Analysis: The Giver

Despite some sense of ongoing scrutiny of The Giver I have always been a big fan. Although I agree that the subject of infanticide may be a little mature for the intended reader of this book, I definitely think it is a great classic. The story starts with Jonas going through his daily routines that are expected of him from society with little or no feelings. As the day of job assignment for the twelve year olds approaches it becomes evident that the citizens have a sense of sameness. Each family is usually consistent of a mom and dad who are matched together by the government and two children, one boy and one girl. Because of Jonas’ dads job at the nurturing center their family begins to take care baby Gabriel. Like Jonas, Gabriel has light eyes that are very rare in their society.

After the highly anticipated job assignments, Jonas struggles with being the chosen one to be Receiver of Memory. Once he begins his job he acquires knowledge from the giver and his memories that no one else knows. Jonas is introduced to colors and the feeling of love and is frustrated that no one else gets to experience these great things. On the other hand, the giver is forced to transfer feelings of death, starvation, and loneliness that inflict pain of Jonas that he has never felt before. Despite the pain, Jonas realized how empty his society is.

Jonas decides he has to change his society once The Giver reveals that when a baby is released it is actually killed by an injection to the head. The anger and hate Jonas begins to feel causes them to create a plan to escape. By doing this his new memories will be left for all the people to have and discover. Jonas leaves with Gabriel to save him from being released and they make their way to an outside village decorated for Christmas.

I think I find The Giver to be such an interesting book because of the evolution of the suppression of feelings. Because of the governments control Jonas and the other citizens had no idea what they were missing out on. I think an element of fear is what guided the government. Perhaps they thought it is better to feel nothing than to have your heartbroken. Once jonas discovers feelings of love and happiness he knows that a life without them is not the way a society should live.

Notable Moment: The Giver

So far in The Giver there have been many moments that have caught my attention. From the odd view of a normal family too discussing each person’s dream every morning this book is definitely different from the other children books we have read so far. One thing that particularly stands out to me is when Jonas reads his instructions to be Receiver of Memory that was in his folder. The instructions are different than what Jonah expected and states things that are not found acceptable in their society.

Up until this point Jonah never knew anything else besides following the rules his family, government and society expected of him. Now he is being told that these expectations no longer apply to him. He is exempt from governing rudeness, telling his dreams, and taking medication. The two things that are most interesting to me and that I feel will cause Jonah problems in the future is that he is “not permitted to apply for release” and now may tell lies. After he reads what was in his folder Jonah subconsciously knows things are about to be different for him. Although he tries to comfort himself by saying he doesn’t have to lie and that he hardly has dreams anyway, as I reader I immediately know things are about to change.

This is also the point in the book when I really start to question the government’s role. Although from the beginning of the book I knew the government and society was dependent of keeping everything the same I did not know the secrets that were kept in order to do so. Once Jonah was given his job and read his instruction I began to realize how much control the government might have

Analysis: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMP

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMP was an adventurous story of a little mouse trying to save her son. As I first began reading this book I was really excited to see that a female was going to be the protagonist. After reading many books ending with a male character saving the day and becoming the hero, I was hoping Mrs. Frisby would do the same. In the begining Mrs frisby shows characteristics of a hero. She shows bravery and selflessness by flying to see the owl and following his advise to seek help from Justin and Nicodemus. However, as I continued to read I felt her female role as protagonist was challenged.

A major thing that was odd to me was that we never discovered Mrs. Frisbys first name. Instead, her name is always attached to the late Jonathan Frisby (a man!). I feel Mrs. Frisbys identity is not clear throughout this book because of the importance of her husband and not herself. Therefore I do not believe she became the female hero protagonist I was originally hoping for.

Although she is different than the male heroes in the other books we have read, Mrs. Frisbys role of caretaker and mother was still important. Despite her lack of identity, Mrs. Frisby still bravely volunteered to poison Dragon in the hopes of saving Timothy. Without her selflessness and strong desire to save her son this story would not have been the interesting and adventerous one it turned out to be.

Notable Moment: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMPH

One of the most notable moments in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMP for me was when Mrs. Frisby bravely let Jeremy fly her to see the wise owl. Despite her name being in the tittle of the book, my first impression of Mrs. Frisby was that she was not going to be very adventurous. This perhaps might be becuase we have not yet had a female protagonist. I thought throughout the story she was going to rely on her children and other characters to save Timothy. This all changed however when she agreed to let the crow carry her high above the ground at the small chance that the owl would have some smart advise on how to handle the threat of the move. I am excited to finally see a female protagonist and especially one that is brave and adventurous.

Unlike the quick flight when they were trying to escape Dragon, the trip to see the owl was a total of six miles. The fact that Mrs. Frisby was willing to risk her life at just the chance to help her son gave me the realization that she was going to be a part of the adventure to come. The courage of this little widowed mouse to protect her children was when the story took off for me. Her new bravery is what kept my attention as I proceeded to read and is why I believe this to be a notable momemt.

Anticipating Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H

At the beginning of the semester I was really excited to see Mrs. Frisby on our reading list. I have read this book before and from what I remembered it was very entertaining. I think I was required to read Mrs. Frisby when I was in the fith grade. I think my favorite thing about reading it the first time was the sense of adventure that the book has. Now I look forward to what I discover after reading the book again over ten years later.

I also hope to compare the mice in this book to the mice and rats in Redwall. Although before this class I knew it was common for children novels to have animals be main character, I did not think mice would be a top choice. Mrs. Frisby is an interesting character from what i remember, and I am looking forward to going on this adventure to try and save her son for my second time.

Analysis: Goblet of Fire

The Goblet of Fire was a great addition to the Harry Potter series. In the fourth book of the series the three main characters, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, face greater and darker challanges while handling the hardships of becoming teenage wizards. Compared to the first couple of books this one seems to be for a slighter more mature reader. The dark and evil world is revealed in greater detail and presents more of a threat to the famous Harry Potter than ever before. The end of the book, when Harry and Cedric travel to Lord Voldermort by touching a portkey, is a really scary and intense moment. A fairly good developed character, Cedric, is killed in this part of the book. For young readers this could be alot to handle. I believe this shows the authors intention for the reader to grow as the book and characters grow. This is also the first time you really get to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione develope and deal with feeling towards the opposite sex. The triwizard ball makes it evident that Hermione and Ron have a different relationship growing than Harry and Hermione. Ron then becomes jealous of Victor Krum for liking Hermione. All this while Harry has a secret crush on Cho.

Through out this book Harry faces many challanges other than his interest in Cho and his quarrell with Ron. After being selected to compete in a dangerous competition he did not enter, Harry knows something bad could happen. Along with the three deathly triwizard challanges Harry believes Lord Voldermort is close. On several occasions his famous scar severly began hurting and burning which confirmed his fears that the dark lord may be back. With help from people like Dumbledore, Sirius, Hagrid, and his friends, Harry wins the tournament and escapes Voldermort. The end of the books reveals that dark times may await now that the dark lord is back.