Blog 11C-Analysis: The Giver

Blog 11C-Analysis: The Giver

With the Giver finished, I realized that the thing that most interested me throughout the whole book was all of the rules that the community had and were expected to follow. The importance of rules for the society was to provide structure and balance. Nobody was able to escape the rules in any way. The time Jonas brought home an apple from school, there was an announcement played over the loudspeakers that snacks are to be eaten, not hoarded. It was obvious at the time to Jonas that he was the one that the announcement was directed towards.

The reason for all of these rules in the society is stated simply to be for safety. Without the rules, the people are lost. This was shown when the community was victim to the memories from Rosemary, the past receiver, after her release. The effect of all the rules results in total control over the community. Nobody is allowed to brag, or ride a bike if you have not reached your ninth birthday yet. You are only allowed two children to a family, a boy and a girl and the parents are chosen by the elders. You must apply for a child, and you don’t always get one.

Again, the rules are like a safety blanket for the community. Nobody is able to break them and everybody must follow them. This is what makes the community so unique, and what interested me in the book as a reader. Because I have never experienced anything like it before, experiencing the way that this community worked and the ways in which the people interacted was what kept me interested as a reader. All in all, the Giver was a very good book. I enjoyed reading it, and it was a very quick read for me.