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The Giver Memory Theme

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How many times have you tried to remember something from a long time ago, from could not seem to recall it? What if you could not remember anything from the past except for what you are made to remember? This is how life is for Jonas, in Lois Lowry’s The Giver. He only knows what he is told. He lives in a society where everything in the same, and no one is discriminated against. But is not knowing the truth really a good thing? Jonas addresses this question for the majority of the novel and therefore makes the theme of The Giver, the importance of memory. For one example, the families in Jonas’s community share their dreams with each other each night. However, these dreams that are shared are merely touching the surface of what ‘could be’. …show more content…

Earlier in the novel, he stopped taking the pills that prevented the ‘Stirrings’, but later he felt angry at his friend Asher, who wanted him to play a war game, which all of the other children took as a joke. Jonas on the other hand, knows that war is something serious and deeply traumatizing because he has memories of it. Using his memories, he knows that war caused people a lot of pain and suffering. Jonas is allowed to feel emotions. Asher does not understand why Jonas is upset about the game. Later in the novel, Jonas gets angry at his father, because his father is actually killing people, to his dismay. Jonas’s friend Fiona is also learning to be a Nurturer. When Jonas was releasing really was, he was rightfully outraged. His father worked as a Nurturer, and the sight of his father killing someone made Jonas not want to go home. This moment was the final straw for Jonas. He and Giver started plotting to send Jonas away to Elsewhere, despite how it will affect the people in Jonas’s community. Giver volunteers to stay and help those in the community. Jonas’s new memories make him a real person, with different emotions and he knows the differences between right and wrong. Jonas can now show individuality. Without having memories, we cannot show that we are all different

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