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The Giver Facts & Worksheets

The Giver is a dystopian novel written by Lois Lowry in 1993. It is set in a seemingly perfect society that is gradually shown to be dystopian as the story unfolds.

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The Giver is a dystopian novel written by Lois Lowry in 1993. It is set in a seemingly perfect society that is gradually shown to be dystopian as the story unfolds.

See the fact file below for more information about the Literature Study The Giver, or you can download our 22-page The Giver worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  • Lois Ann Lowry is an American author. She has authored multiple books targeted towards children and young adults, including The Giver Quartet, Number the Stars, and Rabble Starkey. She is renowned for her exploration of challenging subject subjects, dystopian settings, and intricate themes in her literature targeted towards young readers.
  • Lowry has been awarded two Newbery Medals, one in 1990 for her work Number the Stars and another in 1994 for her book The Giver. Her novel Gooney Bird Greene won the 2002 Rhode Island Children’s Novel Award.
  • Lowry initially embarked on her professional journey as an independent journalist. During the 1970s, she sent a short story to Redbook magazine, targeting mature readers but narrated from a child’s point of view.
  • An editor employed by Houghton Mifflin, who had read the Redbook story, proposed to Lowry that she should author a book specifically targeted at children. Lowry consented and authored her inaugural book, A Summer to Die, which was subsequently released by Houghton Mifflin in 1977 when she reached the age of 40. The book explores the motif of terminal sickness, drawing from Lowry’s personal encounters with her sister Helen.
  • Visiting her old father in a nursing facility served as the inspiration for her to create The Giver, which received the 1994 Newbery Award. Lowry realized that the absence of long-term memory eliminates the experience of pain. She envisioned a civilization in which the conscious act of forgetting the past would enable its inhabitants to reside in a state of tranquil ignorance. 
  • She came to see that the inherent weaknesses of such a society would highlight the importance of individual and communal memory. While the absence of memory can result in the absence of suffering, it also entails the loss of enduring human relationships and ties to the past.
  • The society portrayed by Lowry in The Giver is a utopian society, representing an ideal world as imagined by its architects. It has eradicated fear, suffering, hunger, illness, conflict, and hatred— all elements that the majority of us aspire to abolish within our own society.

PLOT OF THE STORY

  • The Giver narrates the tale of Jonas, an adolescent boy of eleven, who is brought up in a futuristic enclosed society. The community has eradicated pain, conflict, fear, and all affective states, both negative and pleasant. 
  • The residents are satisfied with their current circumstances, but they lack awareness of their past lives, including the feelings, colors, and experiences that have been taken away from them.
  • Jonas resides with his father, who is employed as a nurturer for children, his mother, who works at the Department of Justice, and his younger sister, Lily, who is merely seven years of age.
  • At the outset of the novel, he is contemplating the imminent Ceremony of the Twelve. There, his career trajectory will be clearly defined for him. He will be assigned a job that is well suited to his abilities and that he will retain indefinitely. 
  • However, unlike his companions Asher and Fiona, Jonas is uncertain about the nature of the assignment he will receive, as he lacks a strong enthusiasm for any of the numerous occupations he has experimented with. 
  • Individuals within the society submit applications to acquire spouses, are allocated two offspring each, and when they reach maturity, family units are dissolved. Once citizens reach a specific age, they are ultimately accommodated at the House of the Old. 
  • Subsequently, they are terminated or euthanized to prevent any more strain on the community. The citizens hold the belief that the act of being released entails transitioning into Elsewhere, the vicinity adjacent to the village, and embarking on a fresh existence. They lack a comprehensive understanding of death. The elderly, sick, and nonconformists are all set free. 
  • On the designated day, Jonas and his classmates gather in a specific order based on their birth dates. The Chief elder, who is in charge, initially skips Jonas’s turn and at the end of the ritual clarifies that Jonas has not been given a typical task, but rather has been chosen as the next Receiver of Memory. 
  • The role of the Receiver carries significant prestige and accountability, causing Jonas to swiftly become alienated from his peers. Jonas is further isolated by the regulations he receives, which prohibit him from spending time with his friends and demand that he keep his training concealed. Additionally, they grant him the ability to deceive and suppress his emotions from his family, actions that are typically prohibited in the structured Community.
  • Upon initiation, Jonas’s training unequivocally reveals his exceptional nature, as the Receiver of Memory assumes the responsibility of carrying the collective memories of all past events. Furthermore, this individual is granted exclusive permission to access literature beyond educational materials and the standard rulebook distributed to every home. The present Receiver, who requests Jonas to address him as the Giver, initiates the procedure of transmitting those memories to Jonas, as the average individual in the Community remains unaware of historical events. The Receiver’s exclusive access to historical books grants them unique recollections and a broader perspective, enabling them to provide informed guidance to the Council of Elders.
  • Jonas’s training is overshadowed by the knowledge that the Giver had a previous apprentice named Rosemary. However, Jonas encounters resistance from his parents and the Giver when he tries to inquire about her fate.
  • Jonas’s father is apprehensive about a newborn at the Nurturing Center who is experiencing a lack of growth and development and has been granted special authorization to bring the infant home during the night.
  • If the infant becomes sufficiently robust, he will be given the name Gabriel upon being allocated to a family. Following Jonas’s speculation about existence in Elsewhere, the Giver enlightens him by presenting a concealed-camera footage of Jonas’s father performing his duty: administering a lethal injection to the smaller of two indistinguishable twin infants before disposing of it in a waste chute, as per the community’s prohibition on identical individuals. 
  • Due to his newfound belief that his father is a murderer, Jonas first declines to go back home. However, the Giver persuades him that the inhabitants of the Community are unaware of the immorality of their actions due to their lack of memories.

THEMES

Memory

  • The Giver symbolizes a society in which the absence of cultural recollection results in an incapacity to prevent societal errors, hindering the community from achieving a genuine Utopia, hence bestowing transformative possibilities onto human memory. 

Religion

  • The portrayal of Christmas in The Giver’s conclusion suggests that an ideal society is partially symbolized by a traditional family Christmas, thereby positioning the novel as conservative. 

The Individual vs. Society

  • The community established by Jonas is based on the concept of Sameness, which aims to eradicate any kind of diversity among its inhabitants. To attain this state of Sameness, the promotion of individualism is discouraged, and the utmost importance is placed on norms and discipline. 
  • Jonas has the knowledge at a young age that both defying rules and displaying uniqueness are regarded as disgraceful. 

Freedom and Choice

  • In Jonas’s community, individuals are deprived of the ability to exercise personal agency. The decisions regarding the community were established during the remote past upon the establishment of Sameness, and any further modifications necessitate tediously sluggish bureaucratic procedures. Devoid of choice, individuals are spared the repercussions of making incorrect decisions, but they are also deprived of the pleasures that accompany making correct ones.

Feeling and Emotion

  • The inhabitants of Jonas’s village lack comprehension of authentic feelings or suffering because of the absence of circumstances that would enable them to have such experiences. Birthmothers are prohibited from raising their own offspring. Sexual activity is prohibited, and any sexual desires are suppressed with medication.

RECEPTION

  • The Giver has faced repeated instances of censorship, or attempted censorship, in school libraries, owing to its somber themes and depiction of violence. During a question-and-answer session in 2020, Lowry asserted that the demands for prohibition typically originate from individuals, such as parents, who have not actually read the book but have merely encountered summaries or isolated quotations. 
  • Furthermore, Lowry noted that those who have advocated for its prohibition often reverse their stance after actually reading the book. Lowry has expressed her opposition to censorship and advocated for the absence of any restrictions on literature.

ADAPTATIONS

  • In 1994, actor Bill Cosby and his film firm, ASIS Productions, forged a partnership with Lancit Media Productions to transform The Giver into a cinematic adaptation. Subsequently, the composition of the partnership underwent alterations, and the production team expanded in magnitude. 
  • However, minimal progress was made in advancing the project. Screenwriter Ed Neumeier was once contracted to develop the screenplay. Subsequently, Todd Alcott took over from Neumeier, and Walden Media assumed the role of the primary production business.
  • Jeff Bridges expressed his desire to create the picture about two decades ago and initially intended to direct it, with his father, Lloyd Bridges, playing the main character. The demise of the elder Bridges in 1998 resulted in the abandonment of that plan, causing the picture to remain stagnant in a state of prolonged development for a further 15 years. Warner Bros. acquired the rights in 2007, and the film adaptation was ultimately approved in December 2012. 

The Giver Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about the Literature Study, The Giver across 22 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about The Giver. The Giver is a dystopian novel written by Lois Lowry in 1993. It is set in a seemingly perfect society that is gradually shown to be dystopian as the story unfolds.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Literature: The Giver Facts
  2. Find the Meaning
  3. Story Plot
  4. Community
  5. Character Analysis
  6. What’s in a Community?
  7. Celebration of Release
  8. A Lesson Of….
  9. Ending
  10. The Past
  11. Book Cover

Frequently Asked Questions

What is “The Giver” about?

“The Giver” is a dystopian novel by Lois Lowry, set in a society where emotions and memories are suppressed for the sake of stability and conformity. It follows Jonas, a young boy who is chosen to be the Receiver of Memories, tasked with holding the community’s collective memories, including both the pain and joy of the past.

What themes are explored in “The Giver”?

“The Giver” delves into themes such as individuality versus conformity, the importance of memory and emotion in human experience, the dangers of a society that suppresses freedom and choice, and the role of pain and suffering in shaping human consciousness.

Who is the author of “The Giver”?

“The Giver” was written by Lois Lowry, an American author known for her works for children and young adults. She has won numerous awards for her writing, including the Newbery Medal for “The Giver” in 1994.

How does “The Giver” compare to other dystopian novels?

While “The Giver” shares some common themes with other dystopian novels, such as George Orwell’s “1984” and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World,” it distinguishes itself by focusing on the consequences of eliminating both pain and pleasure from society. Unlike many dystopian tales, “The Giver” offers a more hopeful conclusion, suggesting the possibility of change and renewal.

What critical acclaim has “The Giver” received?

“The Giver” has received widespread critical acclaim for its thought-provoking themes and compelling narrative. It won the prestigious Newbery Medal in 1994 and has been praised for its ability to engage readers of various ages with its complex exploration of societal structures and human emotions. The novel has also been adapted into a successful film and stage play, further solidifying its impact and enduring popularity.

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Use With Any Curriculum

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