We all read our rereading books, we all annotated dutifully, and we all slowly but surely read into the text absorbing ourselves in childhood favorites and recently renowned books. I was reading The Giver and as always as I read this book I feel this sense of security, a feeling that, whenever I doubt sociaty i read, it reassures me that hope is not gone. We are not like them. And we still have time.
In The Giver (which is part of a trilogy) never truly ends, it leaves you thinking. "What will happen to Jonas?", "is it really safe where he's going?", "is he going to end up in another community?". I couldn't settle this, and the author only answers the question in her books. Fist I reread Gathering Blue and it just changed so much of my view on the Giver, first of all it allowed me to see that the community Jonas lived in wasn't how the entire world worked. There were other people out there that had different ways and customs. this makes me think of when Lily, Jonas's younger sister says that she got mad at a kid from different community who didn't know the rules, but they still spoke the same languge, and organized the visits with each other, and in Kira's community they are unaware that other places to live without being terrorized by the so called monsters that roam the world that the believe is true.
But how could that be true? Even though Jonas's life is so much more cleaned and cushioned then Kira's, they do live in the same world, and in that way their lives are ever so much the same. They bothlived trapped in a bubble, whether its because of fear, or being uneducated about the true world. they are both stolen from. For Jonas's community, true life and feelings, colors are stolen from him. For Kira, they also stole her true self the made her so she was only a shell of her former self, she lost the joy in doing the work that used to bring a smile to her face and make her happy. This has taught me so many things about our community. Everywhere around the we all are the same. Sure we have different religions and beliefes and traditions. But when it comes to it we are all human beings. And we might expirence life each in our own individual ways.
Its what makes us great, and its what might make us turn towards their lifestyle in the end.
That was such a deep entry! I loved how you included pieces of the other books, really showing your true understanding. I would have used one or two other sources for research, but otherwise it was perfect. :)
ReplyDeleteI love your introduction paragraph, so true. Really nice job Molly, I think you made some really insightful points and connections. You did a good job presenting questions that makes you think. And I never really thought too closely about comparing The Giver and Gathering Blue, but reading this entry has made me more curious about comparing and contrasting them.
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