Do not be blindly obedient to society's rules.
This is one of the themes because in the book The Giver, all of the citizens just go along with all of the rules and regulations of the society. They do not even realize that they are killing babies who have barely even lived just because they are different. They do not question why the officials in their Community are killing elderly men and women who they see ‘not fit or productive to society’ any more. Over time the people are not affected by these killings at all because it seems normal to them. When Jonas’ dad kills the baby, the Giver tells him “‘They can’t help it. The know nothing.’ . . . ‘It’s what he was told to do, and he knows nothing else’” (Lowry 153). Their society is blind to the bad things they do. They don’t realize that killing babies and the elderly is unethical and the fact that it does not bother them at all is scary. Lois Lowry is trying to teach us that you should always question each and every part of our lives. She wants us to be aware of everything around us in our society. So the theme for The Giver is ‘do not blindly follow society’s rules’ because she wants us to always makes choices for ourselves and to not always listen to the rules of society.
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Individual expression should be valued.
This is a theme of The Giver because Jonas’ Community chooses sameness and that is so boring. Even Jonas doesn’t like it once he figures out that there is something else to be than the same as everyone else. In one part of the book Jonas says, " 'It isn't fair that nothing has color!' 'Not fair?'... 'If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?' ... 'It's the choosing that's important, isn't it?' " (Lowry 97 & 98). This supports the theme of individual expression being valued because it shows that the citizens do not see colors, so they have no idea what color shirt they are wearing or what color eyes or hair they have. They do not realize that they are missing out on these things. However, once Jonas learns about colors, he grows angry that not everyone can see the beautiful colors that he has memories of. If people are not able to be themselves and express themselves, they can grow angry or rebellious. An example of this would be when Jonas grows sick of the rules of the Community and rebels against his own society. He is sick of not having a choice in what job he gets or how many kids he can have. He wants to choose this himself. He wants to be his own person not just another person. He wants to express himself in his own way. Along with that, it is pointed out by Lowry that since the citizens know nothing of pain from the past or really any pain at all, it takes away their individuality. We all have had different things happen to us in our lifetime like falling off a bike and ending up with a scar on your leg or breaking a bone in your body. Those injuries and the pain they come with make us who we are. The same goes with emotional pain, like someone close to you dying or having a first love break your heart. These pains in life make us individuals. So when that pain was taken away from the citizens in Jonas’ community, they lost their individuality. Therefore, people should be able to express themselves in any way they want and individuality should be valued in all societies.
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