You may comment on what you like, but here are some questions to get you started:
- Why is conformity so important to the success of this community?
- In what ways is our own society/community in any way similar to Jonas'?
- How much freedom would you give up to gain more safety, security and order?
If there are inequalities, people will have revolts for equality. For success of the community, there must be conformity, with just laws for EVERYONE. Even though the Council of Elders and The Reciever of Memories are treated like "royalty", they are the ones that make those laws, work hard to make them and also probably follow them.
ReplyDeleteConformity is essencial for, especially, this community. If there are remarkable differences, it will generate conflicts, since then people would want to be better than the others in appearance, size, and also in other ways. This, obviously is going to cause distopia. By having conformity, people can always be the same and everyone will live in peace.
ReplyDeleteI think conformity is nessascary because since the people there do not know about life they be easily convinced by a powerful speaker to revolt.
ReplyDeleteI think the only thing that relates us to their community is that we also have rules. communities like these have no space in our world. they would not be able to achieve sameness because of all the diversity. I would not give up any freedom for safety. why be safe when you can not be free?
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ReplyDeleteOur society and Jonas's community can be compared by vehicles. When our society gets to the age of 17, they can start going to Driving School and at the age of 18 can already get their driver's liscense. In the USA, the people are younger but it also carries the same idea. On Jonas's community, were vehicles are bikes, the Eights can train with their older brother/sister's bikes so they can train until they get their own in the Nine ceremony.
ReplyDeleteNow it has almost been a year scince Jonas began training, and now he starts to receive harder and more painful memories. One day jonas asks the Giver "what's your favorite memory," and the Giver tells him to lay down on the bed. he does and the Giver gives him a memory that starts with a family by a fireplace opening gifts and the kids were with their grandparents. The memory ends and Jonas wakes up and tells the giver that he doesn't quite get the word and the Giver tells him "it is love." Jonas is now facinated by that memory.
ReplyDelete*responding to lennart*
ReplyDeletei agree about what Lennart said that we cannot generate these communtities because there is to much diversity and that would already mess up their way of life
Also, i agree with him that since the people dont know about real life and how it works, it would be easy for a person like Jonas to speak up for them and they would revolt. It really isnt easy to maintain this "utopia." Of all the people in the community, wouldnt just one have a differnt color or something differnt and give doubts to the people? I think so. But i disagree with Lennart about one part. "i would not give up any type of freedom for safety". i diagree with that because what if you dont give up freedom but you aren't safe so, lets say you die. Are you sure you wouldn't regret that you could have stopped or ecaped death by picking safety?
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ReplyDeleteI think that conformity is necessary in a community, beause without it, people would be acting in an way that others don't approve of, and think that is incorrect. For example, what if somebody dresses in a way that others don't like. You instead of listening will be an nonconformist.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, not having conformity is also good, in some way, because if you want to dress in a way that others do, and put your hair in a way you like it, then you would not be allowed to. but instead, you would have to dress in a different way, and sometimes believe in a different religion.
I also agree with Maria Clara, that if we didn't have conformity other would be jealous,that could even go to a limit of transgression.
So,in my opinion, we should have conformity.
Responding to Maria Clara:
ReplyDeleteIts true, without haing conformity, people would want to compete between, their differences, causing a big problem. Then this community will not be more utopian, but an distopia. If they didn't have conformity, their way of life would change completely, and they would have to live by fights. Each would want to life their own way, thinking its the best. That would cause the assembely in a trouble. Not everyone would like to wear or have their knew "things" they recieve each year.
Adding to Thales's comment:
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising that his parents don't love him, they "enjoy" him. One day Jonas asked to his parents and asked,"do you love me?" His parents thought that that was rude.
That means that their community is completely different then our lives if they enjoy their children and don't love them.
Lennart said, "I would not give up any freedom for safety. "Why be safe when you can not be free?" I understand why Lennart loves freedom. We all want to believe that we can make choices about what is important in our lives. At the same time, we often give up freedoms in the real world without giving it a second thought. For example, we have seatbelt laws that limit our freedom to choose. Notice how we accept these laws now without any real protest.
ReplyDeleteWe notice the lack of choice and freedom in "The Giver" but may be ignoring how our own society sometimes limits our choices.
Responding to everyone who thinks conformity is good:
ReplyDeleteI think that conformity is not necessary for a community. Who cares if you're different then others. It's actually cool. You're style is always cooler than others. And who cares if there is a fight because of style. I mean it's not going to become a dystopia just because of a fight between two girls fighting and saying bad words.
Well, every time you read, and continue reading, the Giver is giving his memories away... Jonas is understanding, and visualizing more what the Giver is expressing, even though he dosn't like or want's to feel the memory. Jonas wants to feel the memories, so the Giver doesn't feel the pain. But when the Giver finishes the memory, he does not want to be there anymore. Jonas is basically doing the favor to the Giver, not because he wants to feel the real pain. That makes him a boy with lots of personalities.
ReplyDeleteOne day Jonas asks the Giver if he could see that mornings release and the giver says yes. so the tape starts rolling. Then Jonas sees his dad enter a room with a baby and weights him, then he hands the baby over to a nurse and grabs the other twin and weights him. The first twin weighted more so he and the nurse leave the room and his dad starts the release seremony. His dad grabs a syringe and injects a clear liguind on the bayb's vein. After a while the baby stops moving and his dad puts the baby in a box and sends him down some sort of tube. Jonas then says "he killed it my dad killed it." That night Jonas doesn't go home.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I thought that was really frustrating, was when, Jonas tells his parents that he wanted to take care of Gabe for the night. So, in the night, Gabe starts to cry, and to not wake up his parnets Jonas rubs him on the back. suddenly, he remember of the memory of the boat sailing. He slowly then feels something, he was loosing the memory. After sometime, he completly forgets the memory. I thought that this was very upsetting. I would have let go of the baby,and move the basket in a way!I WOULD AHVE DONE SOMETHING ELSE THAN RUB GABE!!! WHAT WILL HE TELL THE GIVER??? ...
ReplyDeleteIn reponse to Natahsa's comment, I think that she is right because evry time you read in every chapter there is alwas a scene where the giver is giving Jonas a new memory.
ReplyDeleteConformity is so important to the community because if people cared about differences , there would be fight and discord , and the peace and serenity of the community would be broken. There would also be racism , prejudice , and other problems that difference cause.
ReplyDeleteOh my god. Responding to Thales.
ReplyDeleteI am still not at this part of the book but how can people be so cruel. Killing a baby that doesn't weight enough. What the heck. THis shows that this community is actually not a real utopia. At the begging i thought it was one but now its a real dystopia.
Replying to Mrs. Kuhn she said that we accept the seatbelt rule without protest but I think we do this because it improves our chance of survival so we do it. Responding to Lennart if we didn’t have safety we would be under attack all of the time so would we really be free. I also agree to Natasha and it would not be fun to live in fights. It would be hard to have fun and to make friends so I think that the elders made a good choice for once. I think that living in this place must really suck
ReplyDeleteResponding to Natasha.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that in every chapter there is a new memory that is good or terrible. It actually makes the book extremely interesting. I love this book. It is just epic and becomes more and more interesting everytime i read it.
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ReplyDeleteI would like to respond to those students who say that conformity is important in society. I agree that some degree of conformity may be important so that order is maintained. Also, conformity give us our culture, i.e. our standards in behavior, dress, and customs.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I would like to think that we could build a society where we accepted non-conformity as well. There are always non-conformists: those people in any society who want to be different and do things their own way. In some places, these "different" people are harrassed and persecuted. Is that a just society? Can't we accept people's differences without allowing differences to result in violence?
When you get to the part in were the Giver talks that his feeling was love, Jonas gets fascinating. So, Jonas decides to ask his dad adn mom if they loved him. They said that it was roud to ask those types of questions. Putting myself in his position, if it was me, I would just go and run away of that family or community. Cause if anyone in your family does not give you love than it looks like "your" parents, were told to take care of us so they could recieve money, in change...
ReplyDeleteI agree with Juliana. Every year , or every now and then , when you get older , you get more priviledges and rights, althoght in Jona's community they gain jobs and responsability's a lot erlier than we would. They get a job at 12 , when in our society people can't work untill they're 14 , at least.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Max's comment, I too think that it's surprising that his parents enjoy him and don't love him. He decides to ask that after the memory of love. He gets home and asks his parent "do you love me" and his parents say that he is using improper language and that he should use enjoy instead of love. Then after that his dad says "and yes I do enjoy you son.
ReplyDeleteIn the Giver, onememory that the Giver passes to Jonas, is the one about elephant hunters. He sees elephants, and then one of them dies. Another elephant comes and see the elphant dead. Then he starts to make this very strange sound, like as if he were crying. How sad is that? I think that it would be really "painful"for Jonas to see these elephant die, especially, not knowing what many of them. Also, beacause he lives in a communtiy where utopia exist, and there is not that many actions of transgression.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Javiera´s comment:
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Javi. The memory wasn´t so painful, when he sees the elephant crying. It would be more painful if Jonas saw the elephant dying, and suffering. If Jonas had saw the elephant suffering, then this memory, would give him painful dreams... I think that the Giver didn´t give Jonas such a painful memory, because he wasné prepared.
I think conformity is very important in this community, because they are always following the same standards in life. For example when you are bring released, it's always the same, you get poisoned. And it's always the same things hapening for everyone when they turn twelve, they get a bike. If you wouldn't follow this, the community would have the same standards and that's not what the council of elders want. So i think conformity is very important to the success of his community.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't give up my freedom for more safety, security and order. I think freedom is one of the most important things of life. If you had more safety and more order in your community, you still can't do what you want. You would be safe but not free. So, I think freedom is more important than more safety, security and order.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Javiera:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Javiera about what she says about conformity. It's important that people act in an approving way in their community, because otherwise the community wodn't be as the council of elders want it to be. I also agree with her that it may cause some limits sbout your life, and thats quite sad. Same about your hair. Altough conformity is sometimes good, I don't think conformity is good.
Responding to Thales:
ReplyDeleteThales explained what happened in the release Jonas have seen. I think it's supid about what they do to the little baby. It's really stupid. I got really shocked when I read that part in the book, because I thought you were getting released into the world outside. So I think when you get released in this community, it is really stupid.
I think that I would relinquish very little things or rights that I have, even if then I could be safe or in a peaceful place. It depends on what the things are and what would be gained from giving them up. For example, I could give up on things that don't really matter, like the freedom to wear pants instead of skirts, just to give a random example, but I would never give up on something important, like seeing colors, or something that sets me apart from the group, like listening to the music I like or reading the books that I want just because I have to read and listen to what everyone listens or reads. For example, on page 84, the Giver says that hills and snow were banished because they made the production and transportation of goods harder. I would not give up on hills for that, since a few minutes more of transport of goods will not kill anyone. Maybe I would give up snow, though, since snow really can destroy a whole source of food, and we need food to survive. So you can see why I would give up on certain things but not on others, depending on what they are.
ReplyDeleteOn pages 147 to 151, the author tells the readers what "release" means. She does this in a very shocking way, causing both Jonas and the readers to feel anguish. I think the author is right in revealing the meaning this way, because the fact that Jonas' dad is the one to "release" the baby causes the readers to feel more inside the story, hating the community even more and feeling sorry for Jonas. Also, since Jonas discovered it this way, it causes him to do what he does towards the end of the book, but I will not say what it is since some people haven't read it yet. I belive that, if Jonas knew since the beginning what "release" meant, he would not take the choice that he took, and it would alter the end of the book and the destiny of the Community completely. So, as you can see, Lois Lowry was right in revealing this big secret the way she did, shaping the whole plot.
ReplyDeleteNatasha says that she would run away from the Community if her mom told her that she didn't love her, but enjoyed her, like Jonas' mom did on page 127. I agree with her, because I would do the same thing, knowing what love was, like Jonas did. I would feel really lonely and unloved, and I would probably escape the Community, even though I would have done it anyway if I were Jonas, even after having received the first memory. So you can see that I agree with Natasha when she says that she would run away.
ReplyDeleteIn one of her posts, Javiera writes that if she were to make Gabe sleep and felt one of her memories passing to him she would just pull her hand away and not give him any other memories. She also asks herself what Jonas was supposed to tell the Giver now. On the one hand, I agree with her, because I would not transmit any memory to anyone without asking the Giver first. On the other hand, I disagree with Javiera because, if I had accidentally transmitted a memory to someone who was not supposed to receive it, I would simply have told the Giver about it and asked what I would have to do about it, with no extra drama. He knows more than Jonas and has more wisdom when it comes down to the topic of memories. It might be just fine, I don't really think that a little baby with one insignificant memory of a sail would do any harm, but if the Giver told me not to do it anymore I simply would not. So you can see how I both agree and disagree with Javiera.
ReplyDeleteAccording to page 162, Jonas and The Giver are planning an escape to Elsewhere. What I think that will probably happen next is that, yes, Jonas is going to be able to escape from his community. He will go to Elsewhere. There, he is probably going to discovere many things he has not ever dreamed about. he will probably go to, at first, to other communities. They will also probably be very hueless and with strict rules, just maybe a few small changes. He will do a long journey through them all and then get to Elsewhere. He already knows that babies and the Old do not go to Elsewhere, but they get a shot with probably some type of poison and then they later are disposed into a stenchful deposit. He might be questioning what actually is this Elsewhere. Does it really exist or is it just a blanc piece of land where all the memories he had been given happened a long time ago? I do not know, but I can't wait to discover what adventures are awaiting Jonas.
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ReplyDeleteIf we want a place to be secure, we need to take away all the things that could posiibly generate it. Nothing could than be dangerous and the government would need to make sure everyone made the right choices. For security to happen, all evil must be eliminated and every aspect of life must to be controled. To maintain order, there must be very strict rules which all should follow. To make all follow, they need to have a whole lot of technology that we currently do not posses. If yoou want order, you may not let people have freedom of ideas. If you want peace that come togetehr with order, you must delete freedom and emotions. If you delete emotions, people will rebel for their freedom, and that's where the governemnt and the strict rules need to be applied. A strict regime would be the best way to rule a place like this. Almost no freedom could be given at all for a "perfect" place like this to indeed exist.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Francesca and Natasha:
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you. I would also runaway if I new my parents did not love me. I would runaway anyway if I were to live in a place like this community. Yes, it does happen in the future, but that does not mean that it is better. They need to have a whole lot of technology to be able to control people the way they do. Another reason that would help me making the decisio of running away would be that people are all to equal. Of course it was a choice to have adopted Sameness, but I still don't think I would be able to live there not even for one million of dollars. Like Jonas sais, they should not have adopted Sameness. The differences among each person is what unites us and makes us unique people. While some people are better on this, some are better in that. What is we were all just equal? That would explain why the Elders need to choose who you will marry. Besides making the wrong choice, since so many think the same way, why would they want to marry if they are gaining nothing that they dont already have? I would not live one second if it were to be in that community. Being different is good mot of the time, and I would not abandon it for anything in this world.
Responding to Thales and John:
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you. It's indeed pretty ridiculous that when you are released you are killed. If you were obligated to go to the "real world", it would then actually be good to be released, but to be killed? That is just to exagerated. People lie when saying you go to Elsewhere when you are released. Maybe Elsewhere is your second life, hell, heaven; just someplace else that is not on this planet anymore. It's simply redicilously stupid what actually happen when you are released, but I understand why the author choose to do so. She wanted to give an end to those who broke the law or had something different, and the best way would probably be execution. It conprehensible, but it's still a stupid idea.
This book is now getting exiting. Each time i read it get's better. ONe of the reasons are that strange things are happening, like the colors. I din't know that people couldn't see colors. second thing it is getting good in the book is that the painfull curiosity about being released has passed. The last reason is that we are almost finishing the book. Haha.
ReplyDeleteOne of the memories I most liked which was on page 80, is the memorie about the sled with snow in a hill. It was interesting because only back then there were hills and snow. They took of the hills because of transpotation and took the snow because it was difficult to plant with snow.
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ReplyDeleteRicardo says that the book is more interesting now. I agree with him because now that Jonas has all this different memories, the book seems alot better, since he tries to see if his friends of fmaily members also see the colors and if they know about things like hills, snow and love.
ReplyDeleteRespondind to Isabela K, I also think that what they do when they are releasing someone is quite too much to kill a person. They could just make them move to Elsewere, but no, they dicided to kill them. Dont they think killing someone is just a little too much? I guess they dont, but even though, it is quite alot to kill a child just because he looks just like his brother but he is weights less.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Francesca, i agree with you, because I would also ask the Giver what I was suppose to do after I passed a memory to someone who should not have received it. And I would also never give Gabe the memory before asking the Giver, because of what you said, he has more wisdom and he knows things better.
ReplyDeleteAlso responding to Francesca, I'm not sure I would run away form my house if my mom told me she didnt love me. Because in that community they didnt really know what love really meant and how a real fmaily was suppose to be with Birthdays, Grnadparents and other family members. Yes I know that you would get really sad if your mother didnt love you, but in that case, they didnt know what love actually ment.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Max's comment, I would have to tell you that I tottaly agree with you. Everytime we go into a new chapter, we learn a different memory, witch makes the book better and better. I also love this book and could read it all the time.
ReplyDeleteAlice says that she wouldn't run awat if her mom told her she didn't love you. I agree with you because, in that society, they didn't know what love meant, and what happens when you love someone, or how to express that you love someone. But, if my mom told me she didn't love me in our society I would probbably run away. I would probbably not stand the fact that my mom doesn't love me. I would probbably not be able to live with someone that doesn't love me. When I love someone, I would always want to know that they love me back.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, everytime Jonas' gaines a new memory the book becomes better and better. Since I began reading the book I never thought that it was bad. I think this book is really fun and intersting. Everytime I fnish reading a chapter I reflect on what happens. I think of possible reasons of why the author come uo with the idea of the book, and what is the purpose of the book.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Barbara and Alice. If I weren’t loved in this community I would not run away because no one really knows what love is. No one loves any others because of the pills that they take and they weren't taught to love. But if my mom told me I was not loved right now it would be only a little different I would get sad but since I was still being fed and could get water then I wouldn't run away. It wouldn’t be better anywhere else other than if I was adopted by another family.
ReplyDeleteAfter Jonas found out the actual meaning of realease he got really mad at his father, he found that his father lied to him. I entered in alot of doubt after I read that. When Jonas' atend to his leasons with the Giver the 1st time, the Giver tells him that he know is alloed to lie. If his father lied is he breaking a law of the communtiy? Or is he alowed to lie. Many questions came in my mind, what about you guys?
ReplyDeleteI would never give Gabe the memories because you do not know what will happen with him. He could get released because he started talking about the memories too much. And Jonas could be released to because he released the memories into the community. But Gabe could keep his mouth shut and become the next receiver. I don’t think that that will happen because there is to little age between them.
ReplyDeleteI honestly still have no idea where the author is going with this story. I think that there could be a revolt. I hope that that there is a revolt because that could make the story a lot more interesting. I also think that in the end Jonas could be released because he gave Gabe the memories. But I think that it will all happily ever after again. How about you guys?
ReplyDeleteI think the book, The Giver, is actually sort of suspensful sometimes. The reason being is because it doesn't let you know things untill the end of the book. For example, only on 139 does it start talking about Rosemary, and it doesn't let you know what release means untill the end. I think the author is great at making the whole book a giant suspensful masterpiece.
ReplyDeleteI think the book, The Giver, is very complicated at first, but once you start getting into it, it's kind of like it all starts to make sense. Like at the beginning it says pale and dark eyes, you kind of ignore it but then you find out they can't see in color, so it just makes sense why they only classify it as pale and dark. Also when he saw the apple "change" it didn't really make sense, but then later it the pieces kind of came together and everything made sense.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Spenser: He says that he has no idea where the author is going with the story. I think that that is the whole point, to have details untill the end and then try to do something with that story that took so long to build up and then do something so amazing, all of the people who thought the book was boring would just say "wow."
ReplyDeleteResponding to Isa K: She says no freedom could be given at all to make a perfect government work. I totally agree with that statement. If you want to eliminate fighting, you need to take away the thing that causes anger, which are emotions. Take out fighting and violence will not occur and everything will be good. Isa K says that people would rebel for their freedom. I don't neccesarily agree with that, it's kind of like you can't miss what you never knew existed.
ReplyDeleteI think that the book, in the chapters 16-19, when the Giver gives the memory of Love, is very strange, unusual. At the beginning, everybody is sitting down, opening presents, and the environment is vert pleasant. Isn't it Christmas time?? It did seem like it was, everybody happy, candles on, presents, many relatives, etc...
ReplyDeleteWell, anyway, he said that it was just a holiday. Although, that is not my point right now, how do they not know what LOVE is?? Jonas's parents do know what it means, but shouldn't other kid's like Jonas know too? And.. How can love be dangerous?? What kind of community doesn't know what Love is, and doesn't have it? This is really weird.
Jonas should feel a lot of remorse. When he is giving memories to Gabe! I would never do that! You would loose them forever!!.. Unless, you write them down and do something to keep them!!
What will the Giver do, when he finds out that Jonas is giving his memories away?
Responding to Mrs. Kuhn's comment...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the bad side of conformity. Some religions, for example, think that the women can't dress the way they want, and if they do, they will be killed by followers in the streets. Conformity is a type of racism, like some Iran people hate USA because they think they don't follow their conformity.
Responding to Spenser.
ReplyDeleteI think that nobody would run away from the community because they weren´t loved. As Spenser said, they didn´t really know what love was, so they didn´t really cared if they were loved or not. On the other hand, if I were Jonas, and did know what love was, and wasn´t loved by his own parents, he does have the right to have a better life and search for someone who loves him. In my opinion, apparently, he doesnt have that much "love" for his parents and sister either, since in the book that was never mentioned when he was planning to runaway, so it wouldnt bother him to leave for somebody who actually truly loves, and cared about him.
Responding to Javiera...
ReplyDeleteThey do know what love means, but think it's a complex word. They do NOT know what love really is. Like litle children, they are afraid of ideas they don't really grab onto. They were not "teached" by anyone because the people that in that community aren't really focusing on feelings, and like the Giver said that they don't really experienced everything they should have.
Conformity is so important to the success of this community for a few reasons. First, if people did not have conformity, they would have differences and that would probably generate fights, that is why they have "Sameness", not to generate fights. Secondly, in the opinion of the people from the community, not having conformity or "Sameness" would be really hard to manage, set the community apart, and generate rebelions. That is why conformity is so important for this community, because they are really controlling place and don't want people to have their own ideas.
ReplyDeleteOur community and Jonas' community are not alike in any remarking way. In Jonas' society people are all the same, don't choose their jobs, don't fall in love and choose their husband/wife, and are extremely controlled by the Elders. Our society is the complete opposite! Here, we have people from all over the world, different races and different thoughts. We marry who we want and go to the university we want to be whatever we want to be. Thanks Gosh I am not in Jonas' village, it'd be really depressing to live in such a place. Of course the government achieved "Sameness" because they wanted only peace. But unfortunately, they exaggerated and created a robotic society!
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the book is getting much better then before. Even though I liked the book since the beggining, I thought it got much better with the memories, and the things Jonas learned. I liked these parts so much because they were described in a really good way, which made you visualize a lot.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't give up a lot of freedom just to gain more safety, security, and order. Of course, if I lived in a very big, crowded, and violent city, then I certainly would give up many more things for my safety, because I would know that I could really be in danger. In the other hand, if I lived in a normal place, I would not freak out or let the government tell me what to do. As Francesca said - she would wear the seatbelt, but not give up on colors. I completely agree with her. We should give up a little of our freedom in order for our safety to be better, not see it as drama. But not give up on extreme and drastic things like not being able to see colors anymore. I think the middle term between both is the best.
ReplyDelete*** Response to Javiera ***
ReplyDeleteThe memory of love really is a very interesting part of the book. Answering Javiera's questions:
"How do they not know what love is?"
Well, do you remember the dream that Jonas had about being alone with Fiona and bathing her? I think that those "stirrings" were the first sign of love. He really was beginning to like Fiona. Obviously, the pills stopped his feelings and since people in that community take it for so long, they forget what love is, since they only had it before the pills.
"How can love be dangerous?"
In the opinion of the Elders, obviously love can be dangerous, if it wasn't, then why would they create pills? They might think that if they have love, they will love whoever they want, marry, and if the marriage went wrong, then it would be a disaster to them. Also, what if someone liked someone else's husband/wife? It would be like the real world, people would have lovers and fights.
"What kind of community doesn't know what love is and doesn't have it?"
As you can see, Jonas' community doesn't. I think it's ridiculous not to have love, since it's the cutest feeling, but what can I do?! Hehe...
I agree with Scott when he said that at first, things didn´t make any sense, because of pale, dark, and the hair and the apple "changing". The author did an incredible job making this book come together. I really enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteResponding to John:
ReplyDeleteI agree with John that freedom is very important in a cummunity but that safety is also important for a cummunity. It is like one doesnt live withought the other.
Commenting on the book, from chapters 16 to 20, I personaly think that it is weird that the people in the comunity don't know what love means. If their language is supposed to be presise, I don't think that presise means not knowing the meaning of some words. They do not know what animal, color, sled, hill, snow, and a lot more of things mean. That is something I do not understand in the book. How can a laguage be presise if they do not knoe very important terms!
ReplyDeleteAnother thing i wan't to mention was the realtionship between Jonas and his friends. How is their relationship changing? Well, in class we discused this question and now I have more to add to it. First of all, their realtionship has been chaging in a couple of forms first starting of with their jobs, which makes all the chages. There jobs are different and have different rules. Jonas' rules are very different than the others. He can lie which is very strange for them because they are taught not to lie. It is like saying that you don't have to brush your teeth. It would be strange because we are taught to brush our teeth every single day. So, that is on thing that makes him different. Also, he can't talk about his job. So this kind of affects his realtionship with his friends because his friends expect him to talk about his job. They also don't know about love, colors, and other things. The way he thinks, sees and processes things are different than the way that his friends do. he can't talk to his friends much, probably, because he might just want to blurb out every memory, and every color. Once he tried showing Asher a color on the flower, but instead, Asher thought Jonas was weird. This completly chages their relationship.
Also adding to my other comment, on page 135, paragraph two,and on page 134, there is an example of how Jonas' relationship with his friends is changing. It talke's about how Fiona and Asher, and other people were playing a game of war. Suddenly, Jonas comes and he is shot. His does not pretend to fall to the floor. Some children leave. He remembers the memory that The Giver gave to him was about war. The game that they were playing was not exactly a good game and it was not "nice." Fiona then asks Asher if he wanted to walk with them, but instead he says know, sad of what they had been playing. So, how I mentioned on my other comment, his relationship is changing mostly because he has a different point of view on everything.
ReplyDeleteResponding to Isabela Vita:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that I would not give up a lot of freedom for safety, but I would give up freedom for safety if I lived a violent community. You are right. How you said that Francesca said about the seat belts, I completely agree to. I would not give up on colors. I know that this is the future, but color is very good, nice and beautiful. It is really weird how they can't see colors. I mean.... how? Opperations? That is something that confuses me.
Maria Clara,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that the book is getting better and more descriptive. I want to know more about there plan and what he will do. I am really looking forward to it. At first I did not like it, but know I do.
How much freedom would i give for safety.......... i guess not much. If you have a lot of freedom you can still be safe , you can still do the right choices. The only thing is that , withought freedom , it´s a lot easier , and anoying , to do the right choices .
ReplyDeleteResponding to Camila´s post:
ReplyDeleteWell....... Their language is as precise as can be with the words they know. For example , if the only words you know and need to know are food and water , and you speak both correctly and at the right situations , you are being precise with the language you know.
Well for the success of the community in conformity is because today in real life is that most problems are caused by differences. For example, World War II happened because they didn't like Hitler and his regime, also his acts. Also in school we critisise each others way of thinking and cloth style. Like just because i can do a complete 360 with my hand or someone only gets 100 they consider us nerds or weird people. This causes people to see each others differences and makes us mad, nervous, anguished etc... In The Giver by becoming all the same they found peace and a way to escape most emotional and psychological problems.
ReplyDeleteIf it were I, i wouldn't give up much freedom for safety and security. Only the necessary like wearing seatbelts, obeying trafic laws and not robbing murdering and stuff like that. I wouldn't give up my choice of job and feelings to have safety.
ReplyDelete