“There is no joy without hardship. If not for death, would we appreciate life? If not for hate, would we know the ultimate goal is love?” — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. In the novel The Giver, suffering is a foreign concept to the community in which the main character, Jonas, resides. Although this “utopia” free of suffering may seem like a dream come true at first glance, readers soon begin to realize that this comes with a cost: its citizens are prevented from experiencing the gratification of human emotions and connections. Through his training, Jonas, who is chosen to receive memories of the past, begins to understand the importance of suffering and how it gives life depth and meaning. The novel ultimately challenges the idea that a pain-free …show more content…
Suffering is an inevitable part of life, and it is something that every person has to face at some point, and though at times we may wish for a world free of suffering, the novel "The Giver", displays how the absence of pain leads to a society that is devoid of true joy and happiness. We are shown that it is only through experiencing suffering that people can truly appreciate the joys of life. In the novel, we see how the citizens of the community are shielded from both physical and emotional pain. They are forced to take pills to completely numb their emotions and medication that instantly relieves any pain is administered, even in cases of insignificant abrasions. This, in turn, leads to a depressing society that is devoid of any emotions and passion. However, no one from the community has ever known anything else, meaning that everyone is satisfied with the depressing lives they are living. …show more content…
The citizens become passive and submissive, blindly following the rules and expectations set by the authorities. They lose their ability to feel almost any emotions at all, which makes them vulnerable to manipulation and control. This is horrifyingly revealed when Jonas’ father emotionlessly kills a newborn baby. Close to the end of Jonas’s training, he learns that the so-called “Release Ceremonies” are just executions, and his father had become so brainwashed to the point where he carried out the savage orders of killing a new child without batting an eye.“To his surprise, his father began very carefully to direct the needle into the top of the new child's forehead, puncturing the place where the fragile skin pulsed. The newborn squirmed and wailed faintly. He pushed the plunger very slowly, injecting the liquid into the scalp vein until the syringe was empty. As he continued to watch, the new child, no longer crying, moved his arms and legs in a jerking motion. Then he went limp. His head fell to the side, his eyes half open. Then he was still. The little twin lay motionless. His father was putting things away. Folding the blanket. He killed it! My father killed it! Jonas said to himself, stunned at what he was realizing. He continued to stare at the screen numbly. His father tidied the room. Then he picked up a small carton that lay waiting on the floor, set it on the
Yes, there may be pain and suffering in our society. But I would rather have that than have no feelings at all like in The Giver.
Is pain necessary in order to feel pleasure? Does feeling pain mean you understand the world? Even though these are different questions, they are connected; we see in The Giver and in Fahrenheit 451 that pain is necessary to experience true pleasure and to then truly understand the world. We can see this through the characters in The Giver only having shallow feelings of happiness and a limited understanding of the world when they have not experienced pain, Jonas recognizing how he can experience much more pleasure and understand the world because of pain, and in Fahrenheit 451, we see examples of how ridding one’s life of pain and complexity only leads to a dull, emotionless life.
He faces many things that are missing from his society, many important things. One of these things is pain. Within his society they believe getting rid of pain frees human life and solves many problems. The eradication of pain would not solve societal issues though due to the fact that pain is a point of growth, pain allows for a deeper understanding, and without pain the world would be dull.
The Giver looked down at him, his face contorted with suffering. ‘Please’ he gasped, take some of the pain.” (Lowry 149). This excerpt shows that even an assured brave man like the Giver suffers greatly when forced to bear a weight this colossal alone. Jonas is the one person that the Givers trusts and confides in, the one person that he uses to lean on in these kinds of times.
Jonas’ reaction to his father murdering a baby comes as a shock because his whole life, along with others, has been a lie. They have simply been protected from the meaning of life and death. Some may say, it’s ok to forge the truth from the citizens so they don’t have to go through the pain of loosening someone. It is not, hiding the truth from someone which people call a secret is the one thing the Elders want to prevent people from doing, and telling people that Release is someone going to Elsewhere could eventually lead to the thing that scares them the most,
It is simply impossible to truly appreciate all the good that life has to offer without recognizing and overcoming the bad. Pleasure cannot exist without pain and vice versa. If G-d were to create a world without pain and suffering, one would be unable to value and recognize what has been given to us, eternal happiness and prosperity. Hick characterizes ones coming to consciousness of the development of goodness after immense hardship as a step towards becoming virtuous and worthy of creation (Hick 323). Life is simply too precious to be hyper focused on the bad without hope of bettering oneself.
Similar to any other conflict or struggle we undergo or face in life, suffering is an experience, and experiences always offer us something in return – whether good or bad. H. Richard Neibur states that suffering leads people to define themselves, take on character, and develop ethos. However, in this case, taking on ‘character’ is subjective, meaning that its effect can be defined by positive and negative circumstances. The outcome of suffering depends on a person’s capability of handling emotions and overcoming tough conditions. If the person’s strong enough and durable enough to take on a harsh unexpected events, then there is a chance that this person may see the light and overcome the missions with great attributes to share.
In The Giver, the members in the society do not feel pain or have strong emotions. Without any emotions or feelings life can be very boring and uneventful. In contrast, Mildred from Fahrenheit 451 and Montag do not have a strong relationship because they do not have feelings or emotions. This leads to Mildred attempting suicide because she does not want to live her boring life. Without feelings and emotions in Utopian societies, the people can get very sad and their uneventful life can drive them to
The Giver Essay The society of The Giver by Lois Lowry is a utopian society. They don’t have to make hard decisions, they don’t experience real pain and sorrow, and everything is provided for them. The Giver’s society could also be a dystopia because they don’t get to experience love or real feelings. One reason The Giver is a utopia because they do not have any choices.
Would you give up love and true happiness for a life without pain? In the dystopian novel The Giver, written by Lois Lowry, strong emotion is sacrificed for a peaceful environment. The depicted community at first appears to be a utopia, where hate and discrimination are abolished, but the emotionless society is quickly revealed to be dystopian as the story continues. They live in a world of sameness; there is no hunger, suffering, or war, but also no color, diversity, or sensuality. The protagonist, a twelve-year-old boy named Jonas, uncovers the truth about his community when he is assigned to be the Receiver of Memory, and acquires the memories from the past from an elder called the Giver.
His guilt-ridden reaction to Jonas helps the reader understand that Jonas is slowly starting to understand true cruelty that he couldn’t even imagine in the past. In the story, the author states, “Jonas did not want to go back. He didn 't want the memories, didn 't want the honor, didn 't want the wisdom, didn 't want the pain. He wanted his childhood again, his scraped knees and ball games. ”This quote demonstrates that Jonas understands that he is losing his innocence because of the memories he receives, especially the painful ones.
The novel analyses the impact of misery and pain when society establishes the false
Jonas’ Hardships Lois Lowry, the author, wrote a novel titled “The Giver” which took place in a dystopian society with ideas like climate control, sameness, and precision of language. The main character, Jonas, was selected for the assignment “The Receiver of Memory” and this assignment caused him many hardships. Throughout the story, Jonas faces many hardships related to his assignment, his friends, and the community. The theme to the story is overcoming obstacles because Jonas has to conquer many hardships throughout the novel.
Although in our society, anyone can get opportunities to make their life great and can prevent some pain from entering their life like physical or heartbreak, but everyone loses someone they love and that’s something no one is able to control. Everyone has to bear the pain and learn to live without them knowing they can never be replaced, but not in Jonas’ society. Since there is no love, no one knows how to care for others who have passed or been ‘released’, “He pushed the plunger very slowly, injecting the liquid into the scalp, vain until the syringe was empty.” (Lowry 149). Before
I personally think that suffering helps us to notice and appreciate true happiness. If we did not feel pain, we would not realize how great life is. Aristotle implies we are able to control our happiness in this way. Once we have experienced suffering we know it eventually passes and life carries