In the book 'The Giver', the community is a perfect place, where everyone lives a safe and fun life, without feelings of pain or love. Jonas is our protagonist. A very brave, strong and smart man who undergoes a huge adventure for the good of mankind.
In this world, instead of having an age, you just have a number, and live your entire life within the community with the same people of your number group. If, once born, you aren’t fitting, you get released into the world outside.
Jonas has always lived a fun life, even with some of the strict rules. Whenever he made an unclear statement, or bragged, he would be chastised. He followed the rules very carefully so as to never have to be chastised, because in school they got taught by the teaching wand. At home, in the morning all family units must tell their dreams to their families, and after school or work, they are forced to say how they felt during the day, and whether or not it was a good day.
During the ceremony, each number group receives their own new thing. Little kids wear jackets that are closed from behind, and they get in a line to close their jackets and learn interdependence. After they turn 5 (not age), they get jackets that are closed from the front, to learn independence. At 9, they get their bicycle, the main method of transportation in the community. This is what they all look forward to. At 12, they are each assigned an assignment (no pun intended) where they must work until they become elders and must leave their family unit and live for the rest of their lives in the elder house, where they are cared for and pampered.
Jonas is skipped at the ceremony, and in the end, they give him the assignment of ‘Receiver of Memory’. He goes to where he should for his assignment, and it’s revealed that the receiver is a person chosen to carry the burden of all of the memories of the world before it turned like this. At first the memories are nice, but since he feels them in his own body, the bad memories are incredibly painful.
Having this assignment allows Jonas to ask of anything and receive it. He wishes to see how it looks like when someone gets released. He watches the release of an unfitting new-born. He is terrified, as it is actually lethal injection that is hidden from the world. The one who does it is his father.
He comes up with a plan to release the terrible memories into the communities. His master (the giver) helps him. In the ceremony, Jonas runs away with a new-born about to be released. All of Jonas’ memories are released into the community. Jonas goes through a very hard journey. He reaches a mountain and remembers a memory about going down a hill on a sledge. He hears music, and thinks it might’ve just been an echo.
I love this book. It’s a book fitting for me, and it is scary, as it could actually happen to us. The book is similar to others like Ray Bradbury’s ‘Fahrenheit 451’. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a great book and an interesting read. In general, I adore dystopian world books, and this one is great.