In “The Giver” by Lois Lowry, Jonas lives in a community specifically made to be perfect. However, when he turns 12 he gets his job of being a Receiver, one who receives memories of long ago from The Giver. From these memories, Jonas goes from knowing only the bliss of ignorance to the burden of knowledge that nobody else knows.
One specific memory he received is of war. He was surrounded by dead or dying people and horses, and it overwhelmed him greatly, as knowledge can be overwhelming. A few days after he received his memory, his friends (who were ignorant as to war was actually like), were playing a war game and wanted him to join in. It reminded him of the memory and he’d felt so sick he couldn’t even move. In their ignorance, his friends had no idea what they were doing wrong. Jonas probably wished he’d never knew this memory of war, I know I would if I was in his position. It must be a huge burden to carry that much knowledge that no one else knows, after all.
Also, because Jonas knew of simple things in the world no one else did such as color, sunshine, and snow, he rebels against the rules and stops taking the pills that make him exactly like everybody else. With Jonas, rebellion also comes with knowledge. But it’s understandable; color and sunshine are simple yet wonderful, and Sameness forbids these things in his world. He wants his world to be interesting and natural like it was long before Sameness. Later on, he runs away with his little brother Gabriel, reaching places in the world he had no idea existed & that were still natural. Jonas realized with the memories and knowledge that “Sameness” is actually unnatural, oppressive, and limiting. That’s what I believe, at least. The point of living, growing up, and being human is to experience real life for yourself and learn from it, which is exactly what Sameness prohibits in order to “protect” people.
As for another Receiver, unlike Jonas she couldn’t bear the memories she had to receive. She had asked for a Releasement (meaning, she wanted to die). She did die, which for some reason was seen as so shameful for the community that they would not even speak her name. Interesting enough, the girl was the Giver’s daughter. I keep wondering why the Giver didn’t do anything to prevent her death -- was he so wise, that he somehow knew for some reason it was best to let her go? The Giver is the most wise out of everybody in the community, even more wise than the Receivers who become Givers when they’re old.
In conclusion, this book shows that knowledge really is power. It’s also a burden that can lead to rebellion or insanity, or anything else. And as we grow, we take hold of more knowledge, burden, responsibility, power, experience, and anything else that can personally come with it. It is also our choice as to what to do with all this knowledge or even how to handle it. But we’re all human, and humans are meant to know. Which begs the question; If the community is trying to “protect” everyone from the outside world and how it once was, then why do they have Givers and Receivers of memories of the real world? The Receivers are forbidden to tell of any of their memories. But why is it a job if the things in the memories are forbidden?
