Response for week of 03/30/09

“What scenes from The Giver do you think you will remember five years from now? What do you find especially affecting about those scenes?”

I find this question particularly interesting because I read the giver in 6th grade, so when I learned that we would be reading it again in this class certain scenes/aspects from the book that have stuck with me came flooding back. I remembered that Jonas has strikingly blue eyes that seemed somehow to be related to his gift and I remembered his sled ride at the end of the book. I of course remembered the feeling of wanting to have a more concrete ending to the story—a feeling that hasn’t gone away after a second reading.

I think after this second reading, one of the scenes that will stick with me is the scene where Jonas watches his father “release” a newchild. This scene is so striking because for a few reasons: 1) Jonas’ reaction to the truth; 2) his feelings of betrayal knowing that his father has lied to him about this aspect of the community’s way of life; and 3) the matter-of-fact way that his father goes about killing the child. As a reader, I came to the realization that this is really the only way a society like this could function—by killing those who don’t fit exactly into the role that the community has set aside for them. This is I’m sure a realization that Jonas has as well. In this scene Jonas also realizes that the Giver’s previous predecessor had been “released”, that the Giver watched the tape of the process, When he finds out what happened to the community after she was “released” I think is really when the impact of his role in the community fully sinks in. This scene is so crucial for setting into motion the rest of the book that it is one that will surely remain with me.

Another scene that will probably remain with me is the scene where Jonas realizes that his childhood game of (I can’t remember what it’s exactly called in the book, but it’s basically good guys and bad guys) is really a game of war. He implores his friends to stop playing because he has the memories of war and all of the feelings of pain and anguish that go along with those memories, and he can’t believe that his friends would knowingly pretend play something so horrific. Then he remembers that they have no idea what the game really means and it sinks in for Jonas that he really is going to lead a life of separation from his peers. I love this scene because it is a game that actual kids play without realizing what it really is that they are re-enacting, and after reading this, it just makes me think about how so much of the book we find far-fetched, but this is something kids in our society actually do, and the memories associated with the game are not restricted from them.