Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Giver (2)
In the first eight chapters, there are many things that are quite different in Jonas's society from our society. Some of the things may seem good, while others feel uncomfortable. Choose one thing that is different from our society. Comment on how that change makes you feel. Be sure to support your answer with specific examples from the text and your own viewpoints.
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What is different that I would find annoying is the adults don't get to choose the names of their children. In our society you can choose what your son or daughters' name will be. In their society they are stuck with the name their child gets. If they don't like it then that's to bad. For example, Fiona doesn't like the name Bruno, which is her new brothers name.
ReplyDeleteJack S.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was reading The Giver I thought it was strange that the society chose each persons family. If my society were to decide who I lived with and spoke with each day then I would feel very uncomfortable. To me sameness is a bad idea and should never be used. It does not give people the chance to express themselves or show an opinion. I agree with what Jonas and The Giver discussed that things like sameness should not be used in a community. It makes life boring and not worth living. People are different and that's the way it is.
In "The Giver" the children were assigned jobs. I wouldn't like this because I want to pick what i do for a living. Also, i want to make my own decisions because it's my life and I want to choose what i do with it. No wonder Jonas was nervous for the Ceremony of Twelves.
ReplyDeleteIn the "giver" the concept of memories are different than in our society. In our society we all share memories of love, family, and pain. In a way it's better to have memories of these things than sameness in "The Giver" If it were like that in our society I would hate it, it would make me feel uncomfortable since we all share the basic memories. For example the people in "The Giver" have no memories of color or happiness while in our society we do.
ReplyDeleteReplying to Jack S.'s comment, how would you feel uncomfortable about who you live with if those were the only people you have been living with since you could remember. Plus, why should sameness never be used if it would stop people from doing suicide, having wars and even maybe stop world hunger?
ReplyDeleteThe idea of sameness dusturbes me. One way is the eventuality that, in time, it would destroy personalites, therefor changing who we are, and, logicly, creating a normal.
ReplyDeleteI argee with everyone's comments. I wouldn't want to have my kids named for me. It would be very awkward to have a family choose for me and have people expect me to treat them like my real family. I would also hate for there to be only one type of weather because I love not knowing what the weather will be like.
ReplyDeleteI would get kind of annoyed of how you have to have two children, you could not have three, or one. Like Lily says I wish we could keep Gabe. I would not want to have the number of kids I am going to have chosen for me by sombody that is not me or my wife.
ReplyDeleteMiranda P
ReplyDeleteOne thing that is different that bothered me was that they don't get to choose their jobs they are assigned their jobs. Like when Jonas got The Giver as his job I thought that he didn't like it at first because he didn't know what that job was.
Miranda P
ReplyDeleteI disagree with people saying they should be able to choose their own jobs because the Elders watch the kids and take their job seriously and they choose the best job that they think a kid would be good at.So in the end the kids should get the job they want so really it wouldnt matter.
Sydney S.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that really surprised me was the no color. I was so surprised that they got rid of color because it was not doing any harm to anyone, other than making things different. I think the fact that other people could not see color made Jonas upset. I think this because he tries so hard for his best friend to see color, but gets frustrated when he does not see it. I cannot imagine a life without color when everything is the same boring color. Color is a lot to lose and I am shocked to find out that they had no color in their lives.
Sayed, two things. One, Don't move to China. Also, I agree, a family should not be made, it shouldn't be chosen by others, also (negitive, arn't I).
ReplyDeleteI definately agree with Sydney S, the loss of color was shocking and that they would keep color from everyone. Also, How would they share colors with everyone if the memory dissapears after you give it away?
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone who says that they don't like that you can't decide your job. If you can't decide you want to be, how do you know what you are good at?
ReplyDeleteLexi McCutcheon
ReplyDeleteWhat I find annoying and unfair is that the "government" picks your wife/husband. Even though they choice is based on your personalities, they could be wrong and you would be stuck living with someone you don't like your entire life.
Lexi M.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Lexy O. said. I think annoying is a good word for how I would feel if I couldn't name my own kids. I would want my kid to have a name that I like, and that I got to pick. After all, it is my kid I don't want it to end up with a name I don't think is very good. But, I guess it isn't actually MY real kid.
In "The Giver" the part that makes me upset is that husbands and wifes are picked. The government makes the pairs on personalites, but even with that they still could dislike the person. It would be very unfair if you would of had to stay with the person and you disliked them.
ReplyDeleteWhat is different and weird is that no one in the community has the right of feelings or has feelings other than the Giver. Think about It, no love between family units, no saying words like starving, love and words with "strong" feelings. You would kind of be like those star wars clones. the clones are programmed to listen and not have feelings. In Jonas' community, everyone is trained to be and think the same
ReplyDeleteWhat I thought was really weird and different was how you could apply for a kid and a husband/wife. The Elders picked who you would live the rest of your life with by your personalities. If you did not like your husband/wife you could not do anything. Also if you wanted a kid you applied for one. Then in a "naming" ceremony you are given a kid and that kid's name.This was different because you had no say in the naming. Also if you had kids, you had to have two kids, no more no less, one boy and one girl.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Giver" one thing i didnt like was that the kids couldnt choose their own jobs. I think that you should do whatever interests you and what you believe is good for you to do not what other people think you should do. For example Jonas was nervous for what he gets assigned to at the Ceromony of the Twelves.
ReplyDeleteI believe that its weird how they sort you out by ages. Like when one age gets a bike when the other gets a jacket. In our society we can learn how to bike whenever we wanted. In other words we have more freedom to do what we want, when we want.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Miranda that it wasn't a big deal that they couldn't pick their jobs. If the Elders took their jobs seriously then they would know what things each person liked and what they would be good at.
ReplyDeleteI would get bored of having the same everything, and havin no fun in life. Having two kids and no color, and people picking jobs for you would gete really annoying.
ReplyDeleteI dont think that it is fair that they have to get different jobs. When everything is picked for you it would get annoying.
ReplyDeleteLara S.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sami Z. If you get a job that doesn't intreast you, then how could you go to work everyday? Kids should be able to choose their own jobson what they like. Not on what the comunity thinks is best for them.
I agree with lara s. If i would have been the person to be the Reciever then i would have been very dissapointed. i dont believe that is is very fair. It changed my idea of the community in the book. I also agree with miranda. If the elders find what we would like then they would know what job we want.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the people who think not getting to pick their jobs is a bad thing-
ReplyDeleteJust because they do not get to pick their own jobs does nto mean its bad because the elders watch them for 4 years while they do their volenteer work and they watch what they enjoy doing and what they do most. The elders do get to pick what the people of the community do for the rest of their lifes, but they chose something that they enjoy and that they will be able to put up with for the rest of their lifes. Never in the book does Jonas's parents complain about their jobs.
In response to the people who think not getting to pick their jobs is a bad thing-
ReplyDeleteJust because they do not get to pick their own jobs does nto mean its bad because the elders watch them for 4 years while they do their volenteer work and they watch what they enjoy doing and what they do most. The elders do get to pick what the people of the community do for the rest of their lifes, but they chose something that they enjoy and that they will be able to put up with for the rest of their lifes. Never in the book does Jonas's parents complain about their jobs.
Having your job picked for you. This change makes me feel safe because it will be the right job for me. Like when Fiona volunteered in the House of Old a lot and she got Caretaker of the Old.
ReplyDeletei believe that it would be very strange to not choose your husband/wife. They do choose your husband on personality but if everything has sameness then people do not have much personality. It would be very odd to me.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised when the book said that the children were given to the parents all at a ceremony.I think they should have their own kids, not kids that they don't share any genetics with (like with Jonas and his eyes). They have practiced that in their society for a long time so I guess that is what they were taught.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that was different in Jonas' Community from ours is that you cannot have more than the two children(boy and girl) you singed up for.I feel that this law is a bit overly controlling of the parents and the children,mostly because some people want to have more than two children, not only that but some people might just want to have two girls or two boys.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that was different was the kids couldn't get things until a certain age. Like they couldn't get a bike until they were eight years old. I wouldn't like the change at all. Because i learned to ride a bike when i was about 4-6 years old. The change would make me feel sad that only the older kids got them and i didn't.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jackie, because I wouldn't like the older kids to get bikes while we are stuck walking! What if you were friends with the older kids? How would you catch up to them if they are riding a bike, and your walking?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sami Z. Life is about freedom and making mistakes. But when your jobs, family and everything about your life is chosen for you, you can't live! It's not living if you can't make-mistakes and get hurt. I don't like that at all.
ReplyDelete