The Giver book reviews the story of an individualistic society. In this book, Lois Lowry describes the importance of pain, pleasure, memory and an individual. The book also tells us about the role of free will in a person’s life. And the most important thing that I have noticed in The Giver book review is the lack of human emotions and experiences.

In the society of Sameness, life is unusual, it is pain-free, and people have no conflicts and sufferings. Despite the monotony of society, every individual has his/her own specific and constructive role in representing.

Jonas presumes the new Receiver of Memory at the celebrations of his 12th birthday. He also started training for this esteemed position. All the memories of past comprising pain and pleasure are in possession of the Receivers whereas no one else is under the burden of nostalgic memories.

Jonas gets these memories from the Receiver during his training sessions. He also becomes familiar with the truth, real secrets and many other realities based on human experiences.

Only the Receiver of Memory saves the people from suffering in any kind of trouble. The feelings of pain and suffering emerge through the life experiences of human beings. The society is free from feelings and emotions; that is why the memories of love, affection, beauty, and charm are also suppressed. The society does not want to bear the feelings of sadness and grief; hence, the delightful moments are captured.

Buddhist Concepts

Buddhist concepts emphasized that life is full of sufferings where every individual has to follow a particular path. It is possible to get rid of pain and suffering. According to Buddhist beliefs, suffering is part of human life. If we are afraid of suffering and avoid taking any step to get whatever we want, we might lose something important. The Giver book reviews that sufferings are inevitable.

John Amodeo, a Ph.D. scholar in a Psych Central article, said,” Without desire, we wouldn’t be here.” He has derived the idea from Mark Epstein, a psychiatrist, and Buddhist teacher. Mark Epstein has composed a book, Open to Desire: Enfolding A Lust For Life. “To set desire up as the opponent and then try to reduce it is to seek to destroy one of our most precious human qualities.”

Amodeo said, “Without strong connections, our immune system droops, and we are more prone to stress, depression, and other ailments. As we welcome our desires and uncover how they’re guiding us, we might find that our profound longing is to love and be loved. Now, how can that be anything other than divine?”

According to scientific research of John Bowlby, it reveals that we get wired with a need for the connection, and it is considered as human attachment. John Bowlby is the pioneer of Attachment theory. The Giver book review depicts the difference between pain and pleasure very beautifully. We cannot realize the importance of happiness without experiencing sufferings.

Conclusion

Other than that, the Giver book reviews a beautiful justification of the ways of God to man. Why God has given us the freedom of choice and why man chooses the way of destruction? This book is really thought-provoking.

I want to recommend this book for children to read but with the help of their parents because some points are not easy to grasp for young minds. Parents should help their children to understand the crux of the book.

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