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The Giver 46275 Views
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Description:
In The Giver , society is completely conformist. Neutrality rules the day, and no emotion is good emotion. Lois Lowry's novel challenges the value of conformity and points out the highs and lows of life—as well as how highs and lows are life. Mind. Blown.
Transcript
- 00:04
The Giver, a la Shmoop. In Lois Lowry’s “The Giver,” people
- 00:12
live in ‘sameness’ so they don’t have to feel pain.
- 00:17
Twelve-year-old Jonas finds out he’s to receive the memories of his Community in order
- 00:21
to learn from their past. Having access to these memories allows Jonas
- 00:26
to feel love for the first time. Great for Jonas… but what about us? Are
Full Transcript
- 00:31
we hiding our feelings? Are we avoiding pain? Is expressing our emotions becoming less important…
- 00:38
… than keeping our sanity? How often do we just go for a stroll to think
- 00:45
deeply about our lives? But then most of us don’t care to be alone
- 00:51
– we’d rather be hanging out with our friends…
- 00:53
…doing the same things they’re doing…
- 00:55
…buying the same clothes… watching the same shows…listening to the same music…
- 00:59
…avoiding the tough questions and the hard realities of the world we live in.
- 01:03
In “The Giver,” the Community avoids emotions so they can avoid pain and grief.
- 01:09
Let’s talk about our community’s emotions for a sec.
- 01:12
You know - that tingling sensation you get in the pit of your stomach on a first kiss.
- 01:17
Although it might actually be butterflies living in your stomach. Better get yourself
- 01:21
checked out. Life certainly has its ups and downs…the
- 01:25
kind the Collective tried to avoid feeling. In our world, some might argue that feeling
- 01:30
these ups and downs can be too extreme. The Community in “The Giver” gave up their
- 01:35
ability to remember their pain. Is the same happening to us in the real world?
- 01:41
Are we willingly creating our own kind of community ‘sameness’?
- 01:45
Are we relying too heavily on meds? Are we asking to be prescribed out of experiencing…
- 01:50
…the peaks… …and valleys…
- 01:53
…of life’s journey ahead? Will we soon be like the Collective?
- 01:59
Willing to forget our past to make the present less painful?
- 02:03
Or will we ‘remember,’ like Jonas, and allow ourselves to live through the challenges,
- 02:07
glories and disappointments that life brings our way?
- 02:10
Shmoop Amongst Yourselves.
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