The Giver

As I began reading The Giver I was thoroughly confused as to what the plot was actually going to be. I found myself reading just so try to understand where the title came into play. The story is based around a young boy, Jonas, about to take part in the Ceremony of Twelve where he will receive his working orders. All children at the age of twelve receive their orders and begin working immediately. In this so-called “utopian” community the government controls everything. They control how many children you have in your house, they control where you work, etc. Jonas is selected to be a receiver. The receiver is the person who is control of emotions, weather, and even memories of all the community members. Once Jonas begins his training with the receiver, who calls himself The Giver instead, decides that a change needs to be made in the community. Since change would be such a huge blow to the community Jonas decides to rather take Gabriel, a young infant under the care of his father, and escape the community with the help of the giver.

Personally, I would not use this novel in my classroom as I did not enjoy reading it. I had a hard time keeping myself interested in this novel. However, I do believe that it would have some good teaching points about everything is not as it seems and perfection is not always a good thing. I think fun activities could be made such as deciding where each student would fit in the community and allowing them to play a part in a mock community.

The Giver is the first book in a series called The Giver Quartet. Since its release The Giver has been made into a major film that was released in 2014.