"I didn't feel like a criminal, but I didn't feel like a hero either." Chapter 16 in Tomorrow, When the War Began.
Ellie, the protagonist, and her friends went camping in the bush for a few days. When they come back everything has changed.... A war has started and they are one of the only people in their city that aren't captured. Now they are struggling to stay alive without being captured but not everything turns out how they want it to...
" The worst part of
holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need
to be shared.” – The Giver
Jonas was born into
a perfect society. Every little detail was organised and planned, everything
was methodical and conventional. No one ever experienced thirst, hunger or pain – no
one even knew these things could exist. By the time children reach 12 they are
told what they will work as; even though they didn’t have the freedom to
choose what area they would work, their job was a perfect reflection of their personalities. Jonas was given the most honourable job as the “Receiver”.
He will be in charge of all the memories, therefore no one else has to
experience pain but there is one person to remember and not repeat mistakes in
history. However, when Jonas starts receiving memories he opens his eyes to a
whole other world. No one feels pain but nor do they feel love, everything is
the same for everyone but there is no colour – the world is grey - there is no
sunshine or soft snow. Jonas realises holding memories may be painful but they hold so much warmth and happiness that everyone should have the opportunity to
experience them and most importantly have a choice in life.
The
Giver by Lois Lowry is a
science fiction book reflecting on the perfect world and the importance of
memories, experiences and free choice. Lowry wrote the book after her father
lost most of his long term memory. Memories can traumatise someone but they are
so important to learn from and to grow from. Memories also contain just as
much, if not even more, goodness in them.
Lois Lowry tries to
create the perfect world, but the whole concept of perfectness can never
be truly established within the limitations of human’s imaginations. It is only
subjective to one’s perceptions. Therefore when the characters in the book went
through their lives they didn’t question it.
