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Title of Book: The Giver
by Lois Lowry
In Lois Lowry’s dystopian Community, the weight of the entire population is on the shoulders of one person, The Receiver. He is the only one who knows the history of his people, the only one who knows color, the only one who knows pain. But his days are coming to an end, so the Community must name a new Receiver. It’s time for The Receiver to become The Giver.
Children as early as 5th grade have read her book — not without controversy — that begins with the Ceremony of Twelve, the time twelve-year-olds are given by the elders their role in community for the rest of their lives. Because there are scenes of euthanasia, suicide and sexual feelings, my thinking is that older readers, high school and above, are better able to deal with the material more critically, perhaps even with personal insights.
Readers are led to ponder questions about how society seeks to protect itself from those who don’t fit in — the disabled, the weak, the old, those of a different color. What is the composition and purpose of a family? How does society prepare its youth for adulthood? What is sacrificed by promoting a society of “sameness”?
I suspect most readers will lump this book into the currently popular genre of dystopian novel. However, I would recommend reading this first of a four volume series by Lowry through the lens of Christian faith. What if one were to read this book through faith in knowing a Receiver who sees the world through the eyes of God? After all, I know a Receiver who knows my pain, and I know this Receiver will forgive rather than “release” (a euphemism for euthanize)
me, because he is the ultimate giver of life, love and grace.
Taking this viewpoint one step further, one can read this book in the faith that this Receiver calls us to continue his ministry. He is the ultimate Giver of life and love, and as a “receiver,” as one born in his image, we have inherited the lifelong role of embodying his goodness, of telling “his story” even to the point of “receiving” the pain of others.
Be prepared to be upset by what you receive from Lois Lowry, and then be prepared to give unto others what was given unto you by the ultimate Giver.
Jonathan Austen is the pen name of Jonathan Heaslet (no one knows how to pronounce, much less spell Heaslet).
Austen (Heaslet) is a graduate of the University of Iowa and an ordained minister who has served as pastor of two congregations in the Midwest. He and his wife Linda are the parents of five children, eleven grandchildren and one great grandchild. They live in Charlotte NC with Standard Poodle Lord Chancellor Chesterfield (Chester).
He is a member of the Charlotte Word Weavers, Charlotte Writers Club and North Carolina Writers Network. You can reach him at [email protected]