The Giver is
scheduled for release next week…August 15 to be exact. The movie is based on
Lois Lowry’s book, The Giver, which was published in 1993.
I’m excited.
When I taught reading, The Giver was the first novel we read each year. It more
often than not, caught the attention of my more reluctant readers. The book
deals with a number of topics that lead to great classroom discussions and
tie-ins to current world events.
The Giver is
a dystopian novel, meaning the society has some major problems, even though at
first, you do not see these problems. Jonas (11 to 12 years old) lives in a
perfect society. There is no disease, no hunger, no war, no discrimination,
etc. The people have embraced a “sameness”. No one is different. In other
words, this society is perfect…a utopian society, but in becoming this, the
people have given up many things, including music, color, and love.
Jonas is
selected to train as the new Receiver of Memory (one person in the society
holds all memories of what life was like before). Through his interactions with
The Giver (holder of the memories and the oldest person in the society who has
not been “released”), Jonas learns about what his community has given up, and
the horrors his world truly holds.
I’ve only
seen the movie trailer and have read about the movie, but I’ve already seen a
change between the movie and the book. In the movie, Jonas is 16 years old. I’m
curious as to what other changes have been made…how true will they be to the book.
