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