for whom Jonas feels love. She joins a Caretaker to train herself to become one in the future to take care of the Old. As the story progresses, her character diminishes on account of the roles both of them choose to play.
  • Rosemary: Rosemary is The Giver’s daughter, the incumbent Receiver of Memory, and commits suicide after she could not tolerate the pressure of the task.
  • Chief Elder: The significance of the character of the Chief Elder lies in that she directs all the operations in the Community and decides the role allotted to every twelve-year-old teenager. This is called the Ceremony of Twelve that she presides to see how it goes along.
  • Larissa: Her character is significant in the novel on account of her humor and chattiness. She informs Jonas about the release of Roberto.

Writing Style of The Giver

Lois Lowry has adopted a very euphemistic style in this novel, The Giver, using usual sentences but they are sometimes interspersed with run-on and broken sentences. The diction used in these sentences is twisted to suit the new context of the futuristic type of society where the Sameness has been implemented to achieve equality . Most of the diction is formal, though, at some places Lowry has used informal language. For literary devices , Lowry has relied on alliteration , consonance , metaphors , and similes.

Analysis of the Literary Devices in The Giver

  • Action: The main action of the novel comprises the story of Jonas, the new Giver, who has become the Receiver of Memory until he releases himself prematurely. The rising action occurs when he becomes an intern of the Giver. The falling action occurs when Gabriel is released prematurely, and the plan of Jonas and the Giver has to be unfolded before its time.
  • Anaphora : The below examples of anaphora are given below, i. Frightened meant that deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to happen. Frightened was the way he had felt a year ago when an unidentified aircraft had overflown the community twice. He had seen it both times. (I) ii. Though Jonas had only become a Five the year that they acquired Lily and earned her name, he remembered the excitement, the conversations at home, wondering about her: how she would look, who she would be, how she would fit into their established family unit. (2) iii. His father smiled his gentle smile. (2) iv. A silence fell over the room. They looked at each other. Finally his mother, rising from the table, said, “You’ve been greatly honored, Jonas. Greatly honored.” (9) These examples show the repetitious use of “frightened”, “she would”, “smile” and “greatly honored.
  • Allusions: The novel shows the use of allusions as given in the below sentences, i. Jonas had casually picked up an apple from the basket where the snacks were kept, and had thrown it to his friend. Asher had thrown it back, and they had begun a simple game of catch. (3) ii. There had been nothing special about it; it was an activity that he had performed countless times: throw, catch; throw, catch. It was effortless for Jonas, and even boring, though Asher enjoyed it, and playing catch was a required activity for Asher because it would improve his hand-eye coordination, which was not up to standards. (3) iii. Yes, I think I will,” Lily said. She knelt beside the basket. “What did you say his name is? Gabriel? Hello, Gabriel,” she said in a singsong voice . Then she giggled. “Ooops,” she whispered. “I think he’s asleep. (3) These examples show the use of allusion such as Jonas as Johana of the Bible, the apple as the allusion of the first apple, and Gabriel, the allusion of the angel .
  • Antagonist : As there is no person who could make life difficult for Jonas, society itself is the obstacle in the way of every individual. Therefore, society is the antagonist of the novel, The Giver .
  • Conflict : The novel shows the internal conflict as well as external conflict . The external conflict is going on between Jonas and the Community, while the internal or mental conflict is going on in the mind of Jonas due to his obligations to his position and his moral awakening.
  • Characters: The novel shows dynamic as well as static characters . Jonas, the young boy, is a dynamic character as he witnesses a considerable transformation in his behavior and actions. However, all other characters are static characters such as his father, mother, Larissa, Lily, and Gabriel.
  • Climax : The climax in the novel occurs when Jonas sees that his father has killed the boys which means he has released them from the Community.
  • Hyperbole : Here are two examples of hyperboles from the book, i. For a moment he froze, consumed with despair. He didn’t have it, the whatever-she-had-said. (8) ii. A silence fell over the room. They looked at each other. Finally his mother, rising from the table, said, “You’ve been greatly honored, Jonas. Greatly honored.” (9) Both of these examples exaggerate things as a person does not actually freeze and that silence never actually falls.
  • Imagery : The Giver’s imagery examples are given below, i. Jonas shrugged. He followed them inside. But he had been startled by the newchild’s eyes. Mirrors were rare in the community; they weren’t forbidden, but there was no real need of them, and Jonas had simply never bothered to look at himself very often even when he found himself in a location where a mirror existed. Now , seeing the newchild and its expression, he was reminded that the light eyes were not only a rarity but gave the one who had them a certain look— what was it? Depth, he decided; as if one were looking into the clear water of the river, down to the bottom, where things might lurk which hadn’t been discovered yet. He felt self-conscious, realizing that he, too, had that look.. (3) ii. Jonas nodded. “But it wasn’t really the same. There was a tub, in the dream . But only one. And the real bathing room has rows and rows of them. But the room in the dream was warm and damp. And I had taken off my tunic, but hadn’t put on the smock, so my chest was bare. I was perspiring, because it was so warm. And Fiona was there, the way she was yesterday. (5) iii. Jonas obeyed cheerfully. He closed his eyes, waiting, and felt the hands again; then he felt the warmth again, the sunshine again, coming from the sky of this other consciousness that was so new to him. This time, as he lay basking in the wonderful warmth, he felt the passage of time. His real self was aware that it was only a minute or two; but his other, memory-receiving self felt hours pass in the sun. His skin began to sting. Restlessly he moved one arm, bending it, and felt a sharp pain in the crease of his inner arm at the elbow. (10) These examples show images of feelings, sight, movement, and color.
  • Irony : The examples of irony are given in below sentences, A committee was studying the idea. When something went to a committee for study, the people always joked about it. They said that the committee members would become Elders by the time the rule change was made. (2) These sentences show the irony in the word joke that people used to cut at the committee e members.
  • Metaphor : The examples of metaphors are given in the sentences below, i. Many of the comfort objects , like Lily’s, were soft, stuffed, imaginary creatures. Jonas’s had been called a bear. (2) ii. Sometimes he awoke with a feeling of fragments afloat in his sleep, but he couldn’t seem to grasp them and put them together into something worthy of telling at the ritual. (5) iii. He sank back down into his chair, puzzled. (5) iv. The old man shrugged and gave a short laugh. “No,” he told Jonas. “It’s a very distant memory. That’s why it was so exhausting—I had to tug it forward from many generations back. It was given to me when I was a new Receiver, and the previous Receiver had to pull it through a long time period, too.” (10) These examples show that several things have been compared directly in the novel such as the first shows objects as creatures, the second shows feelings as ducks, the third shows chair as a lake and the fourth shows memory compared to some trolley.
  • Mood : The novel shows very light and happy mood in the beginning but turns to dispassionate, sad as well as tragic during different events in the story of Jonas.
  • Motif : Most important motifs of The Giver, are overtness, vision and release or death.
  • Narrator : The novel is narrated from a third person omniscient point of view .
  • Paradox : The below sentences are the examples of paradox , i. Jonas thought about it. The details were murky and vague. But the feelings were clear, and flooded him again now as he thought. (5) ii. This time the hands didn’t become cold, but instead began to feel warm on his body. They moistened a little. The warmth spread, extending across his shoulders, up his neck, onto the side of his face. (10) iii. “It’s just that I don’t know your name. I thought you were The Receiver, but you say that now I’m The Receiver. So I don’t know what to call you.” The man had sat back down in the comfortable upholstered chair. He moved his shoulders around as if to ease away an aching sensation. He seemed terribly weary. “Call me The Giver,” he told Jonas. (10) These examples show paradoxes as the first one shows two contradictory ideas of vague and clear, the second shows cold and warm, while the third shows receiver and giver given side by side in these sentences.
  • Personification : The below sentences are good examples of personifications, i. “It took me many years. Maybe your wisdom will come much more quickly than mine.” (12) ii. And the strongest memory that came was hunger. It came from many generations back. Centuries back. The population had gotten so big that hunger was everywhere. Excruciating hunger and starvation. It was followed by warfare. (13) These examples show as if wisdom and memory have life and emotions of their own.
  • Protagonist : The young boy, Jonas, is the protagonist of the novel. The novel starts with his entry into the story and ends with his plans to release memories in the Community.
  • Repetition : The examples of repetitions are given in the below sentences, i. His father smiled his gentle smile. (2) ii. Almost every citizen in the community had dark eyes. His parents did, and Lily did, and so did all of his group members and friends. (3) iii. There had been nothing special about it; it was an activity that he had performed countless times: throw, catch; throw, catch. (3) iv. The prohibition of dream-telling, he thought, would not be a real problem. He dreamed so rarely that the dream-telling did not come easily to him anyway, and he was glad to be excused from it. (9) These examples show repetitions of different things and ideas such as of “gnawing”, “enjoyment” and “over and over.”
  • Rhetorical Questions : The rhetorical questions are used at several places in the book. Two examples are given below, i. “Yes, I think I will,” Lily said. She knelt beside the basket. “What did you say his name is? Gabriel? Hello, Gabriel,” she said in a singsong voice. Then she giggled. “Ooops,” she whispered. “I think he’s asleep. (3) ii. Jonas was stunned. What would happen to his friendships? His mindless hours playing ball, or riding his bike along the river? Those had been happy and vital times for him. Were they to be completely taken from him, now? (9) This example shows the use of rhetorical questions posed but different characters not to elicit answers but to stress upon the underlined idea.
  • Setting : The setting of The Giver is a fictional distant society called the Community.
  • Simile : The below sentences are examples of similes from the book, i. Lily considered and shook her head. “I don’t know. They acted like … like…” “ Animals ?” Jonas suggested. He laughed. (2) ii. Look how tiny he is! And he has funny eyes like yours, Jonas!” Jonas glared at her. (3) iii. Then, as the angle of incline lessened, as the mound—the hill —flattened, nearing the bottom, the sled’s forward motion slowed. (10) iv. “It’s full of electrical impulses. It’s like a computer. If you stimulate one part of the brain with an electrode, it—” He stopped talking. He could see an odd look on The Giver’s face. (13) These similes show that things have been compared directly such as the first shows their action like that of animals, the second shows a comparison of the eyes of two persons, the third one shows a comparison of the sled and the hill, and the third one shows the comparison of electrical signals with a computer.

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The Giver Short Answer Test Questions

The Giver by Lois Lowry

1. What memory sparks a feeling of dread in Jonas at the beginning of the novel?

2. In the beginning of the novel, it is revealed that Jonas is categorized into which age group?

3. What does it mean to be "released?"

4. What is one reason why a person is released?

5. What is the name of Jonas's sister?

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the giver short essay questions

  • My Preferences
  • My Reading List
  • Literature Notes
  • Major Themes in The Giver
  • Book Summary
  • About The Giver
  • Character List
  • Summary and Analysis
  • Chapters 1-2
  • Chapters 3-5
  • Chapters 6-8
  • Chapters 9-10
  • Chapters 11-12
  • Chapters 13-15
  • Chapters 16-17
  • Chapters 18-20
  • Chapters 21-23
  • Lois Lowry Biography
  • Critical Essays
  • Style and Language in The Giver
  • What Are Utopias and Dystopias?
  • A Note about Infanticide and Euthanasia
  • Full Glossary for The Giver
  • Essay Questions
  • Cite this Literature Note

Critical Essays Major Themes in The Giver

Many themes in The Giver demonstrate Lowry's concerns about society and humanity. For example, she concentrates on the tradeoffs involved when Jonas' community chooses Sameness rather than valuing individual expression. Certain themes in the book are familiar because they can be found in other novels by Lowry.

Throughout The Giver , Lowry attempts to awaken each and every reader to the dangers that exist when people opt for conformity over individuality and for unexamined security over freedom. At one time in the past, the people who inhabited Jonas' community intended to create a perfect society. They thought that by protecting the citizens from making wrong choices (by having no choices), the community would be safe. But the utopian ideals went awry, and people became controlled and manipulated through social conditioning and language. Now, even the expression "love" is an empty ideal. For example, when Jonas asks his parents if they love him, his mother scolds him for using imprecise language. She says that "love" is "a very generalized word, so meaningless that it's become almost obsolete." To Jonas, however, love is a very real feeling.

Lowry stresses the point that people must not be blindly obedient to the rules of society. They must be aware of and must question everything about their lives. In Jonas' community, the people passively accept all rules and customs. They never question the fact that they are killing certain babies simply because such babies are different, or that they are killing old people whom they determine are no longer productive to the community. The community members unquestioningly follow rules; over time, because killing has become a routine practice, horrible and senseless actions do not morally, emotionally, or ethically upset them. As The Giver says of Jonas' father's killing the lighter-weight twin male, "It's what he was told to do, and he knows nothing else."

Another important theme in The Giver is the value of the individual. Lowry points out that when people are unable to experience pain, their individuality is devalued. Memories are so vital because they oftentimes include pain, and pain is an individual reaction: What is painful to one person might not be painful to another person. Also, people learn from memories and gain wisdom from remembering past experiences.

Life in Jonas' community is very routine, predictable, and unchanging. So are most of the people who live in the community. These characters are uncomplicated and complacent. They are static, simple, one-dimensional characters. Because the majority of them do not change throughout the novel, we see only one part of their personalities — their surface appearances and actions. Nothing happens within static characters; things happen to them.

Most of the citizens in the community passively follow the rules of the community. They always do what they are told. Nothing has ever happened to them except when an earlier Receiver-in-training, Rosemary, asked for release because she no longer could tolerate living in the community. After her death, the people were in total chaos because they didn't know what to do with the memories that Rosemary had experienced. They were not accustomed to thinking for themselves. Experiencing Rosemary's memories was something that happened to the people. Afterward, they resumed their lives as before, so it is evident that nothing permanently changed within them.

Jonas, on the other hand, is a dynamic character. He changes during the course of the novel due to his experiences and actions. We know how Jonas changes because Lowry narrates The Giver in the third person, limited omniscient viewpoint in order to reveal Jonas' thoughts and feelings. When the novel begins, Jonas is as unconcerned as anyone else about how he is living. He has grown up with loudspeakers, rules, precise language, and a family that is not connected biologically, and he has accepted this way of life because he doesn't know any other type of existence. But as he receives The Giver's memories and wisdom, he learns the truth about his community, that it is a hypocrisy and that the people have voluntarily given up their individuality and freedom to live as robots. Jonas' character changes and becomes more complex. He experiences an inner conflict because he misses his old life, his childhood, and his innocence, but he can't return to his former way of life because he has learned too much about joy, color, and love. Lowry writes of Jonas toward the beginning of Chapter 17, "But he knew he couldn't go back to that world of no feelings that he had lived in so long."

Jonas also experiences an external conflict between himself and the community. He is frustrated and angry because he wants his fellow citizens to change and thereby give up Sameness. He knows that the community and each person's life will benefit if only they would — or could — reclaim their individuality. But the people can't change. Generations ago, they chose Sameness over freedom and individuality. Now, they know no other way of life.

Other themes in The Giver , such as family and home, friendships, acts of heroism, as well as the value of remembering the past, are familiar because they are themes in Lowry's previous novels also. Like Rabble in Rabble Starkey , Jonas has to leave the family that was created for him. Through the experience of leaving, both Jonas and Rabble learn to appreciate what it means to have a family and a home. And like Annemarie in Lowry's award-winning Number the Stars , Jonas lives in a repressed society in which he has no freedom. Both Jonas and Annemarie risk their lives in order to save people they love. Because the conclusion of The Giver is so ambiguous, we don't know how Jonas' experiences ultimately affect him or his community. We do know that he matures and that he feels excited and joyful as he and Gabe ride down the hill on the sled.

Lowry challenges her readers to reexamine their values and to be aware of the interdependence of all human beings with each other, their environment, and the world in which they live. When people are forced to live under an oppressive regime that controls every person's actions, meaningful relationships between people are threatened because they involve individual feelings and thoughts. Only by questioning the conditions under which we live, as Jonas does in The Giver , can we maintain and secure our freedom of expression.

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  1. The Giver Essay Questions

    Buy Study Guide The Giver Essay Questions 1 What does the ending of The Giver mean for our interpretation of the text? Answer: Lowry has left the ending ambiguous.

  2. Essay Questions

    1. Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of Sameness in Jonas' community. 2. Compare the relationship Jonas has with The Giver to the relationship he has with his mother, father, and sister. 3. Explain how Jonas' community is hypocritical. 4. Explain why feelings and memories have been eliminated from Jonas' community. 5.

  3. The Giver: Suggested Essay Topics

    1. One controversial topic that Lowry touches upon in The Giver is euthanasia, or the practice of ending someone's life to ease their suffering. Jonas's community practices euthanasia on very old citizens as well as upon unhealthy newchildren. Discuss the attitude toward euthanasia as expressed in The Giver.

  4. The Giver Essay Topics

    The Giver Essay Topics | SuperSummary Study Guides / The Giver The Giver Lois Lowry 102 pages • 3 hours read • Listen Lois Lowry The Giver Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1993

  5. The Giver Quizzes

    The Giver study guide contains a biography of Lois Lowry, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis of The Giver. Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. More books than SparkNotes. ... Essays for The Giver. The Giver essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by ...

  6. The Giver Study Guide

    Get LitCharts A + The Giver Study Guide Next Summary Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Lois Lowry's The Giver. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides. The Giver: Introduction A concise biography of Lois Lowry plus historical and literary context for The Giver. The Giver: Plot Summary

  7. The Giver Questions and Answers

    Start Free Trial The Giver Questions and Answers The Giver Ceremonies What are Jonas's rules in The Giver? What are the ten main events in The Giver? What are the pros and cons of living...

  8. PDF The Giver: ESSAY ASSIGNMENT 3/17/14 Value: 15 points Due: end of class

    1. "Memory is not just the imprint of the past upon us; it is the keeper of what is meaningful for our deepest hopes and fears._ -- Rollo May How does this quote relate to the way memory is treated in The Giver? How are books and memory connected? 2.

  9. The Giver: Mini Essays

    Questions & Answers Why does the apple change when Jonas plays catch with it? Why must Jonas take pills? Where does Jonas volunteer? What does the word "release" mean in the context of the community? Why does the community in The Giver favor "Sameness"? Important Quotes Explained By Theme Memory Pain By Section Chapters 1 & 2 Chapters 3 & 4

  10. The Giver Short Essay

    The community members hid out of fear. The pilot was released due to his mistake. 4. Describe Jonas's family. Jonas is part of a family of two males and two females. There is a Father, a Mother, and a sister named Lily. (read all 60 Short Essay Questions and Answers) This section contains 2,373 words. (approx. 8 pages at 300 words per page)

  11. The Giver Essay Questions

    The Giver Essay Questions. The Giver is one of the most highly regarded dystopian novels of the last 50 years. Based on a society where emotion has been eliminated, it sends a stock message about ...

  12. The Giver by Lois Lowry Plot Summary

    The Giver Summary. Sometime in the future, an 11-year-old boy named Jonas lives in a seemingly perfect community in which there is little pain and little crime. People are polite. Everyone belongs to a supportive family. But this harmony comes at a price. There is also no choice, and real emotions are nonexistent.

  13. The Giver: Study Guide

    Overview. The Giver by Lois Lowry, published in 1993, unfolds in a meticulously controlled utopian society where conformity and the elimination of individuality are paramount. The narrative follows Jonas, selected as the Receiver of Memories, tasked with bearing the weight of the community's suppressed history and emotions.

  14. The Giver Study Guide

    The Giver combines themes of young adult fiction, such as that of the protagonist Jonas's coming of age, with themes taken from dystopian novels such as George Orwell's 1984 or in particular Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, which deals with a society in which the majority of the population has been manipulated into a sense of blithe submission.Within the novel, Jonas learns that despite the ...

  15. Discussion Questions from The Giver

    The Giver's social critique has resulted in controversy and multiple attempts to ban it from schools. In some quarters, the book's mention and treatment of sex, suicide, hunger, infanticide, and euthanasia are seen as unsuitable for kids. Further, Jonas' rebellion and his assertion of his individuality might have made parents uncomfortable.

  16. PDF The Giver

    Directions: Read each of the following prompts. Circle the prompt you will respond to in a five paragraph argumentative essay. Your essay must include evidence from the text which supports your argument. This essay will be graded using the I.B. Content Rubric. 1. ARGUMENTATIVE: In The Giver, Jonas was not assigned a job; he was selected.

  17. The Giver: Questions & Answers

    The Giver: Questions & Answers | SparkNotes The Giver Style Tone Questions & Answers Why does the apple change when Jonas plays catch with it? Why must Jonas take pills? Where does Jonas volunteer? What does the word "release" mean in the context of the community? Why does the community in The Giver favor "Sameness"? Quotes

  18. The Giver Essay Questions Teaching Resources

    The Giver lesson plan contains a variety of teaching materials that cater to all learning styles. Inside you'll find 30 Daily Lessons, 20 Fun Activities, 180 Multiple Choice Questions, 60 Short Essay Questions, 20 Essay Questions, Quizzes/Homework Assignments, Tests, and more.

  19. The Giver

    Summary of The Giver. The story starts with a 12 year old boy living in a seemingly 'perfect' community with no war, hatred, hunger, poverty and crime. The community is established to spread sameness among all of its members for justice and fair play. Jonas, the boy, sees that the community elder, the Chief Elder, has assigned a specific ...

  20. The Giver: Full Book Quiz: Quick Quiz

    If Jonas left the community, all of the Committee of Elders would die of broken hearts because they love him so much. If Jonas left the community, all the memories he had accumulated would enter the minds of the citizens and create chaos. If Jonas left, the Giver would be lonely. 19 of 25.

  21. The Giver Short Answer Test Questions

    1. What memory sparks a feeling of dread in Jonas at the beginning of the novel? 2. In the beginning of the novel, it is revealed that Jonas is categorized into which age group? 3. What does it mean to be "released?" 4. What is one reason why a person is released? 5. What is the name of Jonas's sister?

  22. Major Themes in The Giver

    Generations ago, they chose Sameness over freedom and individuality. Now, they know no other way of life. Other themes in The Giver, such as family and home, friendships, acts of heroism, as well as the value of remembering the past, are familiar because they are themes in Lowry's previous novels also. Like Rabble in Rabble Starkey, Jonas has ...