What is the book "the Giver" about?

Question

i need to know this for english but dont get the plot. also is it considered a cliff hanger?

Answer 1

The Giver is a soft science fiction novel written by Lois Lowry and published on April 16, 1993. It is set in a future society which is at first presented as a utopia and gradually appears more and more dystopic, so could therefore be considered anti-utopian. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life. Jonas' society has eliminated pain and strife by converting to "Sameness", a move which has also eradicated emotional depth from their lives. Jonas is selected to inherit the position of "Receiver of Memory," the person who stores all the memories of the time before Sameness, in case they are ever needed. As Jonas receives the memories from his predecessor—the Giver—he discovers how shallow his community's life has become.

Despite controversy and criticism that the book's subject material is inappropriate for young children, The Giver won the 1994 Newbery Medal and has sold more than 3.5 million copies. In the United States, it is a part of many middle school reading lists, but it is also on many banned book lists. The novel forms a loose trilogy with Gathering Blue (2000) and Messenger (2004), two other books set in the same future era.

At first glance, the novel's setting seems to be a utopia, where all possible steps are taken to eliminate pain and anguish. Two-way speakers monitor every household for rule infractions. The people are almost always compliant; families share their dreams and feelings on a daily basis to defuse emotional buildup. This society remains harmonious by matching up husbands and wives based on personality compatibility.

Lowry describes creating the pain-free world of Jonas' Community in her Newbery 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.[1]

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 distributed, one boy and one girl per family, in order to achieve balance in the population. 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. The community maintains this process using pills which suppress emotion, mainly romantic love and sexuality, which is referred as "Stirrings".

All the land near the Community and around the other, similar towns clustered about the nearby river has been flattened to aid agriculture and transportation. Climate control is used so the weather remains constant.

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. 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".

The "Ceremony of Release" recurs throughout the novel, becoming more ominous as more details are revealed. Early in the story, we learn that the procedure is generally considered a shameful fate, particularly if the one released is a functioning member of society. On the other hand, Release of the elderly is an occasion of joyful celebration, and release of an infant is regarded as unavoidable to preserve balance. Later, it is learned the specific criteria for which infants, under the care of assigned Nurturers before they are assigned to families, are selected for Release. In particular, if a Birthmother produces identical twins, a Nurturer weighs them and Releases the lighter of the two.

The people of Jonas' Community believe that those Released are sent "Elsewhere," probably to another community. As the novel nears its climax, the protagonist discovers that Release is actually euthanasia. The scene which makes this revelation has drawn criticism from some adults who would rather not see children exposed to such descriptions.

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) and father (a "Nurturer"). 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 all the other people were genetically changed not to see) or hear music (Which was how the previous Receiver, or now the Giver, was found. He had the Capacity to Hear-Beyond.). He trains for the position of Receiver by receiving memories from the aged incumbent (known to the community as "The Receiver", and to Jonas as "The Giver") who is burdened by the emotional weight of the memories. These memories are images from the world before the time called Sameness, "back and back and back", things that no one else in Jonas's world remembers.

Through the Giver, Jonas receives memories of things eliminated from his world: violence, sadness, and loss, as well as true love, beauty, joy, adventure, and family. Eventually, these revelations prompt Jonas to seek to change the community and return emotion 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. Meanwhile, the family temporarily adopts a baby named Gabriel who is unable to sleep throughout the night. Jonas learns that unlike the other people in his community, Gabe can receive memories from Jonas, which are used to calm the baby to sleep throughout the night. The family decides that Gabriel is too much trouble, however, and decide to Release him. Desperate, Jonas flees the community with Gabe. At first, the escape seems successful. Soon, however, food runs out and they grow weak. They find a snow covered hill with 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 singing.

Answer 2

In a utopic/dystopic society, all the children are assigned to jobs after their 6th grade. One of the boys is assigned to be the next "Giver", and the giver will pass on his knowledge to him.
The Giver is someone who has the highest post in the society, even higher than the elders who govern the society. As the protagonist learns about the society, and life outside the society he learns that it really is just designed for maximum efficiency and to prevent others from learning about the outside world. In the end, he eventually escapes.
That is a very concise synopsis of "The Giver", and there is obviously a lot more to the story.

Answer 3

It is set in a future society which is at first presented as a utopia and gradually appears more and more dystopic, so could therefore be considered anti-utopian. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life. Jonas' society has eliminated pain and strife by converting to "Sameness", a move which has also eradicated emotional depth from their lives. Jonas is selected to inherit the position of "Receiver of Memory," the person who stores all the memories of the time before Sameness, in case they are ever needed. As Jonas receives the memories from his predecessor—the Giver—he discovers how shallow his community's life has become.

Answer 4

its a good book.
a boy names jonas who meets The Giver and has to learn stuff and "store memories" and make these choices. it is a cliff hanger becuz it leaves you wanting more at the end. lois lowry should make a sequel. but i'm too old for that book now.

Answer 5

i love lines and words more advantageous than i love the "books" of Shakespeare. i'm that way with all books, genuinely. i love to study a dozen words that merely provide up me. And now, a recreation. i am going to open a "complete Shakespeare" and factor blindly, see what percentage circumstances I genuinely ought to attempt this earlier i detect some thing well worth quoting the following.... One: Henry IV area a million Hotspur (having merely been ordered by technique of the king to "deliver us your prisoners.") And if the devil come and roar for them, i will not deliver them: i am going to after immediately And tell him so, for i am going to ease my heart, Albeit I make a risk of my head. isn't that so a lot more advantageous perfect than the "Eff that, I ain't gonna do what he says" that you would listen in on the instant's leisure? Sorry, that became the option of an answer.

Answer 6

God, it's been so long since I read it I really couldn't tell you. But no it's not a cliffhanger.