Symbolism in "The Giver" by Lois Lowry

The Giver, which has been subject to movie adaptation, is an original novel by Lois Lowry. The author uses the technique of symbolism quite beautifully, so let's see how.

A brief summary of the novel

The protagonist, Jonas, is 11 and lives in a rigidly controlled society in the future. In his community; suffering, hunger, and war do not exist. This seems like a utopia at first, but later the reader learns that things like color, sex, music, or love do not exist either. Everything is controlled by "the Elders”. This includes who your spouse will be, who you will get as your child, and what job you will be assigned to. In other words, one’s whole life is planned out by the “Elders”. Individual identity doesn’t exist, consequently, everyone is a copy of each other. The only occasions that one gets to leave the community is through being “released” and only happens if it’s a sick infant, a really old person, or someone who broke the rules. The children’s assignments are announced in a big ceremony which a lot of people attend. Jonas watches all his friends get their jobs but then his name doesn’t get called. The Chief Elder explains that Jonas has been "selected" to be The Receiver of Memory, the most important job in the whole community. After he’s selected, Jonas gets a list of rules: he isn't allowed to discuss his training with anyone and he's allowed to lie. His training consists of receiving memories from the old Receiver, who is now ”The Giver”. The memories are from before their community was established, back when there were color and love and music, etc. The very first memory he receives is that of sledding down a hill in the snow. While Jonas gets to experience lots of fun things like Christmas and birthday parties, he also has to deal with bad and scary memories, like sunburn, loss, death, and warfare. This experience completely alters his perspective on things and he also learns that the process of "release," is actually an injection that kills them. After acquiring all this knowledge, he decides that he doesn’t agree with the way things are run in the community. He and The Giver make a plan where Jonas will fake his own death and run away to Elsewhere, the land outside the communities. Once Jonas leaves, the memories which The Giver has passed to him will be released to the general community. Although they will deal with pain, they will also feel emotions and make choices and finally get to become their own person. While he's getting ready for the big escape night, Jonas finds out that baby Gabriel, his brother, is going to be "released" the next morning and secretly takes him with him. When they start starving to death, Jonas keeps transmitting memories of sunshine to the little tyke to keep them going. Finally, it starts snowing and Jonas gets to the base of a hill. When he gets to the top, the sled from the first memory he received is waiting for him. He climbs into it and pushes off down the hill, fully convinced that at the bottom is Elsewhere, and a whole group of people waiting to greet them. He starts seeing colors and hearing music, as the memories are slowly coming back to the whole community.

In The Giver, Lois Lowry uses the literary technique of symbolism numerous times in order to create meaning and emotion in the story, and add depth to the characters. Primarily, the color red is constantly mentioned throughout the novel. “But suddenly Jonas had noticed, following the path of the apple through the air with his eyes, that the piece of fruit had — well, this was the part that he couldn’t adequately understand —  the apple had changed.” (Lowry, 30) In this chapter, Jonas sees a glimpse of the color red for the first time, but he doesn’t know how to describe it. The change Jonas sees in the apple indicates how Jonas is different from the community and he has the ability to “see beyond”. The technique of symbolism is effectively used because it contributes to the techniques of foreshadowing and characterization, as we, later on, see that Jonah is different and he’s going to make a change. Moreover, it supports the characterization of the protagonist Jonas as we see that he is unique, not another slave who will suffer from the fate of sameness in the community; and this makes the reader feel admiration and curiosity about Jonah. He becomes the savior of memories, and him seeing things in a distinct way is the first step that sparks the idea of returning memories in him. Therefore, as readers, we can infer that Lois Lowry suggests that seeing things differently is what makes a visionary leader. Another instance of the use of the color red is Fiona’s hair. Red symbolizes passion, anger, and love. “This time it had been Fiona who had undergone that fleeting indescribable change. As he looked up and toward her going through the door, it happened; she changed.” (Lowry, 114) Here, again the color red is used; and it fits, since Jonas sees passion and love in Fiona. He’s attracted to her, and the color red used as her hair color adds emotion and meaning to their relationship. The use of symbolism here connects characters such as Fiona to the feelings that red represents and adds depth to the meaning. The concrete idea of red makes the reader feel warm and intimate. Additionally, it helps us understand the significance of the feelings Jonas experiences towards Fiona better and connect the character's relationship with the emotions of passion, love, and intensity. Here Lowry implies that colors can link people’s features to certain feelings, and when we think about or see a color, it can create ideas in our minds. To conclude, symbolism is used effectively, adding deeper meanings to the events happening in the book; and Lois Lowry conveys her messages regarding character relationships and characterization through this technique.