msvsblog-The Giver: Chapter 20

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Chapter 20

Weeping and trembling, Jonas shouts vehemently that he refuses to go home. The Giver speaks to the attendant behind the wall speakers, instructing her to tell Jonas's family that he will stay for the night for further training. The Giver calmly explains to Jonas that his father is simply doing what he is told to do, knowing nothing else. "It's the way they live. It's the life that was created for them. It's the same life that you would have, if you had not been chosen as my successor." Chapter 20, pg. 153

21 comments:

MelissaJanuary 7, 2010 at 10:24 AM
I would have went home and not have said a word but inside i would have wanted to burst out screaming at my parents for lying to me for years
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EllaJanuary 7, 2010 at 10:25 AM
i agree like why would they have kept it from him for so long thats bad.
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MBIF74January 7, 2010 at 10:26 AM
If I found Out My Life Is A Lie I'd Run Away To A New Society
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Avila-NoyolaJanuary 7, 2010 at 11:52 AM
If its a utopian community, shouln't they not lie even if the truth is horrible.
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D3NASS3January 7, 2010 at 11:57 AM
>in reply to s.avila29<

thats true.....
but it felt right for them to keep it inside....
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Lauren C.☺January 7, 2010 at 4:17 PM
I agree with s.avila29. Since it is a "perfect" place then even if it is a bad thing, they shouldn't be able to lie.
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Krissy(:January 7, 2010 at 4:22 PM
yeah i agree with s.avila29 if it's such a perfect place why are they lying to their own son!
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UnknownJanuary 8, 2010 at 11:05 AM
well like the giver said hes only doing what he was told to do.. i mean if someone in a utopian society told you to do something like that im sure you would do it so you dont get released but its confusing to him but hes only doing what hes told to do
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BubbliciousJanuary 8, 2010 at 11:07 AM
aaronjsheets121, i agree very well with your comment.
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UnknownJanuary 8, 2010 at 11:10 AM
I agree the perfect world isn't that perfect know that Jonas know the truth of what the release is.
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BubbliciousJanuary 8, 2010 at 11:10 AM
I would not hold that in if he told me that.
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CINDY!!January 8, 2010 at 12:20 PM
I would hate to have been told a lie and espicially if it were said from your dad.
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♥E.V.B♥January 10, 2010 at 6:29 PM
personally when i think of the perfect community i dont picture MURDERERS in it. Just because they dont think of it that way thats exacally what there doing, there murdering innocent people. there not perfect they are far from being perfect it terrible. i mean seriously what is a few extra kids gonna hurt and the old people are gonna pass on there own. this community isnt perfect and if i found out that people i trust have been lying to me for my whole life i couldnt look them in there eyes either.
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brandonJanuary 11, 2010 at 10:04 AM
I hate that Jonas found out that his father killed that twin. What made it even worse is that JOnas was mad because his father said that gabriel was going to be released.
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Matt_LJanuary 11, 2010 at 10:18 AM
They are leing to make sure that the community doesnt subdue to panic. If someone were to explain it, even if they were in 2nd grade, they could explain to his dad what hes doind is wrong, and he would most likley have a mental breakdown, and freak out. Its kinda similar to some types of government. Lets say the zombie apacolypse happened (woo!) well wed end up with a government saying "Dont worry" but when we SEE it well panic.
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DSWJanuary 11, 2010 at 10:25 AM
I can't it when my parents lie to me so for years and over something serious I just don't think I can forgive them.
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-->A3RO<--January 11, 2010 at 11:02 AM
Joans's father should of told joans wut he did
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Alesha Smith-ThomasJanuary 11, 2010 at 11:07 AM
I would be very upset if all my life my parents have lied to me.. I would definatly want to like hurt them or somthing! I would end up having to be released because i would either run away or somthing! Even though i would be upset i would probably just ask for an explanation, and some reasons.. I still dont know if i would forgive them.
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sk8rdudeJanuary 11, 2010 at 11:52 AM
If i knew my life was a lie i would just like leave home or something
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143January 11, 2010 at 5:14 PM
yeah me to because i had to take my time and make it to turn it into a life without lies.
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cynthiaJanuary 13, 2010 at 9:27 AM
i reaaly like this chapter. i would have gave up.
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Plot Summary

The book's setting seems to be a peaceful, utopian community, where all possible steps are taken to eliminate pain or confusion. The people are almost always compliant; family units share their dreams and feelings on a daily basis to diffuse emotional buildup.
This society remains harmonious by assigning jobs to each individual according to a laborious evaluation of their skill, by matching up husbands and wives based on personality to balance out each other, and only allowing two children, one male and one female, per family unit. There is also a subtle theme of technology having only a minimal role in society; throughout the book, it is taken for granted that Jonas's community is without such technologies as television, or radio, although computers are mentioned at one point and there is a two-way microphone/speaker system used for announcements and surveillance, similar to the telescreens of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Transportation is mostly limited to bicycles; however, cars and airplanes exist in small numbers for the main use of transporting food, possibly from other communities.
Lowry describes creating the pain-free world of Jonas' Community in her Newbery Award speech:
I tried to make Jonas's world seem familiar, comfortable, and safe, and I tried to seduce the reader. I seduced myself along the way. It did feel good, that world. I got rid of all the things I fear and dislike; all the violence, poverty, prejudice and injustice, and I even threw in good manners as a way of life because I liked the idea of it. One child has pointed out, in a letter, that the people in Jonas's world didn't even have to do dishes. It was very, very tempting to leave it at that.[2]
As time progresses in the novel, however, it becomes clear that the society has lost contact with the ideas of family and love, at least in the "more complete" sense at which Lowry hints. Children are born to designated "Birthmothers" and then family units can apply for children. If the family unit applies for the maximum allowed number of two, it will always be one boy and one girl. This is to keep the genders even. After family units have served the purpose of raising the children in a stable environment, they cease to exist, the parents going to a communal housing facility for childless adults, and the children becoming involved in their work and starting monogenerational families of their own, forgetting their foster parents who are growing old. The community maintains this process using pills which suppress emotions, mainly romantic love and sexuality, which they refer to as "Stirrings".
All the land near the Community and around the other, similar communities clustered about the nearby river has been flattened to aid agriculture and transportation. A vaguely described system of weather control is used so that the weather remains constant. It is implied that genetic engineering has been used extensively to manipulate human beings so that they are all colorblind, and physically conform with Sameness.
The Community is run by a Council of Elders that assigns each 12-year-old the job he or she will perform for the rest of his or her life, with a ceremony known as the Ceremony of Twelve, where all Elevens (eleven-year-olds) turn into Twelves. People are bound by an extensive set of rules touching every aspect of life, which if violated would require a simple but somewhat ceremonious apology. In some cases, violating the rules is "winked at": older siblings invariably teach their younger brothers and sisters how to ride a bicycle before the children are officially permitted to learn the skill. If a member of the community has committed serious infractions three times before, he or she may be punished by "release". "Release" is a procedure which is hinted at by the characters throughout the book. Originally, it is thought of as a process where the "released" is sent to live outside of the community (known as Elsewhere in the book), but still in a good place. Eventually, it is revealed to be a system of euthanasia through lethal injection, employed not only as punishment, but also to ensure a monotony of means by which death occurs.
The book is told from a third-person limited point of view. The protagonist, Jonas, is followed as he awaits the Ceremony of Twelve. Jonas lives in a standard family unit with his mother (a judge), his father (a "Nurturer") and his seven (later becomes eight) year old sister. He is selected to be "Receiver of Memory", because of his unusual "Capacity to See-Beyond", which is an ability to do something unusual, such as see color, which the other people cannot. This is noted in the fact that Jonas has lighter colored eyes, which only a few people, such as Jonas, The Giver, Gabriel, and a 5 year old girl, have. The memories are images from the time before "Sameness".
Through the Giver, who becomes his teacher and surrogate grandfather, Jonas telepathically receives memories of things eliminated from his world: violence, sadness, and loss, as well as true love, beauty, joy, adventure, animals, and family. Having knowledge of these complex and powerful concepts alienates Jonas from his friends and family, as well as making him more cynical towards his previously sheltered life, as he often discusses with the Giver. When he experiences "Stirrings", he is told to take pills to suppress his emotions; he does it reluctantly but realizes that he necessarily enjoys them, namely because he has developed feelings for his friend Fiona. Eventually, these revelations prompt Jonas to seek to change the community and return emotion and meaning to the world. He and the Giver plan on doing this by having Jonas leave the community, which would cause all of the memories he was given to be released to the rest of the people, allowing them to feel the powerful emotions that Jonas and the Giver feel. Eventually, Jonas asks the Giver if he ever thinks about his own release. This conversation leads to watching the release of the smaller of a set of twin boys born that morning. Jonas watches in shock and horror as his father talks sweetly to the baby before giving the newborn a lethal injection, and then dumping the body down a garbage chute.
During the course of the novel, Jonas's family temporarily houses a baby named Gabriel, because he is unable to sleep throughout the night and disturbs the other babies in the "Nurturing Center". Jonas learns that unlike the other people in his community, "Gabe" can receive memories from Jonas, which he uses to help calm the baby. Because Gabriel still cannot sleep through the night without crying after the extra year he was given to learn how to sleep soundly, he is now destined to be released. Desperate, Jonas flees the community with Gabe. Also, he was given the instructions from the Giver to flee, and release all the memories that he had stored to the rest of the community. At first, the escape seems successful, with all of the search planes finally giving up their search for Jonas. Soon, however, food runs out and they grow weak. Cold and hungry, Jonas and Gabe begin to lose hope, but then remembering the memory of sunshine Jonas was given, he uses it and regains strength. Jonas begins to lose hope the most, as he no longer cares about himself, but for Gabe's safety; it is here that he feels happy as he remembers his parents and sister, his friends and The Giver. Jonas and Gabriel cross a snow-covered hill in the dark and find a sled on top, which Jonas remembers from the first memory he ever received. He and Gabriel board the sled and go down the hill where they hear music coming from some houses.
The ending is ambiguous, with Jonas depicted as experiencing symptoms of hypothermia. This leaves his and Gabriel's future unresolved. However, their survival is made apparent in Messenger, a sequel novel written much later.

This summary was borrowed from:
Reference:
"The Giver." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 6 Jan 2010, 00:05 UTC. 6 Jan 2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Giver&oldid=336102567>.

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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Chapter 20

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