The Giver

            I decided to re-read The Giver by Lois Lowry. I saw a Facebook status about it from Spencer, so thank you Spencer! I had read it in middle school but had focused only on plot, not so much about the symbols or meaning behind it. It was assigned to us so I did not dwell on the meaning; I read it because it was homework. I wanted to read it again because I felt that there was a lot of symbolism I had missed. I wanted to go back and re-read it with a more mature mind and see what had changed for me. I also wanted to focus more on the meaning than the plot.

            One thing that I focused on was why did the community choose Jonas to become the Receiver? I thought it had something to do with his eyes being a different color just as Gabe and the Giver’s were. Later on though, the reader finds out that what Jonas had been seeing was color. Noone else in the community could see it except for the Giver, Jonas, possibly a Six girl and possibly Gabe. I was confused because if they could not see color, then I did not know how the community knew that Jonas had lighter eyes. This was one thing that struck me about the sameness. The color of Jonas eyes also represented specialness. The Giver, Jonas, Rosemary and Gabe all represented a difference from the sameness.

            I thought that the color red seemed important because it was the first color the Receiver saw. I think that it is a symbol though I am not positive about what. Red is usually a symbol of anger but could also be the color of love because of the heart. It could also be the color of blood. I do not know if this has any meaning to the story but I thought it was important that the first color seen is red and also that it is the color of Fiona’s hair, the sled and an apple. It could be important because it was the color of all the times Jonas rebelled against the rules or the sameness of the community. When the Jonas took the apple, he got in trouble for hoarding. When he saw Fiona’s hair he didn’t necessarily break the rules but he also had stirrings for her. So Fiona can represent rebellion as well. The sled was red and this was the first time Jonas received a memory. This is important because if Jonas did not receive any memories, the plan would not have been set into motion and he would not have gained the knowledge he did.

            I also really enjoyed the ending of the novel. I remember when I was in middle school I did not like the ending because it wasn’t a direct ending. It did not give the reader a clear perception of what happened. When I was younger I wanted everything to be spelled out clearly for me. I enjoy the ending now because I like that the reader does not know for certain what happened. It is open to the reader’s perception and opinion.  I thought it was a happy ending because at the end Jonas thought that he had heard music. I thought this meant that the Giver had helped the community and possibly started the end to sameness. This to me was a ending of hope.

            A lot of the parts about the book that I seemed to focus on were obviously that Jonas symbolized the difference from the sameness. Jonas was this symbol because what he had was knowledge. Gabe, the Giver, Rosemary and Jonas all had this along with lighter colored eyes. Gabe was a symbol because he received memories from Jonas. Rosemary also represented this because she received memories, as well as rebelling against the rules by being asked to be released. She rebelled against the sameness. The girl from level Six did not represent this because she never actually gained any memories or gained the knowledge. I think that what I focused on was the specialness of each person which was portrayed by Jonas. Jonas represented to me the specialness that each person has and rebellion against things in the world that tell people that’s not true.