Freedom, and the Emotions It Brings

In Chapters 16-18 of The Giver, Jonas is learning more and more about freedom from the community he knows (or used to know). There are decisions he has to make on his own, and doubts he is starting to have about his community. First, his life is simple and easy, and now his mind is working more and more on its own. He even had the decision to throw away his pill that prevents him from having dreams. Now he has this freedom that comes with his new job, the world he grew up in is crumbling all around him, revealing in the cracks a new way of living, with more possibilities, yet more faults...

Before he was selected as the Receiver of Memories, Jonas was as disciplined as everyone else in the community. Told not to pry into other people's business, and never to tell a lie. Now, Jonas is allowed to lie, and realizes how easy it is to get other people to believe in things that aren't true. If everybody in the community had the privilege of lying, what would their way of living be like? We, in our world today, are allowed to lie (but told against it). It's common sense not to believe everything you hear, and to think about somebody's answer before accepting it. Freedom can be a negative thing, and reveal some problems in having people decide things on their own.

Since Jonas has felt all these emotions and seen the colors, naturally he would want to have freedom. There is a reason that color was relinquished, though, and we have to wonder. Is this the best way? Is what we're doing now good for us, or will it lead to chaos? The Committee obviously thought so, and they live an organized world. Perfect.

Freedom. Ziyou. Vrijhead. Kalayaan. La liberte. Freiheit. Liberta. Jiyu. Jayu. Kebebasan. Liberdade. Libertate. La libertad.

Color... Is It Necessary?

"The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts." -Marcus Aurelius

"'Why can't everyone see them? Why did colors disappear?'

The Giver shrugged. 'Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with differences. We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.'

'We shouldn't have!' Jonas said fiercely."

Look around you... really, look around. What do you see? Just everything you normally see, right? All those colors, the contrast between shades, patterns in the hues. It's just so common to you that it fades away, unimportant. Like music playing at a party, it's just a background. Something we take for granted and forget about, until it's gone. If you woke up one morning to find everything in black, white, grey... of course you would notice. Can you imagine it now? The familiarity of your everyday life in dull shades of darkness, nothing noticeable anymore. The velvet red petals of a rose... gone. The comforting blue of the sky, missing.

"When you're a [child], you don't see color." -Marshall Mathers (Eminem)

Jonas, main character of The Giver, finds it "unfair" that his world is colorless. What do I think he means by unfair? I think he's imagining the possibility of color... it's one of the small things we have today to define your personality. There was even a time in our history where people were judged on the color of your skin. This also brings in the possibility that color can be used in negative ways, and can bring problems. When the Committee takes out the pain and the conflict, they also exterminated the joy and the love. Everything is neutral, just the same: "The Sameness", the Giver calls it. No colors can bring out the differences in the society, nothing that can cause envy and fear. So, color can bring problems, too... who knew?

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." -Rabindranath Tagore

Unfair that nothing has color, unfair. What does that word mean? Fairness is everybody getting everything they need, and do you honestly need color? Can you live with everything the same? Jonas grew up with it, could stand it. His parents and their parents before them didn't feel anything about it. Yet, once you saw the colors, felt the warmth (and the chill) they bring, once you've tasted their sensations, you couldn't leave it. I would wake up one morning and notice if everything was colorless, but having to live that way, wake up to it day after day is unbearable. Will my eyes even be able to take the difference?

"How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days." -George Burns

Is "unfair" the proper word to use in the situation? You can only ever get what you need by getting it for yourself, and if you need color, well... how do you get it back? Let's rewind, and go back to when there was color. How did it disappear? Where did it go? The people of the society decided for themselves when they wanted to block out war and pain. Did they know they were also eliminating color and cheer? During Jonas' family's "Evening telling of feelings", his sister, Lily, claimed she felt "angry". His father had announced he felt "concerned", and his mother confessed her "guilt" and "fear". That's what they are probably taught, that when you feel more weight in your chest, you are sad. When your skin starts to prickle and your mind is overwhelmed with thoughts, you are angry.

"The color of truth is grey." -Andre Gide

Even though we have the ability to feel much more intense feelings than Jonas and his community, we are extremely lucky in the fact that we don't have to feel them. I doubt anybody I know has ever felt truly angry, when something is so special, their unconscious mind will take control. Oftentimes, to be angry, you will first have to be afraid. Fear can very much lead to angry acts of aggression. I don't believe any one I know has ever felt deep sadness, when the world just looks darker and the colors don't seem to matter anymore. What more is what we call anger, than frustration? What we know as sadness is usually just disappointment. When people like Jonas, who knows what those words really mean, hear incorrect uses of them... well, it must be extremely frustrating to hear such things.

"If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other causes for prejudice by noon." -George Aiken

So, what do you think? If you started reading this post from the beginning to right now, would you please take the time to answer this: Is color necessary? Did what you think a few minutes ago to right now change? Color... it's everywhere. Is it possible for us, as humans, as living creatures, to live without it? Do you agree that it shapes us, makes us who we are? Color changes the way people act around us, different colors create different atmospheres. Of course, it is in no way the only trait you can judge someone on, especially their skin color. Eye color, hair color, paint color, curtains color, wall color, all of it. It's all important and they all play a huge role in the way we live. The tail of a peacock, vibrant juices in a rasberry, clouds of the sky, it all matters. So, why is it unfair that Jonas cannot see color? Because feelings, all feelings: Head-lifting feelings, eye-widening feelings, heart-stopping feelings, are indeed necessary to living. Not just surviving, but living.

"Being born, especially being born a person of color, is a political act in itself." -Alberto Giacometti

Thanks so much to the site below, where I got the color quotes!

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/

P.S. My blogpost partner is Olivia, and I have commented on her two Giver blogposts.

My future. Two simple words that, when put together correctly, can mean so much... but why? What is so important about knowing what will happen to me tomorrow, what I will be in ten years? Just lay back and let whatever happens happen! If that's how you think, you haven't read "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. In Jonas' community, he can't just wait for his life to suddenly make sense to him. The Committee decides everything, hands you your life piece by piece, and you take it.

Would I want to have my future decided? Before I read "The Giver", I would've quickly answered "NO," and I'm sure you would, too. Even after reading, I would have the same answer, but I'm a little more hesitant. We think our community is better organized than Jonas', because we have the freedom to make our own decisions. Think about Jonas, though. He probably thinks his way of living is the best way, because it's all he's ever known! He might become a little nervous when confronted with a chance for freedom. Also, having other people decide for you doesn't seem like a bad idea at all. Think of having people, first analyzing your personality, fit you with a job that you can work well with, and with a positive attitude. In our society, a lot of people don't get good jobs, and you see many people lose them and end up with no money to support their family. Jonas knows nothing of that. He finds it unfair that the world is color-less, that people should be able to make choices.

Choosing things for yourself, is it a good thing? The Committee found that sometimes, people made the wrong decisions. They didn't think, and got themselves in a dilemma. You can see that today, many people without homes, food, money... the poorer countries often can't afford education or safety, and are forced to make even more decisions to make up for the mistakes others make. Who's to blame? If you want to know the answer, you need only look into a mirror. How our life is, the way our world works, is shaped by us. Our way of living has mistakes because we make mistakes. Jonas rarely chooses things on his own, so everything is easy. The best choices are brought to him. Would I want that for myself? I have to think about my answer, but it's still "No". I still want to feel emotion, will go through the pain to feel the happiness. I will also try and make the wisest choices I can, because they affect the people around me.

Thanks for reading,

Hime