What Is The Book The Giver About?

Lois Lowry’s The Giver is a novel that tells of a seemingly perfect society, but which is actually dystopian. The main character, Jonas, is chosen to be the next “Giver” of his society. The Giver has access to all of the society’s memories and wisdom, but must pass them on to younger people before he dies. Jonas learns many dark secrets about his society as he works as the new Giver, including that every year one person must be exiled from the community for everyone else’s safety. After Jonas begins to question his society’s rules and traditions, he starts to rebel against them. Ultimately, it takes both the Giver’s help and the rebellion of other citizens for Jonas to escape from his community—which no one has ever done before. The novel has won several awards, including the Newbery Medal in 1994 (the first time it was awarded to a book in this genre). The novel has also been adapted into a film; its 2014 release made it one of the rare works of dystopian literature that was actually turned into a movie! This novel may be considered one of the most important works of dystopian literature because it questions what people should do when no one is forcing them to do anything.