Blogs which I have commented on:

Alethea

Nicolette 

May Sin

Judith 



My posts:

1. Hi!

2. The Stars of The Giver

3. Summary

4. My initial response

5. My Utopia

6. The Handmaid's Tale

7. Photo Montage

8. My Family

#7 - Photo Montage

1. The Pill

This simple picture above shows a pill. Though its only a pill, it has a rather large significance in The Giver. It all started with the usual dream-telling in the morning. That morning, Jonas shared about his unusual dream, which was him wanting Fiona to take her clothes of and bathe with her. Upon hearing this, Jonas's parents knew that Jonas had his first Stirrings, which was actually sexual desire. To curb this, one had to take a special pill everyday, throughout his whole life, even until he becomes old. In the community, taking this pill everyday is compulsory, ensuring that nobody in the Community has sexual desires.

This brings out the point of dilution of feelings in the Community. Going through puberty and having sexual desires is so natural in our world. Yet, in this controlled society, this natural feeling is curbed by an unnatural way.



2. The Red Sled

The sled symbolises the journey Jonas takes during his training and the discoveries he makes. It is red, a vibrant colour that symbolises the entirely new world of memories and feelings that Jonas discovers. The sled appears four times in the novel. First, before he transmits the memory, the Giver compares the difficulty he has in carrying the memories to sliding downhill in the snow: at first it’s all excitement and exhilaration, but like life, the ride will slow down as snow builds up on the runners, getting increasingly harder to push.

Next, the Giver then transmits Jonas the memory of a sled ride down a snow-covered hill. The downhill ride is exhilarating and delightful, and Jonas enjoys the ride in the same way that he enjoys accumulating new memories.

However, the sled can be treacherous too. The first memory of real pain that Jonas experiences involves the sled. The sled gets out of control and crashes, causing him to break his leg. Jonas learns that life is a balance of pleasure and pain.

At the end of the novel, Jonas and Gabriel finds a real sled at the top of a hill. They board the sled and ride it down the hill towards Elsewhere. This symbolises Jonas' and Gabriel's entry into a world where colour, emotions, and diversity exist in reality, and not just in memory.



3. Rainbow

This picture shows a rainbow, which was a memory the Giver transmitted to Jonas after a long talk about Jonas' ability to see beyond. This colourful memory had a great impact on Jonas' life. Since then, life became more colourful and vibrant, completely the opposite when colour did not exist in the Community. This causes Jonas to fall in love with colours.



4. A syringe


This picture shows a doctor holding a syringe, ready to inject a person.

This links us to a scene in The Giver, when Jonas watches a video of his father was preparing to release a newchild, by injecting the lighter of the twins with a deadly solution. Jonas' father did not know that he was actually killing a baby, and depriving the newchild of life. Thus, Jonas' father was not guilty or sad for the newchild at all. This serious act caused Jonas a sense of utter frustration, that everybody in the community was so unfeeling and cruel. This also made a turning point for him. He felt that he could not live in this heartless community anymore.

The syringe is significant as it caused Jonas to know what it actually means to be 'released'. The word 'released' actually means death. However, throughout the book, this term has different meanings, to different people. At the beginning of the novel, most of the characters truly believe that people who are released are physically sent to Elsewhere, the world beyond the limits of the community.  Later, when Jonas discovers the real meaning of release, the word becomes ominous. At the end of the novel, however, when Jonas escapes from the Community, he changes the meaning of the word once again, restoring its original meaning: an escape from this cruel and emotionless community.

I am so thankful that I am not living in a controlled world like Jonas'!



5. The apple



The apple has a large significance in The Giver. The apple symbolises Jonas' ability to 'see beyond'. His perception of colour is what sets him apart from the rest of the people in the Community. This is also why Jonas was chosen as the "Receiver of Memory".

In the book, this symbol first appears when Jonas and Asher were tossing an apple to each other. While the apple was in mid-air, Jonas notices that the apple had changed in a indescribable way. This was because he was beginning to 'see red'. However, at that time, Jonas did not know about his ability yet.

When I was reading The Giver, I too was wondering what the 'change' actually is. It created suspense in the book. However, as I continued to read the book, I understood what it actually meant.



6. Pale eyes



In The Giver, pale eyes is symbolic. 

As most people living in the Community have dark eyes, pale eyes symbolises the importance of an individual. In the community, everyone has dark eyes except for Jonas, the Giver, a female Six and Gabriel. This feature is what sets Jonas apart from the rest of the people. Pale eyes represents the ability to "see-beyond".

Also, pale eyes signified 'depth', "as if one were looking into the clear water of the river, down to the bottom, where things might lurk which hadn't been discovered yet."  Jonas is a very 'deep' person who always reflects and always thinks further. This too, is what sets him apart from others.

I think that having pale eyes gives you the ability to "see beyond". This is because both Jonas and The Giver have pale eyes. In addition, having pale eyes also allows you to be able to receive and transmit memories. This can be seen when Jonas transmit calming memories to Gabriel, who has pale eyes. However, when Jonas tries to transmit a memory of elephants to Lily, he could not do so.




7. The newchild Gabriel


The newchild Gabriel is brought to Jonas' dwelling for extra nurturing by Jonas' father, as he is unable to sleep well at night at the Nurturing Centre. He ends up sleeping in Jonas' room. This was the start of Jonas' special relationship with Gabriel. Jonas transmits soothing memories to Gabriel so Gabriel will have a good night's rest.

In the end, Jonas takes Gabriel with him to Elsewhere. This is symbolic too. It symbolises Jonas' resolution to change the Community and to start a new life with Gabriel.

In the book, the newchild Gabriel is a symbol of hope and a new beginning. Often, babies are a symbol of hope and regeneration. In The Giver, this makes sense. Gabriel is pure and innocent, and is too young to be able to absorb the many customs and rules of this controlled society. Thus, he can receive meories that Jonas transmits to him.



8. The River



The river, which runs into the community and out of it to Elsewhere, symbolizes escape from the confines of the community. It is like a barrier or a gate that prevents the people of the Community to escape. This is seen from when "Jonas [had] reached the opposite side of the river, stopped briefly and looked back. The community where his entire life had been lived lay behind him now, sleeping."

When little Caleb drowns in the river, it is one of the few events that the community cannot predict or control, and Jonas and the Giver are inspired to try to change the community by the idea of the river’s unpredictable behavior. Thus, the river is significant in the book.



9. Sunshine



One of the many memories which Jonas received was sunshine. When Jonas was experiencing sunshine, "Jonas notices that this time, the air, instead of being cold, is hot. Outdoors somewhere, he is comfortable and relaxed." Next, the Giver transmits another memory to Jonas. After being given the memory, Jonas learns from the man that the pain he felt was "sunburn." 

Sadly, sunshine was removed from the Community just like snow. This is because of Climate Control. However, I felt happy for Jonas as he could experience a lot of things which the rest of the people did not know of.



10. Love



These pictures depicts The Giver's favourite memory, which is the memory of a Christmas celebration as a complete family, with grandparents. The air was filled with warmth and love.

After Jonas recieves this special memory, he experiences the warmth of having a family with grandparents too. He also feels many other strong emotions like joy and happiness and a sense of being complete. He then learns about the meaning of "Love". The meaning of "Love" is a foreign to Jonas. In fact, he has not even used the word before.

This memory is significant in The Giver. When Jonas got back to his dwelling, he asks his parents if they love him. Howver, they lectured him about the precision of language. They explained to him that the word "Love" is so general until it has become obsolete. However, Jonas' thoughts and views about "Love" are completely different from what his parents had explained to him. He realises that the emotions experienced in this society were all shallow, unlike the real world.

This makes me feel very sad for Jonas and the people living in the Community. In the Community, would live with the Childless Adults when their children grew up. Then, they would move to the House of Old. Their children would be too busy with their own life that he would forget about his parents. In our present world, no matter how hectic our lifestyles are, we would never forget our parents and grandparents. Also, we can celebrate Christmas together.This picture depicts The Giver's favourite memory, which is the memory of a Christmas celebration as a complete family, with grandparents. The air was filled with warmth and love.

After Jonas recieves this special memory, he experiences the warmth of having a family with grandparents too. He also feels many other strong emotions like joy and happiness and a sense of being complete. He then learns about the meaning of "Love". The meaning of "Love" is a foreign to Jonas. In fact, he has not even used the word before.

This memory is significant in The Giver. When Jonas got back to his dwelling, he asks his parents if they love him. Howver, they lectured him about the precision of language. They explained to him that the word "Love" is so general until it has become obsolete. However, Jonas' thoughts and views about "Love" are completely different from what his parents had explained to him. He realises that the emotions experienced in this society were all shallow, unlike the real world.

This makes me feel very sad for Jonas and the people living in the Community. In the Community, would live with the Childless Adults when their children grew up. Then, they would move to the House of Old. Their children would be too busy with their own life that he would forget about his parents. In our present world, no matter how hectic our lifestyles are, we would never forget our parents and grandparents. Also, we can celebrate Christmas together.

#6 - The Handmaid's Tale

About a week ago, we were asked to do a mindmap on the features of a utopian society. We were then shown a few clips from a movie titled "The Handmaid's Tale". This movie was adapted from Margaret Atwood's novel, of the same name.

Here is a brief introduction about "The Handmaid's Tale".

"The Handmaid's Tale" is a feminist dystopian novel, a work of science fiction or speculative.  "The Handmaid's Tale" is set in the near future in the Republic of Gilead, a country formed within the borders of what was formerly the United States of America. This story explores themes of women in subjugation and the various means by which they gain agency.                                                                

The main protagonist, Kate is being captured for trying to cross the border and was forced to become a Handmaid. The role of a Handmaid is to help couples of the elite society to have a child. As this community was founded in the post-pollution world, only one in hundreds of woman were able to bear children. Kate was one of a class of individuals kept as a concubine ("handmaid") for reproductive purposes by the ruling class.

Kate was then forced to be a slave in the household of a Commander. That was when she changed her name to Offred. Offred is a patronymic slave name that means "Of Fred", referring to the man she serves.   Her only function is to produce a child for his apparently barren wife.

The rigid training given by the Aunts provides a bluntly horrifying picture of the attempt to erase memories of the "time before" and to inculcate the importance of laying the foundation for future generations to benefit from the enforced services of the handmaids. This self-styled 'refugee from the past" endures a nightmare existence for the sake of a husband and child who may still be alive somewhere.

The picture below shows her child wandering about, crying for his Mommy.



After watching the few extracts of the movie, I was left in shock at this utopian gone dystopian society.

Firstly, they used the Bible and twisted its meaning to justify their wrongdoings. The Handmaids were forced to sing Christian hymms and praises. However, the lyrics of these beautiful songs were changed!



In addition, only the men could handle the Bible, due to gender inequality. Also, verses from the Bible were used to brainwash the people! The community also used God's name freely, to make themselves appear more 'holy' and righteous. This certainly left me feeling horrified.






Secondly, there was a scene which showed how cruel punishments for the handmaids were. Minor transgressions were also not excused. In the movie, one of the handmaids had done something that was against the rules. Sadly, she was punished by muliple slashes on her feet and legs.  It was upsetting to see the handmaid's leg covered in blood, due to a minor transgression.

The picture below shows the Aunts sending one handmaid out of the room to be punished.


This is the handmaid's punishment:



In addtion, one of the handmaids was forced to share her experience of being raped. As she recounted about her traumor, the other handmaids were forced to call her many nasty names. As they were shouting out their abuses to the handmaid, there were Aunts who were walking around, making sure that everyone were shouting abuses. This is seen in the picture below.




It was rather horrifying to see many nuns being hung in public. This was the result of them refusing to engage in sexual activities and to help bear children.

The picture below shows the nuns being forced onto a truck.



 This picture shows the nuns being hanged.



The most exciting part was when Offred tries to concieve for Fred and his wife, Serena Joy. At first, while watching the clip, I did not understand what was going on. Seconds later, when I found out what was really happening, I was speechless. Hearing Offred's groans and wails left me feeling uneasy. In addition, while Offred and the commander were in bed, Serena was standing in the same room, watching what was going on! I cannot imagine how Serena was feeling at that moment. Imagine watching your husband having sex with a third party, just because you are infertile!

Below, shows the scene in which Offred and Fred were having sex together. As you can see, Serena was helping to hold on the Offred, and she was on the bed too.


After watching the few clips, I was rather astonished. It was very thought-provoking too. However, unlike many other classmates, I wished we could continue to watch the rest of the movie! Personally, I feel that The Handmaid's Tale has a lot of meaning behind it.Although it has a few disturbing scenes, these scenes have significant meaning in the story. It has made me very thankful and appreciative of the world we live in.

Just before the end of term 2, we had our first lesson on The Giver. Our activity was to draw out or write out what our own utopia would be like. I really enjoyed that lesson as everybody's idea about a utopia was different.

Every individual has their own vision of utopia. What does utopia mean in the first place? Well, utopia means an ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects. A utopia is like a paradise, a land of enchantment, a land of dreams.

This has got me to think, how would I want my utopia to be like?


Or should it look something like this? An ancient castle on top of the world, living with the world's most beautiful waterfalls.



Hmm.. Maybe a greener and fresher environment?

Perhaps, in a land of fairies with pink skies and lush flowers?
After thinking for quite some time... My utopia will be:

#4 - My Initial Response to The Giver

Looking at the dull cover of The Giver set my first impression of the book: Boring. What could be interesting about an old man?  However, I learned not to judge a book by its cover.


When I first started reading this book I didn't understand any thing about the book. It seemed rather confusing at first. It seemed like a completely different world from what we live in.

Jonas lives in a Community where everything is meticulously ordered: houses look alike, people dress alike, each family unit includes a father and a mother. Children begin their volunteer hours when they are Eights, and the Committee of Elders assigns them their roles in the Community at the Ceremony of Twelves. In addition, fear, war, suffering and pain have all been eradicated. You might think that Jonas lives in a perfect world, right? Wrong!


The people living in this controlled world have chosen Sameness. They have no hills, no colour, no sunshine, no snow, etc. Furthermore, feelings are superficial and their memories encompasses only one generation.


At the center of the novel is Jonas, a twelve year old boy who, along with the rest of the "Twelves", is about to be given his life assignment.   His friends are given standard assignments as Caretaker of the Old, Fish Hatchery Attendant, and Assistant Director of Recreation. However, Jonas is singled out for an unusual assignment. Because of his intelligence, integrity, courage, wisdom, and Capacity to See Beyond, Jonas is selected to be the next Receiver of Memory. The current Receiver, who has held the position for decades, then becomes the Giver. Jonas is then sent to The Giver for training.

What is "The Receiver" ?

The Receiver of Memory holds the position of highest honor within the Community, serving as the repository for the memories and knowledge of generations. Whenever the Committee of Elders are faced with a new situation or problem, they are able to seek advice from the Receiver.

The Giver explains that Jonah has been selected to become the repository for all of the memories of what life was like before the Community, and to advise the Elders and the people about what they should do when they have to make choices.  It is the Receiver who steers people away from choices that might lead to trouble. This is to prevent any possible disruption to the Community. 

This training consists of The Giver transferring memories to Jonas , and as the transfers begin, Jonas comprehends the importance of his new role. For the first time, Jonas experiences snow, warmth, colour and physical pain.

Over the next year, The Giver transfers more and more memories to Jonas, some happy, some painful, some terrifying, but all new and beyond the comprehension of the rest of the Community.

In the last section of The Giver, Jonas and the Giver choose life for the Community. Life: the freedom to make choices, the freedom to choose you spouse, and the freedom to choose the colour of your tunic. For the community is not good; it is actually cruel. Hence, Jonas sets out together with Gabriel, into Elsewhere.
Firstly, I was disheartened by the fact that the citizens were released, not by their own choice. People who broke the rules more than thrice got released, if there were twins, the lighter of the two got released. In addition, The Old got released before they even died of natural causes.This heartless action shows that the people do not love and treasure their lives of their people! This is the complete opposite from the world we live in.

After reading The Giver, I personally feel that it's plot is very original. 

1. I found the setting very creative : A community without freedom, with no choices and with no feelings.

2. Also, I liked the part about a family being depicted as a temporary place to live in rather than a permanent  home.

3. The reference of "Stirrings" to sexual desires was really cool too. Since "Stirrings" are not allowed in the Community, young people begin taking a pill upon first experiencing them and continue taking it daily until they enter the House of the Old.

6. The concept of "release." This pervades the book, but its meaning remains uncertain until Chapter 19, when Jonas witnesses a release conducted my his father.

7. The transfer of memories by placing your hand on one's back. This is done throughout Jonas's training with The Giver, and when Jonas transmits memories to Gabriel to help him sleep.

8. Referring to everyday concepts in a slightly unusual way which helps to set that society apart from our own. Babies younger than one year are called "newchildren," and children of the same age are "groupmates"; the elderly, the unhealthy, or those who have broken the rules three times may be "released."

The book striked as a powerful reminder that there is not a better world than that the one we live in. If it were the same as the Community, there would be no feelings. Without feelings, we are not human. Furthermore, how could one live in a world without love?

In my opinion, this book beautifully illustrates why God gave us freedom of choice. Yes, our freedom has resulted in a world full of people who have and continue to make bad choices that have caused pain and suffering. Yes, through our freedom we have slowly destroyed the incredible world the Lord has created for us. But the alternative which is skillfully portrayed in The Giver, is terrifying. Would you like having someone assign a job to you, without giving you a choice? Would you like being assigned a spouse and allowing you to have only two children, a boy and a girl? Certainly not!

However, I feel that the beginning of the book was too slow, in comparison to the short ending, which was filled with excitement. Also, I didn't really like the ending. I found it to be rather short and brief. I wished to know how Jonas and Gabriel lived in Elsewhere, and how the Community would react upon receiving all the memories which Jonas once had.

My favorite part of the book was when Jonas started his training, and all throughout his training. Each memory was vividly described.

Peronally, I feel that this book really makes you think. After almost every chapter you’ll want to stop and sort out what happened. For example it is hard to imagine a world in which your parents think love is not real, that it’s a meaningless word. It is also strange to try to understand a world in which the government decides your life for you.

After reading The Giver, I appreciate and am thankful for the world we live in.



I can celebrate my own birthday, ride the bicycle whenever I want and I can choose what to wear. In addition, I can feel love from my family and care from my friends. I can enjoy the warmth of the sun, I can enjoy the coolness of the snow. Unlike the Community where everything is the same, we are all different!

Overall, The Giver was an interesting book. It dealt with a future that is both frightening in its reality and illuminating in the way their society is run.  Also, Lois Lowry combines the idea of communism to the extreme with the idea that even a twelve-year-old child can change society. Also, this book is very suspenseful and makes you want to keep reading the next chapter — there is always a question that lies ahead.

Lastly, I strongly recommend this excellent read to everybody. Not only engaging, it makes one think and reflect about certain issues that one would never think about. In addition, it teaches you to appreciate the world we live in. It had a great plot, together with a fascinating Community and a interesting ending!

Labels: Summary