The Giver

This study guide will help you analyze the novel The Giver by Lois Lowry. You can also find a summary of the novel, detailed characterizations, as well as inspiration for interpreting the text and putting it into perspective.

Presentation of the text

Title: The Giver (1993)

Author: Lois Lowry

Genre: Novel

Lois Lowry is a popular American writer for children and young adults. She is best known for her Anastasia Krupnik series, The Giver quartet, and the novel Number the Stars. Lowry won many awards, including to Newberry Medals, for Number the Stars and The Giver.

The novel The Giver is a dystopian thought experiment. It shows what a society without hunger, fear, suffering, unemployment, war, death, and memory could look like. However, equality in this case does not mean freedom, but surveillance and total control of the public and private lives of all members.

Lowry portrays in her novel the importance of access to knowledge and the importance of memories of times past. Only when people know alternatives to their own way of life can they realize that there are other ways to live their lives. Only when they know the mistakes of the past can they avoid them in the present.

Lois Lowry's intention is to encourage readers to look at their own society and reflect on both the advantages and disadvantages, to learn to appreciate the difference and diversity of the world, and ultimately to understand the value of freedom of choice and individuality