The Giver
What is the Giver and how does it relate to censorship?
The Giver is a book by Lois Lowry that was challenged most often from 1990-2000 according to the ALA office of Intellectual freedom (Margaret).
The Giver has been banned in different places throughout the country due to the ideas of adolescent pill popping, suicide, infanticide, being sexually explicit, and violence (Marshall).
In California, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Illinois The Giver was challenged. For the most part the school systems didn’t ban the book, but they did restrict it (Selected).
What is The Giver about?
The Giver is about a 12 year old boy named Jonas who lives in a world of no pain, war, unhappiness, or competition. Every family is made up of a father, mother, son, and daughter. However, the families are not biological, but chosen for them. When the elderly get to old or infants do not develop quickly enough they are "released". Also, when children enter into their 13th year they are assigned jobs to do for the rest of their lives. Jonas does not recieve a job but becomes the Giver. The duty of the Giver is to maintain all of the memories of the society so it will not carry on the whole society (Education).
What are the opinions on the banning of The Giver?
Mark Hanson, parent of a 6th grader in Jefferson County Colorado School District, believes the opinions in the book on suicide to be too unclear.
Jefferson County School Superintendent argued The Giver being banned in the curriculum because of its teaching values. Other school officials said it is not fair to ban something because of one parent (Parent).
Pat Scales, a South Carolina School Librarian, thinks The Giver gives students a way to talk about controversial topics already in media and thinks that if we waited for every child to be mature enough to read it we’d be in the same situation as Jonas (freedomforum).
Ms. Rief, a teacher at Oyster River Middle School in Durham, NJ, uses The Giver in her class to teach about good and bad decisions and the state of society (Lesson).
Some groups have decided not to take sides on book banning like the PTA (freedomforum).
Mary Hastler, the Edwards Committee Chair, said “The book has held a unique position in teen literature. Lowry’s exceptional use of metaphors and subtle complexity make it a book that will be discussed, debated and challenged for years to come…. a perfect teen read” (Margaret).
How does the author feel about her book being banned?
Lois Lowry doesn’t understand why her book is banned so often because she wrote it not for controversy, but so it would make students think. The Giver was inspired by her experience with her parents. Lowry believes that like in her book, people who make up challenges against books like The Giver, are moving toward a society with no books, art, or music.
Lowry lives in Boston, Massachusetts and is against her book being banned. Lois's mother and father were in a nursing home. Her mother had her memory but not as long to live, and her father had longer to live but no memory (Children’s).
Lois was given the Margaret A. Edwards Award, an award for a popular piece of literature over a period of time, in 2007 for The Giver (Margaret).
Recomendations (The Giver)
Mary Hastler, part of the Edwards Chair, said "The book has held a unique position in teen literature. Lowry’s exceptional use of metaphors and subtle complexity make it a book that will be discussed, debated and challenged for years to come…a perfect teen read" (Margaret).
I personally loved The Giver and would recommend it to anybody that would take the time for a short read. It keeps you on edge and wanting to know what happens next through almost the entire book.
