The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.

For the second day of Classics Week, I will review The Giver, a novel written by Lois Lowry. The Giver is a 1993 young adult dystopian novel that follows a 12 year old protagonist named Jonas in a perfect society without choice. I first fell in love with this book in middle school, and since then have reread it a couple of times.

Jonas himself is not the most interesting point of this book, rather it is the society around him. The place he lives has no war, disease, hunger or poverty. It is revealed that this is possible through the philosophy of “sameness”, which takes away individualism and choice. A council of elders decides everything for the community, who marries who, how many children a family gets, and even the career of all of the citizens when they turn twelve. The rules and control of this society display an authoritative model. While an authoritative model is fine as long as there is a free exit, in this society, there is no choice to leave to the outside world, regarded as “elsewhere”.

The book really picks up in the second half when Jonas meets the Giver, who transfers memories and wisdom carried through the generations. Here Lowry covers the importance of the individual, the idea of celebrating differences and using abilities to bring change. She also goes into depth about the significance of memory. For instance, if you can’t feel pain, you might as well have not experienced it. If you cannot feel grief or regret, you cannot grow from these events. There is no pain without memory, and with that, there is also no true happiness without memory.

The progression of the story and writing that I just stated is amazing. It starts off so incredibly dull (on purpose), and then ramps up telling some beautiful stories. Lowry shows what life would be without colors and emotion, and then distinctly shows the opposite. Through the interaction between the Giver and Jonas, I was reminded of the things in life that I held dear. All of the dreams I have had, the goals, the feelings I have felt - all fill my life with color.