For our "Coming of Age" unit, I've been reading The Giver by Lois Lowry. It's really good, I have to say. Not knowing what I was getting into, I decided to pick this book for this unit. There are many things that say a lot about coming of age in this book so far. For example, the whole idea of age and how big of a role it plays in their community. Or the idea of "Assignments." It's all very eye-opening.
In this book so far, age is a really important factor. In The Giver, age is kept until the age of twelve. Each year leading up to it, you gain new benefits and responsibilities, while you lose others. At the age of twelve, you are given your Assignment. That's basically your job until you get too old, in which case you go to the House of the Old. You stay there until you "get released." The fact that age is held in such high regard, and so strictly as well, is amazing. I'm not exactly sure if I like it or not though. There are certain aspects of it that seem rewarding, yeah, but others just seem very... restricting. The fact that you gradually gain the benefits of getting older as you go along is cool, I guess. But the added fact that things also get taken away is slightly depressing. I personally think that you should be allowed to grow out of certain things instead of being forced to. It's kind of harsh to just make a kid stop doing or using whatever they're accustomed to. And the children don't get any leeway, either. It's pretty hardcore.
Another thing that I'm not sure about is this whole "Assignment" business. I don't see why the Committee of Elders thinks it's a good idea to assign everyone a job for the majority of their lives. Let them pick their own occupation. At this point, kids who have just turned twelve are assigned their job that they will then train for so they can eventually do it until they turn old and frail. Everyone in the community is chosen for a specific thing that they will do based on how they act from ages 1 through 11. And even though most children are pleased with what they are chosen to do, I still think it's unreasonable to choose someone's job for them. What if that kid didn't like his "Assignment"? Just the name irritates me to an extent. Assignment. Like it's something they have to do for classwork to make the teacher happy.
Alright, so a lot of things have come up so far in this book. And I can say that age plays an enourmous role in this book. Why is the Committee of Elders in charge? Does age play that big of a role? Everything that happens in this book is determined by how ol you are. The responsibilities, the benefits, the drawbacks, everything. Change is good. However, there's no room for change when it's the same people in control all the time.
Variety is the spice of life.
So in conclusion, so far the book relies heavily on age. I like the book, but it's very eye-opening, as I said before. Lois Lowry is truly an amazing author. She's extremely descriptive, and gives the feel that you're actually apart of the alternate universe she writes about. Kudos to her for writing such an amazing story. I haven't finished the book yet, but I'm looking forward to what's going to come next. I haven't been this interested in a book in a very long time. Thank you Lois, for making reading fun again.
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