The Giver

Jonas, a 12-year-old boy, lives in a Community isolated from all except a few similar towns, where everyone from small infants to the Chief Elder has an assigned role. With the annual Ceremony of Twelve upcoming, he is nervous, for there he will be assigned his life's work. He seeks reassurance from his father, a Nurturer (who cares for the new babies, who are genetically engineered; thus, Jonas's parents are not biologically related to him), and his mother, an official in the Department of Justice. He is told that the Elders, who assign the children their careers, are always right.

The day finally arrives, and Jonas is assembled with his classmates in order of birth. All of the Community is present, and the Chief Elder presides. Jonas is stunned when his turn is passed by, and he is increasingly conspicuous and agonized until he is alone. The Chief Elder then explains that Jonas has not been given a normal assignment, but instead has been selected as the next Receiver of Memory, to be trained by the current one, who sits among the Elders, staring at Jonas, and who shares with the boy unusual pale eyes. The position of Receiver has high status and responsibility, and Jonas quickly finds himself growing distant from his classmates, including his close friends Asher and Fiona. The rules Jonas receives further separate him, as they allow him no time to play with his friends, and require him to keep his training secret. They also allow him to lie and withhold his feelings from his family, things generally not allowed in the regimented Community.

Once he begins it, Jonas's training makes clear his uniqueness, for the Receiver of Memory is just that—a person who bears the burden of the memories from all of history, and who is the only one allowed access to books beyond schoolbooks and the rulebook issued to every household. The current Receiver, who asks Jonas to call him the Giver, begins the process of transferring those memories to Jonas, for the ordinary person in the Community knows nothing of the past. These memories, and being the only Community member allowed access to books about the past, give the Receiver perspective to advise the Council of Elders. The first memory is of sliding down a snow-covered hill on a sled, pleasantness made shocking by the fact that Jonas has never seen a sled, or snow, or a hill—for the memories of even these things has been given up to assure security and conformity (called Sameness). Even color has been surrendered, and the Giver shows Jonas a rainbow. Less pleasantly, he gives Jonas memories of hunger and war, things alien to the boy. Hanging over Jonas's training is the fact that the Giver once before had an apprentice, named Rosemary, but the boy finds his parents and the Giver reluctant to discuss what happened to her.

Jonas's father is concerned about an infant at the Nurturing Center who is failing to thrive, and has received special permission to bring him home at night. The baby's name will be Gabriel if he grows strong enough to be assigned to a family. He has pale eyes, like Jonas and the Giver, and Jonas becomes attached to him, especially when Jonas finds that he is capable of being given memories. If Gabriel does not increase in strength, he will be "released from the Community"—in common speech, taken Elsewhere. This has happened to an off-course air pilot, to chronic rule breakers, to elderly people, and to the apprentice Rosemary. After Jonas casually speculates as to life in Elsewhere, the Giver educates him by showing the boy hidden-camera video of Jonas's father doing his job: as two identical community members cannot be allowed, Jonas's father releases the smaller of identical twin newborns by injecting the baby with poison before putting its dead body in a trash chute. There is no Elsewhere for those not wanted by the Community—those said to have been "released" have been killed.

Since he considers his father a murderer, Jonas initially refuses to return home, but the Giver convinces him that without the memories, the people of the Community cannot know that what they have been trained to do is wrong. Rosemary was unable to endure the darker memories of the past and instead killed herself with the poison. Together, Jonas and the Giver come to the understanding that the time for change is now—that the Community has lost its way and must have its memories returned. The only way to make this happen is for Jonas to leave the Community, at which time the memories he has been given will flood back into the people, as did the relatively few memories Rosemary had been given. Jonas wants the Giver to escape with him, but the Giver insists that he will be needed to help the people manage the memories, or they will destroy themselves. Once the Community is re-established along new lines, the Giver plans to join his daughter, Rosemary, in death.

The Giver devises a plot in which Jonas will escape beyond the boundaries of the Communities. The Giver will make it appear as if Jonas drowned in the river so that the search for him will be limited. The plan is scuttled when Jonas learns that Gabriel will be "released" the following morning, and he feels he has no choice but to escape with the infant. Their escape is fraught with danger, and the two are near death from cold and starvation when they reach the border of what Jonas believes must be Elsewhere. Using his ability to "see beyond", a gift that he does not quite understand, he finds a sled waiting for him at the top of a snowy hill. He and Gabriel ride the sled down towards a house filled with colored lights and warmth and love and a Christmas tree, and for the first time he hears something he believes must be music. The ending is ambiguous, with Jonas depicted as experiencing symptoms of hypothermia. This leaves his and Gabriel's future unresolved. However, their fate is revealed in Gathering Blue and in Messenger, companion novels written much later.[9]

In 2009, at the National Book Festival, the author joked during a Q&A, "Jonas is alive, by the way. You don't need to ask that question."[10]

Lois Lowry was born March 20, 1937, in Honolulu, Hawaii.[11] When asked, Lowry stated that her books vary in content and style.[12] Still when reading them it seems that all of them have the same topic, which is, in Lowry's own words, “the importance of human connection… the vital need for humans to be aware of their interdependence, not only with each other, but with the world and its environment.”[13] This book really matches Lois Lowry's other books in that The Giver shows changes in the characters lives, reflecting this fascination with the multifaceted dimensions of growing up.[14]

In her Newbery Medal acceptance speech in 1993, Lowry explains that The Giver was inspired by many experiences throughout her life, including Lowry’s interaction with her father, who “became an inspiration for The Giver, a novel in which people are deprived of the memories of suffering, grief, and pain.”[15] She also explains that she began writing The Giver by creating an imaginary world that readers would recognize and feel comfortable in.[15] Lowry also mentions that it is tempting to live in a walled-in world where violence, poverty, and injustice technically does not exist, but when doing that we forget about the people who are experiencing pain and injustice.[16] Lowry said of the people living in The Giver, they have lived in a sterile world for so long that they are in danger of losing the real emotions that make them human.[16]

While critical reception of The Giver has been mixed, the novel has found a home in "City Reads" programs, library-sponsored reading clubs on citywide or larger scales.[17][18]

Some reviewers have commented that the story lacks originality and is not likely to stand up to the sort of probing literary criticism used in "serious" circles, while others argue that books appealing to a young-adult audience are critical for building a developing reader's appetite for reading.[19] Karen Ray, writing in The New York Times, detects "occasional logical lapses", but adds that the book "is sure to keep older children reading".[20] Young adult fiction author Debra Doyle was more critical, stating that "Personal taste aside, The Giver fails the [science fiction] Plausibility Test," and that "Things are the way they are [in the novel] because The Author is Making A Point; things work out the way they do because The Author's Point Requires It."[21] In their review of The Giver, Johnson, Haynes, and Nastasis, teachers at Wright State University, mention that they received both kinds of reaction when they conducted a research based on students' reactions about The Giver. Johnson, Haynes, and Nastasis write that, although the majority of students said either they did not understand the novel or did not like the novel, there were students who were able to connect with Jonas and to empathize with him.[22]

Natalie Babbitt of The Washington Post was more forgiving, calling Lowry's work "a warning in narrative form," saying:

The story has been told before in a variety of forms—Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 comes to mind—but not, to my knowledge, for children. It's well worth telling, especially by a writer of Lowry's great skill. If it is exceedingly fragile—if, in other words, some situations do not survive that well-known suspension of disbelief—well, so be it. The Giver has things to say that cannot be said too often, and I hope there will be many, many young people who will be willing to listen.[23]

According to The Horn Book Magazine, "In a departure from her well-known and favorably regarded realistic works, Lois Lowry has written a fascinating, thoughtful science-fiction novel... The story is skillfully written; the air of disquiet is delicately insinuated. And the theme of balancing the virtues of freedom and security is beautifully presented."[24]

Lowry won many awards for her work on The Giver, including the following:

• The 1994 Newbery Medal – The John Newbery award (Medal) is given by the Association for Library Service to Children. The award is given for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.[26]
• The 1994 Regina Medal[27]
• The 1996 William Allen White Award[28]
• American Library Association listings for "Best Book for Young Adults", "ALA Notable Children's Book", and "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000."
• A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book
• Booklist Editors' Choice
• A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

A 2004 study found that The Giver was a common read-aloud book for sixth-graders in schools in San Diego County, California.[29] Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed it as one of "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".[30] In 2012 it was ranked number four among all-time children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal.[6]

Oregon Children's Theatre (Portland, Oregon) premiered a stage adaptation of The Giver by Eric Coble in March 2006. Subsequent productions of Coble's one-hour script have been presented in several American theatres.

Diana Basmajian adapted the novel to full-length play format, and Prime Stage Theatre produced in 2006.[31]

Actor Ron Rifkin reads the text for the audiobook edition.

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the Minnesota Opera co-commissioned and premiered a new opera by Susan Kander based on the novel.[32] It was presented in Kansas City in January and Minneapolis on April 27–29, 2012, and was webcast on May 18, 2012.[33]

A stage musical adaptation is currently in the development stages with a book by Martin Zimmerman and music and lyrics by Jonah Platt and Andrew Resnick.[34]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Giver

• Lois Lowry's Newbery acceptance speech