Shelf Life

The Giver by Lois Lowry:

This story is set to be in a utopian society years ahead. The society is structured on security rather than freedom. Each of the members in the community each has an Assignment that is a job that each member must do until they enter the House of Old. Jonas, the protagonist, turns twelve and he is nervous of what his Assignment will be. The Ceremony of Twelve is the celebration in which the Twelves are given their Assignment they will be doing as their career and future. Jonas is assigned as Receiver of Memories, which is an Assignment where he must receive memories of the past from generations before about life.

His trainer, which is the current Receiver of Memories, explains to Jonas what he will expect from the memories. Jonas learns that this Assignment will give him new knowledge that is not known to anyone else such as color, love, and warfare. As he accumulates memories, he tells The Giver (the previous Receiver of Memories since he claimed Jonas to be the new Receiver) that there should be some changes to the society and not have Sameness, Climate Control, and to have choices. The Giver realizes that Jonas has gained wisdom and The Giver himself devises a plan to make changes to the community. Once Jonas leaves the community and goes to Elsewhere (the land that is outside of the community) then the memories will make their way into everyone..
This community basically are robots, not literally though, because they have no true emotions and must do their given Assignments and Jonas learns that there is a need for change so everyone can experience the memories of past, have the ability to see colors, and feel true emotions. So in desperation Jonas leaves the community with Gabriel who is an infant living with Jonas’ family unit (a family unit is composed of a husband, wife, one son, and one daughter) who was set to be released (release is actually a term for the injection that kills a person who is old, and immature grown infant, or a member who has done three crimes/ misdemeanors). Gabriel was brought by Father who is a Nurturer and brought Gabriel to see if he would grow but didn’t meet the standards so he was marked to be released.
Jonas takes Gabriel with him and endure nature at the harshest moments. They went through rain, hunger, and snow to make it to Elsewhere by riding a sled down a snow hill. Jonas wasn’t capable of continuing to go on but he gained strength by remembering the people he loved such as Father, Mother, Lily (sister), Asher (friend), and The Giver. Once he is at the bottom of the hill, he could hear music for the first time. This indicates that he was successful at changing the community but it is unclear if Jonas and Gabriel make it alive or not.

By: Jesse Soto

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