Development of Jonas

The old Receiver of Memory called "The Giver" has the same pale eyes like Jonas, wrinkles on his face and looks tired an very old. He explains that his job has wearied him, making him look older than he really is. The job is very exhausting. The Giver needs to devote his remaining energy to training Jonas. He will give him not his own memories, but the important memories of the whole world. The real past of the world and other things that Jonas didn't know before. He will give Jonas all those memories from the Receiver before him. The Giver can't explain him the memories, Jonas has to see them with his own eyes. The Receiver puts his hand on his back. He transmits a memory in which he drives down a hill ( he didn't know what a hill is )on a sled throught the snow. It is a liberating feeling. He feels great in this new memory. A place of peace. In the second memory he notices the sunshine from the sky. From time to time he feels a pain. A sharp pain. A sunburn. This is his first kind of pain in his life.

One day Jonas sees Fionas hair changing. The hair changes like the apple. The Giver explains the change with the colors. His first color is red. In the future he will see more colors. As time passes, Jonas learns the names of colors through the memories. The Receiver gives him a memory of a rainbow. So he can see all the colors.

Jonas gets a new view of the world. His opinion changes. He can't understand the sameness in his community. The people makes the decision of this kind of society a long time ago. But why? Was it really a good decision for the peolpe? Jonas is frustrated. He wants that the citizen gets the same chance to see the real. The beautiful color, the hills, the sunshine, the snow... He tries to change it. But he fails. Once, he tries to transmit to Asher a memory of the color red, but Asher can't understand, becoming uncomfortable with Jonas's touching him. In the community, it is rude to touch someone else who is not within one's family unit.

My own Comment:

I imagine that jonas will change the community. He is more and more frustrated. He will share his memories with the people. The lovely colors and the great feelings. He notice that the people have not the chance to decide about themselves. They all lives in a illusury world. Maybe he will start to change the world and will make a revolution in the future?

Jonas feelings

Dear diary

I have never felt so different. I hear the people whisper. Whisper about me. It is really unpleasent for me. But I can also understand them. It is a strange situation. I want to get out ! But I can't. It is my destiny. All the questions in my haed. They makes me more and more crazy.

My new rules for my work as the Receiver of Memory confuse me. I'm exempted from rules of the community. Normally I have to tell my dreams every morning. And now it is forbidden? Why is it forbidden to tell my dreams? Will my dreams change? Horrible dreams? Secret dreams? I'm also not permitted to apply for release. Maybe I'm too important. I guess it is a very important job in this community. I would wonder if they want to release me. I can't break the rules, because I'm exempted from rules. I may lie. But the first time will be difficult to lie. It is particulary difficult for me to lie to my parents. But sometimes I have to do it. I hope that this is the right way. But I think the old man will give me all the answers I want to know.

Jonas

Writing an argumentative essay

The book "The Giver" by Lois Lowry , which appeared in 1994, presents a different kind of society. The right of choice is clearly forbidden. The citizens have a regulated live. The Elders makes the decision for everyone. They determine your curriculum vitae. Everyone makes the same experience. Everything must be perfect. Unperfect people will be released. They strive for success. The citizens don't know everything about their society. Nevertheless, they have to follow the rules without question. A safe, orderly, and predictable world without pain. Should we strive for a society like this? Can we call it a "perfect world"?

This kind of community is supported by the argument that there is no pain in the world. The feelings of the people are regulated by pills and other things.

The people won’t make experience with pain. But also they won’t make experience with other great feelings like love. The citizens will never have this lovely feeling .They miss the most important things in their life.  Human feelings are suppressed. They are manipulated by the Elders. Due to the influence of the emotions, they also have influence of the own opinion. The people are always happy. But are they really happy? The pills make them blind. Due to the manipulated emotions, they overlook the bad things. Maybe the bad exist but they can’t see it.

A successful society. There are only “good” people and no “bad” ones.

At first you think a world without bad people is good. But is it right to release people who are different? It violates human rights. Everyone has a right to life. No one can determine when another's life is over.

A regulated life promise success. No one has to make decisions for themselves. They live a simple life and see a bright future. No one need to take care of something. No one should be worried. They only need to follow the rules.

A regulated life can replace the love and other important things? You'll get a man whom you haven’t choose. You get a child. But it's not yours. Is that great? It was taken away from the right mother. A Birthmother is used like a machine. Everyone is the same, there is no variety and no differences. They are clones inside. Where is the own desire? Where is the soul? They seem like cool robots which are programmed. The freedom of the people don’t exist. They are slaves of the community. They can’t decide to do what they want. In reality they are caught. They have lost themselves.

In my opinion a “perfect society” doesn’t exist. It is not right to deprive the human feelings. They have to make their own experience. It is boring if you have a regulated life. Where is the individual? Different opinions are important. The people aren’t free. They are oppressed by the Elders and blind because of the pills. Nobody may to decide about other people’s feelings and life. Everyone has the right to decide about themselves and to do what he wants. I imagine that it is really exhausting to life with so many rules. We are human and make mistakes. We are not like robots.

Writing a characters's diary entry

Dear diary,
I have to digest my terrible experience, which makes me confused and scared. I haven't expect something like this.  What will await me? A Receiver. I have never heard it before. What is a Receiver? There are a lot of questions in my head. Who will give me an answer?

It was the Ceremony of Twelve. The most people says that it is the most important Ceremony. The Chief Elder has the task to inform you about your work. At the beginning everything was normal. One by one was invoked. Suddenly the Chief Elder forgot a number. My number ! I was so shocked. What was going on here? Had I heard wrong? No I hadn't.  At first I thought she had made a mistake. But the Chief Elder makes no mistakes. No. Never! The time passed slowly. Horrible slowly ! I whished that the time passed fast. I couldn't pay attention. Each time, at each announcement my heart jumped and jumped. I was really nervous. How could this happen to me? I was sure. I hadn't made a mistake. Even Asher got a job. And what about me? Now I stood there, looking to the crowd. My heart beat faster and faster. I thought for a moment that it jumped out of my chest. She said that I was selected. I ? It couldn't be true. I was a normal boy. Or not? Maybe everything was a strange dream. I will wake up in a minute. I hoped so. I was confused that she tried to explain something. She couldn't explain it. Why? She is the Chief Elder and couldn't explain a job? Very unusual. The community has only one Receiver of Memory. And old man with pale eyes like mine and a beard. He watched me intently. I noticed that he was different. He wasn't sitting in a group. He was alone and I had never noticed him before. He will trains me. His successor. Me. And I should be the right one? What will my parents think about this situation? Are they proud of me? Or disappointed ? The Chief Elder told something about pain. She said that I will be faced with it now. What is pain? Why she didn't know what pain is? The people were quiet and looked worried. I wanted to stop it and I cried that I can't. It was too much. I was sorry. But what was about the strange apple? Maybe it's my destiny. I have to accept it...

The Giver - Trailer

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEDahlr8izs&feature=related

I found a nice video, a trailer of "The Giver"

I like the background music, because it seems very mysterious and exciting. You feel a kind of danger. The main content is well adapted to the book. At first everything in this world looks gray and cold. But suddenly the apple changes the color like in chapter 3. The Scene starts with the airplane in the gray sky and at the end the world get more and more color.

The community

Now I have read the book till chapter 5 and one learns more about the strange community.
What we get to know:
- The Elders make observation, they know what you do in your life also in your free time
- they established harsh rules for example:
   > they have a regulated life:
   > eyerybody has to talk about their feelings with the family
   > all the children get their bicycle with the age of nine
   > The family must have 2 children, one male and one female
   > the people have to go through the same steps in life
   > the community established the volunteer hours
   > they make a plan for your future ( decide your job and your friends)
   > It is against the rules for children and adults to look at another's nakedess; but the rule did
      not apply to newchildren or the Old.
   > unusual children can be "released" and the old people will be "released" -a decision of the community
      ( We have a strange feeling with the word "released"... maybe it is something like "to kill")
   > the people get pills when they get their first Stirrings. The pills will stop that feeling. (This example shows
      that the people are manipulated)

by Dominiq and Sophia

Chapter 3

- Jonas family get a newchild called Gabriel
- Gabriel has different eyes like Jonas. Both have pale eyes. Thats what Lily notices at first.
- the most of the citizen in the community  have dark eyes, but there are exeptions like Jonas and the newchild.
- Jonas doesen´t likes it, that Lily mentions his eyes. It is not against a rule, but it is considered rude to call attention to things that are different about individuals.
- Lily talks to her family. She wants to be a bithmother.
- Her mother explains her the job. She makes her clear that it is a really bad job. You have three years and three birth. After the three years you come to the House of Old. And a birthmother never even get to see her newchild.

http://www.readingmatters.co.uk/book.php?id=14

- Jonas thinks about his incident with an apple:
- Jonas and Asher played with an apple. He throw the apple to Asher and Asher throw it back to Jonas. It was a normal activity. Suddenly the apple changed. Not in size or shape , but in a different way. It was really strange.
- He was the only one who saw the apple changing. Asher haven´t saw it.
- He wanted to know what it was ,so he took the apple home although it was against the rules. But nothing happened. The apple was quite normal.
- Speaker reminded him that he had broken the rules