Who Is The Antagonist In The Giver?

In The Giver, Lois Lowry’s protagonist Jonas’s struggle with maintaining his individuality in a controlled society is the conflict between the government and its citizens. In the society where Jonas lives, everything is controlled by the government—food, clothing, medicine and even emotions. So much so that the people are not allowed to know or understand what lies outside their community. The government’s goal is to maintain order and stability in this society by taking away individual freedom. Only one person in this society has any memory of how things were before they became so controlled: The Giver himself. The Giver possesses the ability to see beauty in a colorless and bland world. The Giver is reluctant to share his knowledge with others, knowing that it will not be accepted by the people in this rigid society. Eventually, he decides to reveal his knowledge to Jonas, a young boy who has been selected as the next Receiver of Memory. Once Jonas learns the truth about the government’s plans for control and their suppression of emotion, he leads a rebellion against them. He creates a society in which people are free to choose their own destinies.