It is a very controlled society that Lois Lowry creates in the dystopia of The Giver. In Chapters 6 through 7, the entire community assembles in the Auditorium for the yearly Ceremony arranged by the Committee of Elders. All the parents sit together in one area, and the children sit with their age groups until they step up to the stage, one by one.
The First Ceremony begins. The new children are brought up one-by-one and given names as they are handed by the Nurturers to the new family with whom they will live. One of the newborns is a replacement child for a boy named Caleb who drowned in the river. For the new Caleb, there is the Murmur-of-the-Replacement Ceremony as people repeat the name Caleb for the first time since the boy's death.
After the newborns, the other age groups come up in chronological order. When Jonas's sister Lily is pronounced an Eight, she receives the jacket that will identify her as such. This jacket has pockets, an indication that Lily is now old enough to keep track of her own things. Then, the ceremony of Nines takes place and children receive new bicycles. Jonas cringes some when his neighbor Fritz goes up to receive his bicycle, with its shining name tag on the back. He cringes because Fritz is always making some type of mistake; now, with a new bicycle, he may drop it sometimes on the front walk instead of parking it in its port.
The Tens all get haircuts. The boys receive a short, more manly haircut, and the girls lose their braids. The Elevens then receive new clothing: different undergarments for the girls, whose bodies are changing, and longer pants for the boys, with a specially shaped pocket for the calculator that they will use in school, a wrapped package received without ceremony.
The Twelves move to take a new place in the auditorium where they sit immediately before the stage. The first speech is made by the Chief Elder, who is the leader of the community, elected every ten years. Then, as the ceremony of Twelves is conducted, the Committee of Elders is recognized and, finally, number One is called to the stage. She is assigned as Fish Hatchery Attendant. After her, Inger is chosen as a Birthmother; then, Isaac is called to be an Instructor of the sixes. Asher follows, and is designated as the Director of Recreation. Next is Fiona, who approaches the stage and is assigned Caretaker of the Old. As the others are called in order, Jonas is skipped until the Chief Elder addresses him. She tells the audience that Jonas has the intelligence, integrity, courage, and wisdom to be the Receiver in Training. This means he will be trained to be the next Receiver of Memory.
When Jonas receives his folder, he is surprised that it is thin. In fact, inside is only one printed sheet which has his name on the top as the Receiver of Memory. Then, there are only eight rules, which include that he can be rude and ask anyone anything and he will receive an answer. He may no longer tell his dreams, and he is prohibited from discussing any of his training with anyone else. Strangely, he is prohibited from medication, except for a case of illness or injury. But, the oddest rule to Jonas is that he may now lie; he wonders if others been given this permission, too. For, how will he know who is telling him the truth?
No comments:
Post a Comment