The Giver Part 2 questions

[Mary]

1. Why is the relationship between Jonas and The Giver dangerous, and what does this danger suggest about the nature of love?

2. There are groups in the United States today that actively seek to maintain an identity outside the mainstream culture: the Amish, the Mennonites, Native American tribes, and the Hasidic Jewish community. What benefits do these groups expect from defining themselves as “other”? What are the disadvantages? How does the mainstream culture put pressure on such groups?

3. Lois Lowry helps create an alternate world by having the community use words in a special way. Though that world stresses what it calls "precision of language," in fact it is built upon language that is not precise but deliberately clouds meaning. What is the danger of such misleading language?

4. Examine the ways in which Jonas’s community uses euphemism to distance itself from the reality of "Release." How does our own society use euphemism to distance us from such realities as aging and death, bodily functions, and political activities? What are the benefits and disadvantages of such uses of language?


5. The ending of The Giver may be interpreted in two very different ways. Perhaps Jonas is remembering his Christmas memory—one of the most beautiful that The Giver transmitted to him—as he and Gabriel are freezing to death, falling into a dreamlike coma in the snow. Or perhaps Jonas does hear music and, with his special vision, is able to perceive the warm house where people are waiting to greet him. In her acceptance speech for the Newbery Medal, Lois Lowry mentioned both possibilities but would not choose one as correct. What evidence supports each interpretation?

[Kathryn]

1) i'm not so sure about this one. I think with love there is always trust. If you trust someone too soon or too much, you risk getting hurt. I'm not sure in this case there were any issues like that but you see with the giver, loving in the past resulted in loss.

2) Benefits - maintain tradition and common beliefs
Cons - you miss out on expansion of ideas and acceptance. Can become closed minded and even cause others to lack the understanding to show respect. I do think there is mainstream pressure to conform to some degree to the common ideas.

3) I think there is the danger of things being open to interpretation - free thinking. Again, this is a way to keep people within the confines of the current beliefs or ideas.

4) Release is a much kinder word in my opinion. It takes the feeling away from the pain that it can actually cause. It keeps people in the book from "feeling" a common theme.

5) If i didn't know there were more books...I still would have thought hat they survived. Having hope and belief in something alternative was a common theme in the book so I don't think that Lowry would have created such a harsh ending. However, I can see the flip - no matter how hard and how much you believe, you still can "fail" (which may not be the precise word) but it doesn't mean you shouldn't keep fighting for what you do believe in. It is interesting and now i'm excitedly reading book 2.

[Mary]

1. I think the relationship between Jonas and the Giver is dangerous because they are the only ones who are able to feel love while the rest of the community is incapable of feeling such an emotion. For example when Jonas asked his Mom and Dad if they loved him, they said “the word had become so meaningless is become obsolete.” If only two people in a whole community can feel that emotion, It becomes harder to cohabitate with others in the community. I guess this suggest that the nature of love is something so powerful that has to be felt and once you take all feeling out of a person’s life they are unable to comprehend something so powerful.
2. I agree with Kathryn. The benefits of maintaining such groups are maintaining tradition and common beliefs. However the Cons are that you would be unable to accept other races and beliefs that are different than yours. Everyone would benefit from knowledge shared with eachother.
3. The danger of misleading language is that you are unable to communicate and getting your meaning across clearly.
4. I agree with Kathryn. Release is a much nicer term than the then death. However to see the community release kids was horrible.
5. I thought that both Jonas and Gabriel made it to the other village and lived. You have to think positive and since she wrote more books in the series (years later) we see that they did make it.