Perfection In The Giver By Lois Lowry

The Giver is a novel by Lois Lowry which is about perfection in an entire community. Jonas, who is the main character of the novel, thinks that perfection of language, actions, and other things is normal until he is picked by the Elders to be a Receiver of Memory. He starts to see that the community sacrifices freedom for sameness and perfection, which is a theme developed over The Giver.

Jonas at first was a normal boy living in a life where perfection is key. He had to use precision of language, did not get to pick his own meals every day, did not get to disobey or accuse anyone of anything, only allowed to use bicycles to get your way around, and if he did any of these things he would be “released” from the community. In the beginning of the novel, a pilot flew a plane over the community which was against the rules of the community. “Desperately the Pilot had been trying to make his way back before his error was noticed.

In the text it states, “In a firm commanding voice she announced, ‘Jonas has been selected to be our next Receiver of Memory.’ Jonas would soon learn all the memories about the world and really be told the truth about the community. His first day as a Receiver, he receives a memory about snow and riding a sled on snow. These memories were the soothing and fun memories which he first received but later in the novel, he would receive memories that weren’t all fun and games. His first bad memory was about the snow and sled, but it cut Jonas and he started bleeding everywhere. He also received the memory of War which would really mess him up. After a year, Jonas and The Giver had been sharing hurtful memories, but one would really break him. Jonas got the memory of his father releasing a baby.“‘No one heard that little twin cry, either! No one but my