Last weekend I read the book, The Giver, by Lois Lowry. My brother and sister read it back in grade school, but I never had. My brother gave it to my daughter as a Christmas gift. Its a bit like Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 in that it presents a futuristic society where the pursuit of knowledge has been lost.
The story is told by a third person narrator. The narrator presents the tale from the view point of the main character, a young adolescent boy named Jonas. The setting is a utopian society where pain has virtually been eliminated. The method of this "advancement" was the removal of the pursuit of knowledge. Any knowing of the past has been lost. There is only one member of the society that has any recollections of the world before the establishment of the current reality. This man is the giver.
Jonas is appointed to become the new giver for the society. He is selected because the current giver has observed that Jonas has the ability to "see" the world for what is used to be, (and what it could be.) Through his training he learns that all the things he "knew" were false. As he acquires knowledge he realizes that the world is empty. Lack of knowledge of the past has eliminated not only pain, but also love.
Jonas is able to experience love through the memories that the giver imparts to him. Once he experiences love he is unable to accept anything else. He is compelled by it. He decides he has to change, (save), the world from itself. They must experience the pain of the past in order to experience love in the present. There is only one way for this to be accomplished. Jonas must "release", (sacrifice,) himself on their behalf, allowing them to experience the memories of the past themselves. Unfortunately he is too young to comprehend the full implications of this decision.
The ending of this book is quite tragic. Jonas escapes from this utopian society with an infant who was scheduled to be "released", (killed,) because he was not developing according to the "perfect" standards of the society. He flees as far as he can. They both die from starvation and exposure. In the final scene in the story Jonas, upon his death, "sees" the world for what it is meant to be. The great pain he is in physically is contrasted by a beautiful vision of a town filled with people who love each other. He imagines himself sledding down the snowy hill he is on to be welcomed by the inhabitants of this long lost world.
Its a quick read and I enjoyed it. I would recommend this book to children who have an understanding of death and adults. If you have read this book leave a comment letting me know what you thought.