Memories

The theme Memories is very important and significant in the novel, The Giver. In this book, people only hold memories of the present day and none of the past. The only two exceptions who have the memories of the past, which include true pain and pleasure, are The Giver of memory and Jonas. The true pain refers to the pain experienced in war and anguish of many kinds like loneliness, poverty, hunger and terror. The pain of war was so extreme that even The Giver of memory requested Jonas to relieve some of his pain by giving Jonas the memory of war. Jonas took on some of the pain The Giver was experiencing. The memory of war inflicted both physical and emotional pain. When Jonas received the memory, he could feel the excruciating and stinking pain in his skin which was experienced by a seriously injured soldier. Jonas was also traumatised and feeling distressed upon seeing the damages war had caused, with many people in pain and dying. He understood the meaning of war. It was a terrible thing to happen where it left many people dying and caused many to suffer from either physical or emotional pain. Physical pain being directed and experienced by the injured soldiers, emotional pain by heart-broken family members and people who see the horrible effects of war.





To eliminate the true pain of life, people in the community have decided to forgo the aspect of past memories, thinking that they are better without them. However, without the memories, they are unable to experience the true pleasures of life. They are unable to experience the joy, happiness and warmth of family love and the extreme fun of going down a hill covered with snow on a sleigh (etc.). The people in the community are missing all the fun they are supposed to have in life. Besides this, people are deprived from being independent. They lack the knowledge of facing adverse situations and hence are always dependent on The Giver of memory for solutions and advice. The Giver of memory once said that the people are nothing without the past memories when Jonas mentioned about his teacher teaching him about how the brain works. Thirdly, I feel that there can be no pleasure without pain, meaning that one cannot value a delightful experience unless you have memories of unpleasant moments. The members of Jonas’s community cannot appreciate the joys in their lives as they have never felt true pain in life. Their lives are monotonous, devoid of emotional variation. For example, memories of pain opened Jonas’s eyes to the idea of love and comfort as much as the memories of pleasure do. Hence, I feel that it is important for one to have memories.