What I Liked About The Giver and The Messenger

Overall I think that I liked The Messenger a little more than The Giver. What I liked about The Giver was that it was secret and full of mystery. There were a lot of things I liked about The Messenger. I thought it was cool how Lois Lowry used characters from her other books. Like how Jonas was the leader of the group and how Gabe was a nine now. She also used Kira From Gathering Blue as one of the main characters. I also enjoyed all of the action and drama like how all of the plants and trees then Matty used all of his power to save the forest but ended up dieing. If I had to give The Messenger a review I would give It 5 out of 5 stars

Chapters 21-23

In these chapters Jonas finds out that Gabe will be released. Jonas is so shocked that he decides to take Gabe with him on his exploration. When Jonas leaves he ends up breaking three rules (two of them were stealing). Gabe was sound asleep on the back of Jonas's bike while Jonas rode around the streets of the other communities. When morning rolled around Jonas stopped for breakfast. Jonas decided it would be smarter to sleep during the day so they wouldn't be seen at night. So Jonas slept all day under the cover of trees and shrubbery. Days had now passed and there were search planes flying overhead a lot. Whenever Jonas heard the drone of a plane he ducked to hide himself and Gabe. Gabe had even taught himself the word plane so he could yell whenever he saw one coming near. As Jonas rode on he began to notice things changing. Like he began seeing forests and the sides of the road. He could feel the roads getting narrower and more difficult to travel on. One night as he was riding. Jonas hit a rock and flipped into the air. Gabe was fine but twisted his ankle and it started to swell up. Now that there were no longer any search planes Jonas rode his bike in broad day light. Very soon they ran out of food so Jonas was forced to become a rugged outdoors man. Even though Jonas was able to catch some food the weather was becoming colder and Gabe was becoming very weak. And Jonas was not sure how much longer he would live. The weather then became much colder and now Jonas became weak. But no matter he tough the conditions were Jonas was determined to continue his journey. When Jonas came to a steep hill it started to snow and Jonas was not strong enough to bike it he started to climb. To keep Gabe warm he shared memories of warmth with him. Every step Jonas took became harder and harder. Suddenly Jonas realized that he had been there before. This was the hill from the sledding memory! Jonas grabbed the rope from the sled, placed Gabe on it and began to ride down the place where his future would be there future in front of them.

"Downward, downward, faster and faster. Suddenly he was aware with certainly and joy that below, ahead, they were waiting for him;and they were waiting, too, for the baby. For the first time, he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard people singing.
Behind him, across the distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo."

What do you think the music was?

Do you think it was okay for Jonas to share his memories?

Chapter 20

In this chapter Jonas was too upset to go home after watching his father kill a child. So Jonas decided to sleep at the givers tonight. That night Jonas and the giver made up a plan for Jonas to go elsewhere. The plan was that Jonas would leave the night before the December ceremonies, and then he would begin to travel outside of the community. For Jonas to leave he would sneak into the giver's room that night and slip out the back on a storage truck. The giver said that he wouldn't come because he still had to protect the community from painful memories.

Chapters 17, 18, and 19

In these chapters there is an annual unscheduled holiday. A couple of Jonas's buddies think that it will be fun to play a game with make believe guns. Jonas does not approve because of his memory of war and how unbelievably painful it was. Then Jonas goes home and his father is talking about how twins were born at the nurturing center and the smaller twin must be released.

Then the next day when Jonas goes to his training sessions with the giver. Jonas asks him what releasing is. Since it is such a sore subject the giver doesn't want to talk about it. After Jonas tries to persuade him for a while the giver finally gives him a tape of this mornings release. This was of course shocking to Jonas because he had to witness his father killing a child. They perform the releasing by lethal injection. After that Jonas couldn't look at his father the same way.

If you were Jonas how would you feel about your father after watching the tape?

Chapters Fifteen and Sixteen

In this chapter Jonas goes to the giver for his training session but the giver is in too much pain. Jonas tells him that he will come back but the giver makes him stay and receive some of the pain. So Jonas decides to lay down on the table and open his tunic unexpectedly. The pain that the giver gave him was much more horrible than anything Jonas had ever felt. It was no wonder the giver wanted to get rid of it. after the memory was over Jonas did not want to go back to his training sessions. He didn't want the honor, the wisdom, or any of the memories he had received. Jonas just wanted to have a normal assignment. Jonas wanted to quit but he knew that he had to finish all of his training sessions with the giver.

In chapter sixteen Jonas goes to receive another memory. Unlike the past few this one is happy. Most likely because the giver felt bad for causing Jonas so much pain. In this memory Jonas experienced what he knew as family. In it was much more than just a mother and a father. There were aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. All of these concepts were very new to Jonas because all he had was three family members. The giver told him the feeling that the memory gave him was love. Jonas then ended his training session and went home. When he got home Jonas asked his dad if he loved him. His dad answered.

"Father? Mother?" Jonas asked tentatively after the evening meal. "I have a question I want to ask you.

""What is it, Jonas?" his father asked.

He made himself say the words, though he felt flushed with embarrassment. He had rehearsed them in his mind all the way home from the Annex.

"Do you love me?"There was an awkward silence for a moment. Then his father gave a little chuckle. "Jonas. You, of all people. Precision of language, please!"

"What do you mean?" Jonas asked. Amusement was not at all what he had anticipated.

"Your father means that you used a very generalized word, so meaningless that it's become almost obsolete," his mother explained carefully.

Jonas stared at them. Meaningless? He had never felt something as meaningful as the memory."

And of course our community can't function smoothly if people don't use precise language. You could ask, 'Do you enjoy me?' The answer is 'Yes,' " his mother said."

Or," his father suggested, " 'Do you take pride in my accomplishments?' And the answer is wholeheartedly 'Yes.'

"Do you understand why it's inappropriate to use a word like 'love'?" Mother asked.Jonas nodded. "Yes, thank you, I do," he replied slowly.

It was his first lie to his parents.

Were you surprised that Jonas's dad did not know what love was?

Chapter Fourteen

In this chapter Jonas receives memories that are unbearably painful. Jonas pleads for medicine but he can't get any because it said so in his rule sheet. Then Jonas gets home and asks if Gabe is asleep because Gabe has been restless the past few nights. Gabe is actually sleeping like a baby so Jonas goes to bed. In the middle of the night Gabe wakes Jonas up so Jonas must tend to him. Jonas puts Gabe on his knee and starts rubbing his back in a circular motion. This does not help much so Jonas does something unthinkable, he gives Gabe a slight memory of sailing. After he does this Gabe falls asleep. Jonas is happy but there is consequence to his actions. Now Jonas can not remember sailing as well as he used to.

Do you think Jonas intentionally shared his memory with Gabe?

Chapter Thirteen

In this chapter Jonas is upset about the fact that no one else can see color. He thinks that it is unfair that he is the only one who can make choices like what color clothes he can where, what color the sky is, or what color peoples hair or eyes are. But both Jonas and the giver agree that it is much safer to keep it the way it is because people could make bad decisions. Then Jonas receives the memory of poachers.

"He could hear noises: the sharp crack of weapons - he perceived the word guns - and then shouts, and an immense crashing thud as something fell,tearing branches from the trees.He heard voices calling to one another. Peering from the place where he stood hidden behind some shrubbery, he was reminded of what the Giver had told him, that there had been a time when flesh had different colors. Two of these men had dark brown skin; the others were light. Going closer, he watched them hack the tusks from a motionless elephant an the ground and haul them away, spattered with blood. He felt himself overwhelmed with a new perception of the color he knew as red.The men were gone, speeding toward the horizon in a vehicle that spit pebbles from its whirling tires. One hit his forehead and stung him there. But the memory continued, though Jonas ached now for it to end.Now he saw another elephant emerge from the place where it had stood hidden in the trees. Very slowly it walked to the mutilated body and looked down. With its sinuous trunk it stroked the huge corpse; then it reached up, broke some leafy branches with a snap, and draped them over the mass of torn thick flesh.Finally it tilted its massive head, raised its trunk, and roared into the empty landscape. Jonas had never heard such a sound. It was a sound of rage and grief and it seemed never to end."

Finally at the end of his training sessions Jonas feel that the memories are overwhelming him and he goes home.

How would you feel if you were trapped in a memory of poachers?

Would you be scared?