In Chapter Ten, The Giver and Jonas have the following discussion:
The man shook his head. “No, no,” he said. “I’m not being clear. It’s not my past, my childhood that I must transmit to you.”
He leaned back, resting his head against the back of the upholstered chair. “It’s the memories of the whole world,” he said with a sigh. “Before you, before me, before the previous Receiver, and generations before him.”
Jonas frowned. “The whole world?” he asked. “I don’t understand. Do you mean not just us? Not just the community? Do you mean Elsewhere, too?” He tried, in his mind, to grasp the concept. “I’m sorry, sir.I don’t understand exactly. Maybe I’m not smart enough. I don’t know what you mean when you say ‘the whole world’ or ‘generations before him.’ I thought there was only us. I thought there was only now.”
“There’s much more. There’s all that goes beyond--all that is Elsewhere--and all that goes back, and back, and back. I received all of those, when I was selected. And here in this room, all alone, I reexperience them again and again. It is how wisdom comes. And how we shape our future” (Lowry 77 – 78).
Visit the American Memory Website: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html. Click on "Today in History." Click on "archives." Enter a date (maybe your birthday?) where you can jump to a date. Find a collective memory that is interesting to you. Comment on why it might be important for future generations to know about that event. How does this relate to this passage and what The Giver is explaining to Jonas?
I think that it might be important for future generations to know about the day when Jesus Christ was born because the whole world was changed that day. After Jesus Christ was released into the world, he started healing sick people, curing diseases, and spreading the word about his father, God. This relates to what The Giver is explaining to Jonas because the memories that The Giver will tell to Jonas affected the whole world, just like Jesus Christ. This connects to the passage because after Jesus Christ was born, he shaped everyone's future by making them better.
ReplyDelete