Tolog Review: The Giver

The Giver
by Lois Lowry
reviewed by Katherine Collins

Think of a world with no happiness, sadness, fear, or excitement, a world where a person’s life decisions are made by other people, and a world with no freedom or liberty. This world sounds pretty undesirable for a person who has already experienced these things, but for a person who does not know any better, this may seem normal. In Lois Lowry’s The Giver, Lowry depicts a community where every person in the community is the same in all aspects of life. 

The novel’s protagonist, a twelve-year-old boy named Jonas, has something different about him compared to everyone else in the community. Every person in this society has the same exact physical traits, including dark brown eyes; Jonas has pale eyes. When children in the society turn twelve years old, they are given their jobs that they will hold until they die. Jonas receives a very unusual job that leads him to discover dark secrets about this “perfect” society. Jonas develops new skills which allow him to be curious about the world around him. This curiosity about him allows him to continue pushing boundaries and eventually being able to have more. 

I recommend this book because the novel allowed me to open my eyes to the world around me and made me realize what I have to be thankful for. My favorite character trait about Jonas was his willingness to do what is right. Throughout the book, Jonas changes from just another child with no voice to a person in the community who can seriously help others. Jonas had to fight for what he thought was right for the community; I believe we should all stick up for each other and do what is right for others. I also really enjoyed the book because of the way that Lois Lowry empowered the naïve and changed the atmosphere of the book for the better.