“The Giver” by Lois Lowry

Alternativer Bildtext:

been assigned to a family unit is called a newchild 1 Abitur 2022 Lily Fiona Rosemary Asher she has an important position at the Department of Justice intelligent & practical woman takes her role as mother & her position at the Department of Justice very seriously Jonas' sister 7 years old in the beginning, soon turns 8 active, loud, naive, curious, childish, talkative, imaginative Englisch Grundkurs rules the Giver's daughter was selected to be the Receiver ten years prior has asked to be released the memories she has had receiver got released to the community Jonas' friend she has red hair that only Jonas is able to see spends a lot of time volunteering in the House of Old works as a caretaker in the House of Old Jonas has stirrings about Fiona/has a crush on her Chief of Elders Jonas' best friend struggled with language acquisition as a child will be an assistant director of recreation Leader of the community elected every 10 years holds ceremonies in December he knows every child name & says something about them in the ceremony of 12 Committee of Elders the group of elders make decisions for the community the Giver advises the Committee 2. setting structure & organization of the community Lotta Meiners reminders on how they are supposed to act through the speakers no animals precision of language 2 Abitur 2022 Englisch Grundkurs release family public apologies are required for unprecise language or interruptions to normal schedules family units observe two tellings: 1. telling of feelings at night 2. sharing of dreams in the morning family units are allowed two children: one male & one female the names of newchildren are kept secret until the naming ceremony when a person dies, that name is given to a newchild children are not allowed to ride bikes before they become nines objects are not to be removed from the recreation area snacks & food are to be eaten & not hoarded it considered rude to call attention to someone's differences bragging is against the rules making people uniform can't point out someone's differences community members are not to look upon one another's nakedness exception: newchildren & the Old stirrings must be reported in order for treatment to take place everyone must take a pill each morning to suppress sexual feelings from the time they first have them until they reach the House of the Old no doors in the community are locked (except the ones at the annex) speakers are in every room & aren't allowed to be turned off (except in the Annex) change in rules: Lotta Meiners rules are very heard to change: a rule change it goes to the Committee of Elders a really long process with eventually no changes rules have been the same for a very long time punishment: release as a final punishment if people from the community disobey the rules three times, they get released a name designated not to be spoken indicates the highest degree of disgrace release as a final punishment, for the old or newchildren is understood as a form of banishment as if the people would go to different place or another community nobody really knows what happens when somebody is released the community members don't have a concept of death in their community the people are actually killed through an injection the family is only allowed 2 children: one boy & one girl family buildings are all equal no affection, no sex in relationships 3 Abitur 2022 children rather co-living people go to live with the childless adults once they don't a need for a family unit anymore Englisch Grundkurs from the time they're born until December, they are cared for by nurturers they visit child care centres they all get one comfort item such as stuffed elephants, hippos, or other animals they don't know because they haven't seen real ones think that those stuffed creatures are fictional things since animals don't exist their world they're taken from them when they turn 8 the birthmothers don't see their children the children go to school Ceremonies Lotta Meiners birth three children, afterwards they do hard physical work e.g. on agricultural fields division is done by age at a certain age they start doing voluntary work at different institutions every age group from 1-year-olds to 12-year-olds have a ceremony in December each year they get something new: year nines get bikes, ... year 7 get front button jackets as the first sign of independence year 8 must do volunteer hours after school (for example in the house of old or the nurturing centre) & get jackets with pockets year nines get bicycles year tens get a new hairstyle to represent maturity Naming Ceremony/Ceremony of ones: every child that is born in a year has a ceremony in December their names get revealed each family that has been approved gets a baby Ceremony of twelve: the last but most important ceremony since they all get their assignments assignments are made by the Committee of Elders who have been watching the year elevens for the past year to find the perfect assignment after age 12, age is not important Ceremony of loss: the community gets together & they murmur the lost person's name with decreasing volume afterwards they never speak that name again Ceremony for matching spouses: 4 Abitur 2022 only old citizens live there care centre for the old it sometimes takes years before a match is approved because of all the considerations to make sure that this couple will work together House of the Old occupational therapy recreation activities & medication release of the older people in form of a celebration Englisch Grundkurs chapter 2 3. timeline of the plot chapter 1 - nervous about the upcoming ceremony of twelve in December can't think about the word that describes his feelings best chapter 3 chapter 4 Lotta Meiners -flashback to when Jonas was frightened because an aircraft had over- flown the community which wasn't allowed pilot in training had later been released as a final punishment flashback to when Asher had to give a formal apology & used a word that wasn't adequate in the situation - in the evening he settles with his family & they have the ritual to tell each other about their feelings - Jonas' father talks about a newchild that isn't developing properly & he is upset because the child could be release → wants to bring the baby to stay with them - Jonas' parents talk to him privately about his feelings & the ceremony of twelve → tell him not to worry because its very rare that someone is disap- pointed with the assigned job - Jonas' father finds out that the newchild's name is Gabriel (does this il- legally since they aren't allowed to know the names before the Cere- mony of Ones) - Jonas' father bring Gabe home & they realize that he has the same pale eyes as Jonas they talk about their assignments could be Lily mentions that she wants to be birthmother → mother says that this is an ungrateful job → Jonas says that she could be a speaker because she talks too much - Jonas remembers an incident when he had taken home an apple & there was an announcement made → had taken the apple because he had seen that something about the apple changed mid-air while throwing it & he wanted to have a closer look - Jonas is riding around on his bike & he sees Asher's bike near the House of Old - doesn't really spend his volunteer hours primarily in one place (unlike Fiona) & is unsure about what his assignment is going to be - goes to the House of Old that day & helps an old lady named Larissa 5 Abitur 2022 chapter 5 chapter 6 chapter 7 chapter 8 chapter 9 Englisch Grundkurs Lotta Meiners bath - Larissa tells him about a friend of her who has been released & the beautiful celebration - family ritual in the morning of telling each other about the dreams they had the previous - Jonas usually doesn't dream but this night he dreamt that he was bath- ing Fiona who was naked → he had stirrings (sexual feelings) - Jonas' parents talk to him privately & tell that he from now on has to take a pill each morning to suppress those stirring & feelings → he is confused because he had liked the feelings - Gabe is in their home & they granted permission for Gabriel to have an additional year of nurturing before he received his named & was as- signed a family - Gabe spend his days in the nurturing centre & his nights at Jonas' home - Jonas remembers a family that has lost their child due to drowning & the ceremony of loss 6 the opportunity to have a replacement child - it's the day of the Ceremony & Lily turns 8 & gets a jacket with pockets → indicate that she is able to keep track of her own things - year elevens are sitting together in order of their age number at birth → Jonas' number is 19 since he was the 19th birth in that year - Chief Elders holds a speech & the ceremony begins with the first child born that year - Asher receives the assignment of director of recreation - Fiona is assigned as a caretaker of the Old - the Chief Elders skips Jonas' number → Jonas panics & doesn't understand what's happening the Ceremony continues with number 20 - after all the assignments are given the Chief Elders apologizes & calls Jonas up to the stage -says that Jonas has been selected to be the Receiver of all memory → community only has one Receiver → most honoured in the community - selected a Receiver 10 years ago but it didn't work out -warns him that he is going to face physical pain - Chief Elders mentions that the Receiver must have the capacity to see beyond → Jonas thinks they were wrong because he doesn't know what seeing beyond means & thinks he isn't able to - looks up to the audience & the audience has changed in the way the apple did - Jonas' training is supposed to be done alone apart from others asks his parents about the year eleven who has been previously as- signed the Receiver → his parents tell him that it was a girl & they don't know what hap- pened to her, they only know that her name was never used again - Jonas opens the folder given to him at the ceremony & there's only one sheet of paper in there with new rules that apply to him: 6 Abitur 2022 chapter 11 Englisch Grundkurs chapter 10 - after school Fiona & Jonas ride together to their assignments - the old Receiver lives/works at the Annex chapter 12 Lotta Meiners - he must immediately go home after training - is now allowed to be rude: ask questions, can lie, doesn't have to apologize, can't discuss his dream with anybody, can't take any pain relief for pain caused during training, can't apply for release - notices that the Receiver has a lot of books the Giver's job is to give Jonas all his memories of the past (the past of the entire world) - the Giver transmits Jonas his first memory about snow → Jonas experiences snow for the first time & goes down a hill with a sled while lying on the Giver's bed - Giver has thousands of memories & once he gives them to Jonas he will no longer have them - Jonas asks why they don't have snow or hills anymore → Giver explains that it wasn't practical anymore - Jonas receives the memory of sunshine & is confused because he thought this process would be painful → Giver started with happy memories because with the last Receiver he made the mistake of doing painful ones too early gives Jonas the memory of a painful sunburn - when Jonas receives those memories, he knows the words for the things he never knew existed - Jonas dreams about snow-covered hills & sledging - at school all the twelves talk about their assignment, Jonas remains si- lent - Jonas notices changes in Fiona's hair the same way the apple had changed - later Jonas explains the situation to the Giver who says that he had seen the colour red - Giver explains that the community had to give up things such as colour to gain control trough sameness explains that Fiona's hair as well as Jonas' eyes are different because genetic scientists have still not mastered sameness - Jonas receives a memory of a rainbow to see the variety of colours chapter 13 - Jonas starts to see more & more glimpses of colour before it turns back to greyscale - he becomes angry that colour has been removed & tells the Giver that he wants to choose things for himself → Giver explains that choice has been taken away to prevent people from making the wrong choices - gets irrationally angry at people who don't get it & for them being com- placent → can't understand how they are satisfied with their life - wants to try to give some of his awareness to his friends without per- mission - the Giver gives Jonas a memory of guns & people killing an elephant - he tries to explain his memory to Lily & that her stuffed animals resem- 7 Abitur 2022 chapter 14 chapter 15 Englisch Grundkurs Lotta Meiners bles a real animal that once existed - the next day Jonas asks the Giver about his personal life & his family → he once had a wife that now lives with the childless adults - Jonas' living arrangement will be different from others because the books are forbidden to citizens & Jonas & the Giver are the only ones with access to the books - Jonas asks about the last Receiver that has failed & the Giver mentions that the memories that the Receiver got were released to the commu- nity community had a hard time resolving this because of the pain they experienced through the memories some days Jonas gets send away because the Giver is in too much pain & there won't be training for that day - the Giver gives Jonas a memory to experience pain & in this memory Jonas falls off a sled & hurts himself → realizes that the rest of the community has never known pain & this makes him feel lonely - Jonas receives mor & more memories about pain but the Giver always ends a session with a happy memory - Jonas doesn't understand why they have to hold onto those painful memories & the Giver s say that it gives them wisdom - once the community asked for more children, but the Giver gave them memories of hunger & advise the community against an additional child Jonas suggests to give those memories to everyone but the Giver ex- plains that they have been selected to lift the burden from themselves - Gabriel is growing & developing but he still doesn't sleep soundly through the night → Jonas' father is worried that they are going to release him - Jonas' father tells his family about a birth mother that is pregnant with twins & that one of the twins will be nurtured & the other one will be released (determined by the birth weight) - Jonas starts wondering about elsewhere Jonas puts Gabe to bed & during the night when Gabe got restless, Jo- nas transmits a memory which calmed him down - Jonas finds the Giver in pain & asks for memories so the Giver had less painful memories he receives a memory, in it there's men lying everywhere & gives a boy who's covered in blood some water warfare the Giver is ashamed that he gave Jonas this memory chapter 16 - Jonas doesn't like his assignment anymore & he hates the pain, ... - receives happy memories of birthday parties, art, animals - the Giver gives Jonas his favourite memory of Christmas → learns the word grandparents & the concept that elderly people live together with the rest of the family → experiences love - Jonas wishes that he had grandparents & that the Giver could be his grandfather but recognises that love can be harmful - asks his parents if they love him 8 Abitur 2022 Englisch Grundkurs - the next morning Jonas doesn't take his pill chapter 17 - it's an unscheduled holiday where no one has to work chapter 19 Lotta Meiners → parents don't understand the term & concept of love & say that the word love has become meaningless & obsolete - Gabe sleeps in room with Jonas again & Jonas says that everything could be different & better - he hasn't been taking his pills for 4 weeks & he's been having dreams - Jonas also keeps seeing more & more colours now decides to play with his friends who play a war game → he doesn't like this & tries to convince them to stop playing a game about war since he knows what war is - starts to feel lonely because he realizes that nobody else can feel & un- derstand what he's feeling - spends time with Gabriel chapter 18 - Jonas asks the Giver about release & the last Receiver that has been as- signed ten years ago → the Giver tells him that her name was Rosemary & that he loved her → pained him to give her physical pain & therefore he gave her emo- tional pain & distress → one day after a difficult day of training Rosemary asked to be re- leased decided to include the rule that the Receiver can't ask to be released - if Jonas died all the memories would be given to the people & it would a disaster - Jonas mentions that he wishes he could have seen the release of the twin that happened this morning the Giver & Jonas are able to watch the recorded release because they are able to ask for everything: - two males, one heavier than the other - his father injects something into the lighter baby's forehead & baby slowly becomes still & dies - then the baby is placed in a carton & send down a chute → Jonas realizes with horror that his father just killed newchild - Giver explains that this is why he was so sad when rosemary was released - he also mentions that Rosemary injected herself with the needle chapter 20 - Jonas starts crying because of what he has seen & refuses to go home - he wonders what Fiona will say when she finds out that her job involves killing people & the Giver says Fiona already knows - Jonas demands that they do something to stop the community from liv- ing in ignorance, but the Giver argues that change is hopeless the Giver suggests that there might be a way for things to change & they both hatch a plan - the plan is that Jonas will escape from the community, so that all of his memories will return to the people of the community → he begs the giver to escape with him, but he refuses & says that he will be needed to help the people cope with the painful memories left behind - the giver will give Jonas every memory of courage & strength that he 9 Abitur 2022 chapter 22 chapter 23 Englisch Grundkurs can before the December ceremonies - then in the middle of the night (night before the ceremony) Jonas is go- ing to leave his house leave his bike & a set of clothes next to the river in a bush - the Giver would order a car in the morning & send the driver away just long enough to hide Jonas in the car - then the Giver would return to the community & Jonas would continue looking for elsewhere - once he was out of the community his memories would be released to the community & the Giver would have to give them advice chapter 21 - Jonas' father tell Jonas at dinner that he brought Gabr to the nurture- ing centre where the staff voted that Gabe should be released on the following day - Jonas refuses to let Gabriel be killed & starts the escape this night - he takes leftover food & steals his father's bicycle - Jonas writes all night then hides with Gabriel the day without the mem- ories of strength & courage that he was supposed to get from the Giver Lotta Meiners - he'll then go to the Giver, Jonas would leave a note saying he went for a morning ride - planes fly overhead searching for them with heat seeking tracking de- vices → he transmits memories of snow to keep their bodies cold - after several days of travelling at night & hiding & sleeping during the daylight hours planes cease to appear - the roads get rougher, & the landscape starts to change & become ir- regular - Jonas twist an ankle but also sees a bird, waterfall & wildflowers for the first time → felt happiness -starts to worry that he won't be able to protect Gabriel because they were running out of food & started starving - it starts to rain, & Jonas is afraid that he won't be able to save Gabriel - he has a feeling that elsewhere is nearby & continues - it starts snowing, leaving Jonas & Gabriel cold, hungry & exhausted → Jonas can't ride his bike anymore - when the memory of sunshine is gone, he focuses on his memory of his family, friends & the Giver - when he reached the top of the hill show knows recognises the 4. utopian elements environment - he sees a sled & tuna San Gabriel white this led downhill at the bottom of the hill, he sees a lights & house in which a family is singing & celebrating Christmas it's solution: communities serene & beautiful places everything seems in harmony 10 Abitur 2022 5. dystopian elements characteristics of a dystopian society - ● serene & beautiful place (illusion of a perfect utopian world) the community was built & developed from great suffering (dramatic background story) the outside world is unknown to the community landscape, weather & humanity have been manipulated to erase all differences & potential sources of conflict: climate control because unpredictable weather isn't practical genetic modification to remove physical differences repress & extinguish feelings & instincts which are necessary to establish emotional bonds with other people ● ● types of dystopian control Englisch Grundkurs society robs people of their individuality desire for efficiency through sameness: individuality & dissent are disapproved of, uniformity is asked for uniformity governs all aspects of life dehumanized state ● abolition of strong feelings through a pill to improve the control & regulate the life in the community the release from the community as a punishment for repeated transgressive behaviour, the young & old are also killed "for the goods of us" restriction of independent thought & lack of freedom to choose many (behavioural) rules that dictate the daily lives: careful inappropriate choice of words being in time do not in any case lie (the giver & the receiver are the only once who may lie) Lotta Meiners ● apologising & accepting response loss of emotions through pills (surveillance technology) technological control & supervision the dystopian protagonist 6. analysis narrator demands are announced by voice through Jonas feels that something is wrong & does not take his pills anymore he is inquisitive & questions the existing system Jonas questions & rejects the social system & tries to inform other people about this he's rebellious & wants change written in the third person (limited omniscient) focusing on Jonas as the protagonist we know what he is thinking & feeling & we don't enter into anyone else's head 11 Abitur 2022 use of language euphemisms²: Englisch Grundkurs Lotta Meiners release = planed death stirrings = first sexual feelings assignment = career & line of work comfort object = stuffed animal to calm the children & for them to play with obfuscation³3: family unit from the state established family or living arrangement animals people with uneducated, clumsy & wild behaviour precision of language: starving = not getting any food resulting in severe hunger which eventually causes death #hungry frightened apprehensive 2 a mild or indirect word expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when we feeling to something unpleasant or embarrassing (dt.: Verschönigung) 3 the action of making something obscure, unclear or unintelligible 12