The Giver by Lois Lowry Literary Analysis Essay Example
In the Utopian novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry, the Giver is starting to wrap up his job and train Jonas as the new receiver. The Giver holds all the memories of the community, this is a tough job and only certain people qualify for it. This job comes with being the only one experiencing pain and suffering, with the understanding of feeling that the rest of the community doesn't understand. Throughout the book, we can see that the Giver is considerate and miserable at times.
To start, the Giver is considerate, he shows consideration towards Jonas’ feelings by being hesitant when transmitting memories to him. The Giver is scared that he will hurt Jonas as he did to his own daughter, Rosemary. As the Giver transmits a terrifying memory to Jonas, not thinking and just trying to relieve his pain, the narrator explains how the Giver felt in the aftermath “The Giver looked away as if he could not bear to see what he had done to Jonas. ‘Forgive me,’ he said.”(Page 151). The Giver feels this way because, after his last failure, he is scared he might lose Jonas too and fail again, which is the last thing he wants to happen. Seeing Jonas speechless and in pain from what he witnessed worries him and this shows his compassionate side, with his strong gratitude and protectiveness towards Jonas.
Throughout the novel, we can also see the Giver is miserable at most times. The Giver explains multiple times the strain of his job in the novel and how it forces him to be that way,“‘I am not actually, as old as I look’, he told Jonas. ‘This job has aged me. I know I look as if I should be scheduled for release very soon. But I actually have a good deal of time left.’”(Page 96). The Giver is miserable at times because of all the stress and wear the Giver has from holding all of the memories. The memories are dragged along from long periods of time ago and keeping the memories alive requires a lot of energy. This energy is used to hold them for the community is what drags him down, forcing him to feel pain. This feeling of pain is why he needs Jonas to take his memories, taking the memories is what makes the Giver experience less pain and makes him less miserable.
In conclusion, the Giver is considerate and miserable at times throughout the novel. The Giver is considerate towards Jonas, making sure he is not causing Jonas too much suffering at once. Meanwhile, the Giver is also miserable at times, due to the number of memories he has to hold for the community. As a reader, we can think is it just the memories making the Giver feel this way, or could it be something else? We are told the Giver is worn out and miserable from holding the memories and has compassion for Jonas and his feelings. Is it really only from that or could it be from things like his past, for example, what happened 10 years ago, it could also be him having forbidden feelings towards Jonas that only they can understand and feel, for example feeling a sense of love for him?
