Imagine a world where there is no love. Jonas in The Giver by Lois Lowry had always thought his parents loved and cared for everyone. Now he isn’t so sure. In Jonas’s community everyone is assigned a job when they turn 12. Jonas’s new job is to be the Receiver of Memory. His teacher, called the Giver, tells him things he’s never known before, such as there is a thing called “snow”. Jonas has never wanted or needed to lie before, but now he’s expected to. In the Giver, Lois Lowry teaches us that if you have no emotion, you are almost un-human.

People in Jonas’s community can almost be described as un-human due to their inability to have emotions. When Jonas was having dinner with his family (127) Jonas asked his father, “Do you love me?”. This is not normal for a human child to say because a child should automatically feel cared for and loved by their guardian. After Jonas said this, his parents sat in silence for a little while before his father started chuckling. After a short conversation, his mother asked Jonas, “Do you understand why it’s inappropriate to use a word like ‘love’?” This also is not an acceptable thing for a parent to say because Jonas’s mother basically told Jonas in the form of a question that she doesn’t love Jonas. ‘Inappropriate’ means ‘not right’, so Jonas’s mother said it is not right to use a word like ‘love’. No child, no matter how small or tall, wants to hear that they are not loved. The person would most likely break out in tears. Jonas almost definitely got teary eyed when he said the words, “He KILLED it! My FATHER killed it!” (150) In this case the ‘it’ is a new-born baby that Jonas’s dad killed by sticking a needle in its forehead. Any other child in Jonas’s community wouldn’t even have blinked if they saw that because they do not have emotions.Do you know any person who would kill a helpless child, whose only wish is to be loved by someone? Many people in The Giver are like this, and have no idea what love is. The entire community eliminated love because they felt that it was a word “so meaningless it became almost obsolete.” (127) Jonas’s community only uses precision of word, so they think that love is not specific enough.

Jonas uses memories he received from the Giver to help people. One of these memories is Christmas. After receiving this memory Jonas said (141), “It had that wonderful feeling in it. You told me it was love.” The memory of Christmas was the Giver’s favorite memory, and for a good reason. Since the people in Jonas’s community have no idea what love feels like, The Giver and Jonas treasure the happiness with all of their heart. They want to share the love and the warmth with everyone they can. So, when Jonas is in the snow with Gabriel he has “A passionate yearning to share the warmth with the one person left to love.” (176) This is wonderful because right before this line in the book Jonas was thinking of keeping the memory of warmth to himself, and letting the baby, Gabriel, who was with Jonas, get cold. Fortunately, Jonas came to his senses and realized that a baby, who is his only companion, is so helpless and as Jonas’s father didn’t realize, a baby’s only wish is to be loved by someone. When someone gives that child love, the child makes life worth living with everything it does. So, when Jonas gave the baby warmth, Jonas found the courage in him to go on through a horrible snowstorm. The warmth and memories that the Giver gave Jonas helped Jonas become a “complete” person.

Lois Lowry taught us through the Giver that those that can’t feel pain, love, anger and other feelings could almost make you un-human. Jonas’s community has no feelings, except for Jonas and the Giver, who have memories of feelings. So, when Jonas learns that his father is a “murderer” he is the only one who cares. Jonas wants to share his feelings, so he gives warmth to a baby, knowing that because of his sacrifice, he might die, but the baby might live. When was the last time you gave up something, and didn't expect anything in return for it?