My first thoughts upon closing the cover of this prize-winning young adult novel: what a wonderful, powerful story and what a horrible, confusing and disappointing ending! I’m not opposed to ambiguity, but be warned if you haven’t read it that the ending is beyond ambiguous. I’m not sure how I would have wanted the novel to end, but I’m not the author, only the reader. I immediately looked to see if there was a sequel, and there are not sequels, but rather “companion books.” So perhaps my questions will be answered and my angst over the fate of certain key characters resolved.
The Giver is a great novel, worthy of the Newbery Award it received. It brings up the issues of freedom vs. order and security, emotion vs. intellect, and the utility and purpose of memory and history. At first, Jonas, the narrator of the story, seems to live in a utopian community. No hunger, no sickness, very little pain, a society of stability, order and contentment. However, as the story progresses, the reader begins to see hints that Jonas’s world might not be as perfect as it looks. His mother, who holds a prominent position at the “Ministry of Justice”, is disturbed about a repeat offender who has broken the rules for a second time. The third offense means release from the community. Jonas’s father is a bit concerned about a baby at the Nurturing Center where he works who is not thriving and cries at night. Jonas himself is apprehensive about his Twelve Year ceremony, coming up in about a week, in which he will receive his apprenticeship assignment, the job assigned to him for his life’s contribution to his community. Then, there’s the airplane that flew over the community in direct contradiction to The Rules. All in all, it’s an unsettling time for Jonas and for the community.
The Giver goes from unsettling to chilling in a little under 200 pages. Short but memorable. However, I’m not the only one who found the ending less than satisfying.
That book is sitting on my bookshelf just waiting to be read with my daughter…I might pick up the companion books before we start it though.
My daughters and I enjoyed The Giver, but we agreed that the ending wasn’t the end. I immediately got the two companion books- Gathering Blue and Messenger – and yes, they do tie up loose ends from The Giver. Both are worth reading, but probably only if one has already read The Giver.
I read this one last month and really liked it. I can’t wait to read Gathering Blue and Messenger. Hope to get to them soon.
The ending bugged me too. I think unresolved endings always bug me more in children’s fiction than in adult fiction. I don’t expect every young adult novel to be Victorianly didactic, but I still want it to confirm a child’s natural longing for resolution.
I didn’t care for Gathering Blue, and I actually liked the Giver’s ending, though I found it frustrating. Margaret Atwood ends many of her books in a similarly ambiguous way, and I think it gives tremendous respect to the reader, especially younger readers in the case of The Giver, to leave it up to them how it ends.
It’s good to know I’m not the only one who struggled with this ending. It’s been quite a while since I read this book so maybe I should read it again and then read the other two books.
Now you have to read both “Gathering Blue” and “Messenger”. They were both good, though not as good as “The Giver”, but I have to say I really, really hated the ending of “Messenger”. And it wasn’t ambiguous at all.
“Gossamer” was the best Lowry I’ve read recently. It had a few dark parts, but overall much happier than this trilogy. Strangely enough, the Scholastic Books catalogs advertise it as an “enchanting fantasy”. Sure, if you disregard the parts dealing with child abuse, foster homes (even good foster homes), and nightmares.
I loved this book! And yes, the companion books are must reads as well.
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