The Giver Blogpost #2

The Giver by Lois Lowry is a book that can take your mind to another world. I am lucky enough to be reading it right now. When you start reading it you never want to stop. I am slowly falling in love with this book for many reasons. It has so much control over you which brings me to the point were Jonas (the main character) is getting his first few weeks of training by The Giver. In these weeks of training the Giver is giving Jonas his memories and Jonas is taken into a totally different world. Jonas lives in a community where everything is plain and boring. Jonas discovers that the world actually has color in it, and he discovers new weather such as cold icy weather and snow. Jonas is liking his assignment as The Receiver of Memory. He does suffer from one thing. Since he is The Receiver of Memory it says in the rules that he has to have his training alone, away from everyone else and he must not talk about his training with anyone, not even his family. This means that he feels left out and he doesn't really have time for his friends anymore. This makes Jonas a little upset. He still hangs out with his friends but he spends most of his time with The Giver. There are so many questions that lie behind this book, but the one that strikes forth to me is: Why does Jonas find the instruction about lying so disturbing?

Jonas was raised as a good boy and now since he is the Receiver of Memory he got his folder of instructions. One of them being "You may lie". This startles Jonas because he is so used to always telling the truth since this is how he was raised. For Jonas this opens many new doors because he can say whatever he wants to to his parents, sister, friends etc. I know that this will take a lot of getting used to for Jonas because he was taught by the rules of the community and one of them was not to lie. Now it has completely changed. I think this is a type of diversion since a new road has opened and Jonas has a new perspective in life. Jonas dives into a new world which he is not to sure yet if he likes or dislikes. I think Jonas finds the instruction about lying so disturbing because he is not yet come across the thought of lying to his family or friends and he doesn't want to hurt their feelings. If they find out he is lying to them they will trust him no longer and that is why he doesn't want to lie to his friends and family. The Giver told Jonas that he can lie but Jonas hasn't yet because he hasn't had that feeling of telling a lie yet so he doesn't know what response will be thrown at him after he has told the lie. These are passages from the book that prove that Jonas finds the instruction of lying disturbing:

"

Jonas

Receiver of Memory

1. Go immediately at the end of school hours each day to the Annex entrance behind the House of the Old and present yourself to the attendant.

2. Go immediately to your dwelling at the conclusion of Training Hours each day.

3. From this moment on you are exempted from rules governing rudeness. You may ask any question of any citizen and you will receive answers.

4. Do not discuss your training with any other members of the community, including parents and Elders.

5. From this moment you are prohibited from dream-telling.

6. Except for illness or injury unrelated to your training, do not apply for any medication.

7. You are not permitted to apply for release.

8. You may lie.

Jonas was stunned. What would happen to his friendships? His mindless hours playing ball, or riding his bike along the river? Those had been happy and vital times for him, now? The simple logistic instructions -- where to go, and when -- were expected. Every twelve had to be told, of course, where and how and when to report for training. But he was a little dismayed that his schedule left no time, apparently, for recreation."

Page 68-69 of The Giver by Lois Lowry

These are the passages where Jonas looks at his new rules and his reaction to them. He is stunned and has many questions about his new rules. Jonas wants to try his best for a good training and with his new rules he has a lot of getting used to. The last rule from the 8 rules is, "You may lie" and this is the one rule that really strikes at Jonas. He is so used to not lying and with this new rule he has a new life in front of him. I am not sure if Jonas will stick with the community rules and not lie or if he will use the new rule and lie. I guess to find out I need to continue the thrilling book of The Giver.

On my point of view lying is not always a good thing but not always a bad. There will be situations in life where you will have to lie and those will always stride forth, but there are situations in life where you can choose if you want to lie or not. If you have the choice and you choose to lie then you are portraying yourself as a bad person. These cases are usually because someone wants something or did something bad and does not want to admit it. When someone starts to lie and that persons friends or family find out that person is no longer trusted and that persons friends or family will not tell him/her any more secrets.

This is the punishment of a liar: he is not believed, even when he speaks the truth.

"LIES AND LYING Quotes, Sayings and Quotations." Love Quotes | Quotes about Love | Cute Love Quotes | Sweet Love Quotes - Top 10 - Top 100 Love Quotes. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. .