The Giver

5 Pages 1291 Words

The Giver
By Lois Lowry

“The Giver” by Lois Lowry is about a community that is monitored very closely. Everything that the people of this community do is watched and recorded. They are punished for not doing something right or by the rules, and they are rewarded when done right. There is a procedure for everything, and they must follow the procedure or be punished. There is even a specific way that they are to apologize for doing something wrong. This community lives by “Sameness.” There is no color, the family units are not self-chosen, and they are picked by observing who would be the best mate. The two adults in the family unit must apply for children when they are ready, and they can only have two; one boy and one girl. There is a special ceremony that advances every child in the community, and at the ceremony, they give families that have applied for a child the one that the elders think would be the best child for them. When a child gets to be a twelve, he is given an assignment. This is to be the job that he or she will do for the rest of their time, until they are placed in The House of the Old. Once you have lived a long and fulfilling life, and you are ready to go, you will be released, and your name is placed back into the records to be recycled and used again on another Newchild. Unless you have done something very wrong, your name is used once you are gone. If you have committed some kind of wrongdoing, your name is never to be spoken again. The process of Release means that you are killed and taken care of. Everything in this community is run very smoothly and with very much order.
This community uses euphemisms to sugar coat the harsh reality that things happen. Death happens, birth defects happen, under developing children happen. This community uses the euphemisms to make it easy for the people to the community to take it. If they don’t know exactly what “Release” is then they cannot fear it and they ...