ipl-logo

Euthanasia In Lois Lowry's The Giver

747 Words3 Pages

Have you ever experienced having to put down a pet, or watching a grandparent die after suffering? The technique we often use is familiar to most people as euthanasia. In this process, we peacefully kill somebody to end their suffering. In Lois Lowry’s novel The Giver, a dystopian society uses euthanasia in a way that they call release. A boy named Jonas discovers his society is awful and very cruel, with the help of his mentor, The Giver, he realizes that people of the community are being killed for no reason, that they call release. Release is when the people in Jonas’s society end somebody’s life, even if they are not suffering. This novel promotes and accepts the practice of euthanasia. They perform release on newborns, on elderly people, …show more content…

The society that Jonas live in has very strict rules. These rules could be broken easily, causing release from the community. “Needless to say, he will be released.”(p.2) This was spoken to the people by an announcer, who was explaining that a pilot who had taken the wrong path, would be released. In America and other places around the world, we have something called the death penalty. The death penalty is similar to release towards criminals, if somebody does something illegal, it could result in the death penalty. The death penalty and release are the most similar techniques in The Giver and the real world. The death penalty is never compassionate towards the person dying, because they have to die, because of bad decisions. I have personally never had to put down a pet. I could imagine that it would be hard to let them go, but happy for them to end their suffering. This is why I think that euthanasia is compassionate and humane. The community that Jonas lives in does accept the practice of euthanasia, but in a different way than we do in the real world. Release in The Giver is not compassionate because of they way they describe it and the process. They use release on newborn children, elderly people who are not suffering, and on criminals or people who break the rules of the

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between The Giver And Fahrenheit 451

    1331 Words  | 6 Pages

    Release was a method in The Giver through which the community tried to cleansed itself of impurities by killing off the undesirables with a lethal injection. Because of the government's obsession with creating a flawless world, they raised the children from the moment they were born to hold the greater good of society above all else including life. Therefore, the people did not question the idea of killing infants because the child did not meet the standards or disposing of the elderly once they were no longer of use to the

    Read More

  • Euthanasia In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

    283 Words  | 2 Pages

    Euthanasia should be permitted everywhere around the world because all individuals have the right to determine their future either by choosing death or the right to live. For instance, in the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck the companionship of Candy and his dog is very strong as they stay together all day long. Candy’s dog has become very old and weak in which he is forced to give up his life since he was no use. According to the text, “He ain’t no good to you, Candy. An’ he ain’t no good to himself.

    Read More

  • Epilogue Of The Giver

    147 Words  | 1 Pages

    He also commented that people had said that she asked for release, the memories were transmitted to the citizens, leaving them with pain and anger, also the giver was left with a little sadness and anger too. Jonas thought that he would never disappoint the giver, also he would never ask for release, but still he felt lonely

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of Euthanasia By Philippa Foot

    937 Words  | 4 Pages

    The possible legalization of euthanasia can cause a great disturbance in how people view life and death and the simplicity of how they would treat it. "There are many fairly severely handicapped people for whom a simple, affectionate life is possible." (Foot, p. 94) As demonstrated, the decision of terminating a person 's life is a very fragile and difficult one, emotionally and mentally. Nevertheless, it’s a choice we can make if it is passive euthanasia being expressed.

    Read More

  • Society And Social Issues In The Giver By Lois Lowry

    1443 Words  | 6 Pages

    INTRODUCTION Society is a collection of people that influences individual’s life and behavior. It is generally the groups of people that are complying with the same rules and laws that allows them to live altogether. All over the world, talks about society and its issues that are prominent and inevitable. This paper intends to presents different points about social issues.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Conformity In The Giver By Lois Lowry

    478 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Giver, Lois Lowry shows her readers what it is like to live in a society with no diversity, no color, and no freedom. In this society, there is a twelve-year old boy, named Jonas, who finds the truth about life outside of his community. He does not have the option of choice, and he is stuck in a futuristic world of “sameness”. Jonas’ world is dull, and he wants to change it because it does not have the amazing features and opportunities that he learns about. In this story, Lois Lowry is warning her readers that too much conformity can lead to no freedom and no true happiness.

    Read More

  • Jonas: Changing The Community In The Giver

    517 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine a community with no color, no feelings, no choices, no love. In that community there is one boy with all of those things. Jonas sees the world, emotionless, blank. He wants to change it. The community chose Jonas to be the Receiver.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Freedom In The Giver

    1073 Words  | 5 Pages

    Would you give up love and true happiness for a life without pain? In the dystopian novel The Giver, written by Lois Lowry, strong emotion is sacrificed for a peaceful environment. The depicted community at first appears to be a utopia, where hate and discrimination are abolished, but the emotionless society is quickly revealed to be dystopian as the story continues. They live in a world of sameness; there is no hunger, suffering, or war, but also no color, diversity, or sensuality. The protagonist, a twelve-year-old boy named Jonas, uncovers the truth about his community when he is assigned to be the Receiver of Memory, and acquires the memories from the past from an elder called the Giver.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis: The Giver By Lois Lowry

    846 Words  | 4 Pages

    Literary Analysis: The Giver Imagine a world where everything seems perfect but truly it is not as pleasant as it appears. In The Giver by Lois Lowry shows us a community in the future with no feelings at all. Jonas a twelve year old boy knows his life as it is and one evening he learns the truth about the community. Jonas set’s off into a adventure to change it all. Character,conflict,and symbolism makes the reader see thru the eyes of a twelve year old in a place of slavery disguised without anyone knowing it.

    Read More

  • Analytical Essay On The Giver

    771 Words  | 4 Pages

    If you break the rules you will be caught and their is no room for forgiveness. Also, if you are diagnosed with a disease, or just simply sick, you must likely will be released into the “elsewhere” world. The Giver is a novel which belongs to the fiction genre. The novel is written by author Lois Lowry, and

    Read More

  • Theme Of Lying In The Giver

    1095 Words  | 5 Pages

    One of the greatest commandments written in history is “Thou Shalt not lie.” From a young age we have been taught of the negative effects of lying. We are taught, as toddlers, not to cheat on tests and punished for our dishonesty when caught. But as we grow older we discover that lying is not as terrible as we were raised to believe. Sometimes lying is safer than the truth.

    Read More

  • Jonas Hardships In The Giver

    535 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jonas’ Hardships Lois Lowry, the author, wrote a novel titled “The Giver” which took place in a dystopian society with ideas like climate control, sameness, and precision of language. The main character, Jonas, was selected for the assignment “The Receiver of Memory” and this assignment caused him many hardships. Throughout the story, Jonas faces many hardships related to his assignment, his friends, and the community. The theme to the story is overcoming obstacles because Jonas has to conquer many hardships throughout the novel.

    Read More

  • Chapter Summary: The Giver Vs. Modern Society

    799 Words  | 4 Pages

    PL.1 Embedded Assessment 2.1 The Giver VS Modern Society How is the society of The Giver really that different from being a modern day society? When people try to create perfect societies, it creates mayhem! Our modern day society is far from a perfect society in the novel The Giver. While appearing perfect, Jonas’ society has many rules and laws under the surface that make it much more dangerous than modern day society.

    Read More

  • Punishment In The Giver

    901 Words  | 4 Pages

    This does not apply to any rules at all. Jonas can not apply for a release until he is done being trained by the Giver “She left here that day, left this room, and did not go back to her dwelling. I was notified by the Speaker that she had gone directly to the Chief Elder and asked to be released””Rosemary was the first receiver of memory and got a release after getting the metal pain memories. This event happened after Rosemary had received the memory of the

    Read More

  • Examples Of The Perfect Society In The Giver

    754 Words  | 4 Pages

    Although in our society, anyone can get opportunities to make their life great and can prevent some pain from entering their life like physical or heartbreak, but everyone loses someone they love and that’s something no one is able to control. Everyone has to bear the pain and learn to live without them knowing they can never be replaced, but not in Jonas’ society. Since there is no love, no one knows how to care for others who have passed or been ‘released’, “He pushed the plunger very slowly, injecting the liquid into the scalp, vain until the syringe was empty.” (Lowry 149). Before

    Read More

More about Euthanasia In Lois Lowry's The Giver

Open Document