Monday, May 31, 2010
Post 1: A community not of our world
Initial Response to The Giver
After reading The Giver, I feel that Jonas is bold and I admire him because of his boldness. He did not know what the world was like outside his community, yet he was brave and still ran away with the Giver’s help. Jonas is also sympathetic, after secretly seeing his father kill the baby; he was concerned for Gabriel and genuinely did not want Gabriel to be killed. So instead of escaping by himself, he brought Gabriel along.
I feel that everyone in the community is well-protected and safe. They are not exposed to memories, feelings and the world beyond their community. However, I also feel that living in a community like this is not beneficial to the citizens. As they do not have memories and feelings, they cannot experience wonderful things like snow or the sea. The citizens cannot feel for each other and they are unable to question the committee’s decisions and rules set. The community is so organised and carefully planned out that the citizens do not have much freedom and choice. In times of danger and trouble, the citizens most probably cannot think and react well to the situation because they are always protected and do not often feel pain. This in turn will harm the citizens because they all do not have sufficient knowledge and memories that will come in handy during times of trouble and danger.
After reading The Giver, I began to appreciate the world I live in more. In Jonas's world, colours, memories and real feelings are not part of their daily lives. They live in a black and white world which is rather plain and uninteresting. I feel glad to be able to wake up to a world filled with colours. Also, people living in the community do not have memories. This is really sad, because memories are priceless things and can only belong to people when they experience it themselves. Unlike the world we live in, the people living in the community can never remember things like snow, sea, war, hunger and extreme pain. Lastly, I appreciate the world I live in because I can feel different feelings in my everyday life. In Jonas's world, feelings are mostly untrue and shallow. Anger and happiness are never felt fully. This makes the people in the community emotionally numb towards many things, just like how Jonas's father never felt any grief when he released the baby twin.
