The Road 6

"You're not the one who has to worry about everything. The boy said something but he couldnt understand him. What? he said. He looked up, his wet and grimy face. Yes I am, he said. I am the one (110)."

            In the book “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy we have learned that the man always speaks of his son as of some higher power, like a god like figure, He puts his son on a pedestal, which is good because it ensures the man that he treats his son the proper way he should be treated when they are on this horrific journey. To compare his son to that high of a powerful figure shows that he loves his son very much. Also the boy might realize that he is old enough now and has been on this journey long enough to realize what is his position in the world. I think that it is his time to make a change, for the good of his survival and his fathers. He has been on this journey long enough with his father to realize what the world is like after the disaster struck. The boy realizes that it is his time to make a change in the world, and unlike everybody else he and his father didn’t die. They didn’t die because they were meant to be alive, they are meant to make a difference in the post-apocalyptic world. He was chosen by a higher power to get the world out of the turmoil that they are in, this is why they didn’t die because the son is the chosen one to make a difference. My reaction to this is that I believe that the wife had a big part in this book even though she committed suicide at the beginning of this novel. The wife gave the man and the boy strength to survive, she knew that the boy was the chosen one and I believe that she was the one that chose her son to be the chosen one because she saw what he was capable of after going on that long journey to try and find a peaceful civilization with his father.  

The purpose of this passage is to show how important the boy is in the book. Even though he is just a child his role in the book is a big one. The boy is the chosen one to make the world a better place, to get the world out of destruction and make a peaceful civilization. The literary techniques used are a comparison strategy, diction and a reflection by the father. The passage is comparing the boy to a God like figure because he is considered to be the “chosen one” to save the Earth out of the disaster. I believe that the God like figure in the book is the mother of the son because she sent a message to the son before she committed suicide, she said to her husband to treat her son right so they can survive. This is why I believe that the woman is the God-like figure. The diction in this passage is that of the Earth and the way it is described by the father, when he was growing up and how the world is after the disaster. The reflection by the father shows his son how different it was when he was growing up, there was structure in the society and everybody was at peace, unlike how it is now-a society of destruction. The overall effect of this passage is to show the young boy that the world wasn’t like this forever. It used to be a good place until the disaster hit. He reflects back on the past to show that this boy can make a change; he can be the one to bring the world back to life.

            In the novel, the word “human” means for the boy to be the chosen one, to be the one that saves the society from destruction. He will be the only to make a difference in the world because he has learned the values of his dad and those values have made the son a better person. Before the son was the chosen one, the chosen one was his mother but then she decided that she couldn’t go on any longer so she committed suicide. Our depictions of the future reveal that the present can change in an instant. For example the dad had his world perfect until this disaster struck their civilization. And for the son he never got to experience the world that his dad saw because he was born into a world of destruction. We use images and language to manipulate people’s minds by using images and words that people can relate to that they see everyday in their life. When they see these images and language around the society people think that they can use them in their lives.

       

The Road 5

"Maybe he understood for the first time that to the boy he was himself an alien. A being from a planet that no longer existed. The tales of which were suspect. He could not construct for the child's pleasure the world he'd lost without constructing the loss as well and he thought perhaps the child had known this better than he (129-130)."

In the novel “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy the father is telling his son stories about his childhood. Although these stories are true the son yet once again still does not believe what his father is saying because he is not used to the world as his father is telling him it. The boy is only used to the world after the disaster struck, he is not used to the world before the apocalypse. The way his father described the Earth when he was a child was like no other to the son, it was foreign to the boy and he could not understand why the Earth wasn’t like what his father was describing anymore. The father then attempts to tell specific stories of his childhood but then quickly refrains from doing so because he realizes that they all would scare his son because they all end in a sad way and he doesn’t want to scare his son. My reaction to this passage is that I agree with what the father did, he gave the boy a little quick description of his childhood life and what the Earth was like but he didn’t go into great detail because he did not want to work his son up. This was a good move by the father because if he told his son the stories and he got scared then this would create a lot of controversy and when you are out on a journey you don’t want any controversy, you want it to be as simple and straight forward as possible so there is no confusion. And plus, before his wife committed suicide she told him to take care of the boy, treat him right, be nice to him and in return they will be able to survive. If he told the boy the stories then he would break theses values that his wife had for them and something tragic could have happened.  

            The purpose of this passage is to show how smart the father is, he is willing to recollect the past of his childhood but he didn’t want to take it too far because if he did then his son would get scared. If he got scared then the boy wouldn’t be able to go on in his journey because he would be afraid of dieing just like the rest of the people because he would realize that the world wasn’t always like it is now, it used to be a peaceful place when his father was growing up. The literary techniques used in this passage are imagery. The imagery used in this passage help represent helps contribute to the sadness of the passage. The tone is sad because the man realizes that life is no longer what it was when he was growing up. The man is reflecting back on the past which makes him sad and it makes the boy wonder what life was like back when his dad was growing up. The overall effect in this passage shows that life can change in an instant, things are handed to you so be grateful for what you have because it could be gone in an instant.

            In the novel the word “human” means that you are in a dystopian society, trying to find a peaceful civilization to settle in when you are on a horrific journey with your father, your mother just committed suicide and you are now being descended upon as the “chosen one.” Our depictions of the future reveal that the present can not be wasted. You have to work and strive to be the best and you can not take anything for granted. Things can be perfect one minute and then everything can be gone the next. We use language and images to manipulate people’s minds by posting pictures of events that people can relate to.

           

The Road 4

" He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like groundfoxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it (110)."

In this part of the novel “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy you see the world suffering worse than it has ever been. They are starting to realize that there is no hope for the people on Earth or the Earth. It is just going to disappear one day and be gone. The people are hopeless and anyone that has survived so far is considered to be very lucky because they can’t believe anybody could survive in these harsh conditions like it has been. In this quote it says that the Earth is still “cold” and it is not welcoming its survivors, it is only getting colder and colder, it is as if the Earth is being “relentless” and it wants to kill everybody on Earth. Whatever caused this disaster on Earth has left the Earth a dead wasteland, there will be no future on the Earth and there is going to be no survival. My reaction to this text is that I believe that the man and his son are going to find a way to beat the odds and they are going to survive. I believe this because you never see the main characters die in a book because it defeats the purpose and because I believe that they are going to find “A Road” to travel down upon where they will find life and a land that they can live. It just wouldn’t be right for them to die. I also feel bad for the victims that couldn’t survive and make it through these harsh conditions, the way that this passage is describing the Earth after the disaster is unbearable and I cannot imagine trying to have to survive on this type of wasteland.

The purpose of this passage is to show how bad the living conditions were on Earth after the disaster stricken. It’s unbelievable to me how the man and his son were able to survive these conditions. I guess it goes back to your will to believe that you can survive. Earlier in the book the man’s wife said to him before she committed suicide that they will survive as long as the man shows strength, care, and love to his son. So this reminds me of someone’s will and courage to survive, if you put your mind to it and believe that you will survive then you will be able to get through anything. The specific techniques used to achieve this purpose were imagery, word choice, tone, and similes. The imagery in this passage is great; it really provides the reader with a good mental/vivid picture in their head with a description of what is going on in the scene. For example the imagery in this passage shows what the Earth looks like after the disaster, “Cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground foxes in their cover. There is imagery throughout that whole passage, it is very descriptive and there is more than one visual image that you can picture in that portion of the passage. You can see the cold relentless earth, you can see the darkness, you can see and hear the blind dogs in their running, you can picture the crushing black vacuum that the Earth now looks like, and you can see and hear the trembling animals that were compared to the ground foxes. The diction/word choice helps to contribute to the tone and the mood of the passage. The negatively connotated words like “darkness, cold relentless, dark, crushing black vacuum, and trembling” all suggest a sorrow tone in the passage. When you think of these words you think of bad things, just like in this passage when they are describing what the Earth looks like now after the destruction. The tone in this passage is a sorrow/mournful tone; you get sad that these people had to deal with these harsh conditions. The simile in this passage is comparing the two hunted animals that were trembling to ground foxes. “Somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground foxes in their cover.” This simile shows how much destruction that was on the Earth because even the animals were feeling the effects of this disaster not just the people on the Earth, even the animals couldn’t survive this disaster. The overall effect of this passage is it shows how much destruction really took place on the Earth and it shows what the Earth like after it got destroyed, it was a deserted wasteland with dead people everywhere.  

In this novel so far the word “human” means that you are getting killed on the Earth, you cannot suffer through the pain that you are going through anymore because the disaster is too great to survive through. Most likely you are going to die and the Earth is going to be gone, it is going to have no future and nobody living on it. In this book the word “human” is not something to be proud of because your species is being eliminated by the Earth. Our depictions of the future reveal that the Earth is going to be one day a disaster and we can already see how we are treating the Earth badly and the negative effects that it is going to have on us one day by the way we treat it. We are already starting to see the Earth being affected, with warmer winters, global warming, pollution, melting of the ice caps and overpopulation. We use language and images to manipulate people’s minds by providing content that is not fake to certain situations to make them believable.

The Road 3

"You wanted to know what the bad guys looked like. Now you know. It may happen again. My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God. I will kill anyone who touches you. Do you understand? Yes. He sat there cowled in the blanket. After a while he looked up. Are we still the good guys? he said. Yes. We're still the good guys (65)."

            In this part of the novel of “The Road” the man and his son are along their journey through the world to find their new homeland. On this journey so far the man and his son had to face several encounters such as the people who tried to attack them and kill them but they are still alive. Several questions are starting to arise as the boy is noticing what is going on. In this quote the son does not know if they are still consider the “good guys” anymore because his father killed the people that tried to attack them. The father shot their enemy as a survival method and protection for his son. If he did not kill them then they could have died. The man said that he had to kill the man to protect his son and that God had assigned him to kill the man. But the boy does not know if his father should have killed the man, he wonders if they are still considered the “good guys” even though his father shot and killed a man. My reaction to this text is I feel that the man did the right thing by killing the attacker. He had to protect his son, and this shows that he will protect his son at all costs. The man will do whatever it takes for them to make it on this journey. I feel like they are still considered the “good guys” because it wasn’t as if they went searching for trouble, the trouble came to them and they were only trying to protect themselves which makes it justified that the man shot and killed the attacker who tried to kill them.

            The purpose of this passage is to show how much the man loves his son. He will do whatever it takes for them to survive, he will even go to extreme circumstances to protect his son as is shown in the passage when he shot and killed the man who tried to attack them. The man loves his son, and knowing that his wife committed suicide he has to show even more love to his son because he doesn’t have a mother anymore. The specific techniques used in this passage are rhetorical questions, tone, acknowledgement of a higher power and short sentence structure. The rhetorical questions in this passage such as “do you understand” and “are we still considered the good guys?” These rhetorical questions are meant to reassure the boy that even though his father killed someone they are still the good guys and that his father had to kill the man for the protection of himself and his son. The tone in this passage is confident. When the boy asks the question if they are still the good guys, the father says “yes” in a confident voice to make sure the boy still believes him and to show that his father believes that he made the right decision to kill the man. The father acknowledged an important figure in “God” in this passage. He says that God “appointed” him to kill the man. By the father saying this, he is yet again trying to reassure his son that he made the right decision. But the boy still questions if his father made the right decision. The short sentence structure used in this passage is a way that the father tries to make sure the boy believes in him and his decision. The overall effect of this passage is to show that the man loves his son and will do whatever it takes on this journey for them to survive.

            In this novel so far the word “human” means to try and survive under extreme living conditions and any other problems that you may encounter. The “humans” in this passage are the man and his son who are on their long journey throughout the world trying to survive after a disaster has hit their hometown. On this journey these “humans” were faced with attackers who could be considered “non human” because they tried to kill the man and his son. The word “human” means to be trying to survive under the harshest of conditions and situations. Our depictions of the future reveal that the present is not as easy as some people may think. People take things for granted but that is not always the case. In this situation the man did a good thing in the fact that he didn’t take the attacker for granted, if he took him for granted then he might of not killed the man because he wouldn’t have thought that the man would try and attack him. We use images and language to manipulate people’s minds by showing people things that are not true but we make them believe that it is true by the images or the language that is often written on it. We often see this in newspapers, magazines, and ads.   

The Road 2

"The one thing I can tell you is that you wont survive for yourself. I know because I would never have come this far. A person who had no one would be well advised to cobble together some passable ghost. Breathe it into being and coax it along with words of love. Offer it each phantom crumb and shield it from harm with your body (49)."

In the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy a man and his father are off on a journey after a disaster, the chaos and the destruction that has plague their environment that is causing people to lose their minds. In this quote the man’s wife is very depressed and she can’t handle the disaster in the society anymore so she is talking to her husband about her planned suicide. They then discuss about how the man will raise their son without his mother being around anymore. The woman says that they will be able to survive these harsh conditions on their journey as long they stick together and the man shows love to his son. When on this journey the woman suggests that he needs to give his son food and share it with him. He needs not to be greedy or else they won’t survive. The only way they will survive is if the man shows great love, respect and care towards his son. My reaction to this passage is that it shows a side of karma that is present in the book and that is also present in our current society. It shows you that if you do good things then you will get good things in return. In this case the man, if he is good to his son and treats him well then they are going to be able to survive their long journey through the post-apocalyptic world. But I also feel sad for the boy because his mother is going to commit suicide because she can’t take it anymore. It is going to be hard for the boy to progress through the novel without the comfort of his mother being there for him through thick and thin.   

The purpose of this passage is to show the sacrifices that you have to make in order to be able to survive sometimes when times are harsh. The mother is sacrificing herself because she can’t go along anymore; she is willing to sacrifice herself so that her husband and her son are able to survive. She knows that she is weak now and she is only going to drag them behind if she continues on the journey. She can’t take the chaos and the destruction that is going on in the society any longer. In this passage the specific techniques that are used are imagery, vivid description of words and tone. The tone in this passage is sad/ remorseful because the woman has to commit suicide in order for her family to survive because she can’t go on living this way anymore. The words that help contribute to the tone are words like “phantom,” “harm,” “crumble,” and “ghost.” These words are negatively connoted and they are associated with death. These words help to show how the woman his feeling inside of her with all of this destruction and chaos in the world. The imagery in this passage is created through the tone and the word choice. With very descriptive words the reader can visualize the scene much better and more effectively. With words such as “phantom crumbs,” “well advised to cobble together some passable ghost,” and “shield it from harm with your body.” These words provide a sense of imagery to the passage. You can see the phantom crumbs and the passable ghost and you can the passable ghost cobbling together. The overall effect of this passage is to show through the woman’s eyes how she feels and how the destruction and chaos in the world is breaking her down and destroying her. It has destroyed her so much that she can’t go on anymore and she must commit suicide.

In the novel the word “human” means you are struggling to survive because of the chaos in your society. You are not living in the right living conditions that you need to survive because of the destruction in the society so you are forced to move out of die, so the man and his son decided to go on a journey across the landscape of the world for survival in hopes to reach a better place. Our depictions of the future reveal that the present has much value to it. The present is very real, you can have everything one minute and then the next day everything is gone, things can be gone in a blink of any eye so worship every aspect of life, the good and the bad. We use language and images to manipulate people’s minds by creating a vivid description of the situation so the reader can visualize it in his or her head. By visualizing it the reader can maybe relate to it because that situation has happened in their lifetime and the way they view the situation now could change because of the manipulation of their mind.

The Road 1

"The world shrinking down about a raw core of parsible entities. The names of things slowly following those things into oblivion. Colors. The names of birds. Things to eat. Finally the names of things one believed to be true. More fragile than he would have thought. How much was gone already? The sacred idiom shorn of its referents and so of its reality (75)."

            In the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a post-apocalyptic book about the journey of a father and his son. This journey took several months; they are going across a land that has been destroyed and much of the civilization has also been destroyed. In this quote it talks about how things are being forgotten by the human civilization such as colors, types of birds and certain foods. People are losing their values and their customs that were once so important to them. They are losing their objects, their memory and their principles that they had in place before this disaster took place. My reaction to this text is that how can these people forget everything that they once relied on so heavily? These values were once so important to them and then now they all of a sudden forget these important values. My reaction is that I feel bad for these people because it is almost as if these innocent people are suffering a type of amnesia from this horrific disaster. I feel sad because they can’t do anything about their memory loss; they are suffering from the effects on Earth that was caused by this disaster. 

            The purpose of this passage is to show the horrific effects that the people on Earth suffered due to this disaster which caused the man and the boy to set out on a journey across the landscape to try and survive. People are forgetting the things that they used to do on a normal basis, pretty soon the world will be corrupt (if it is not already corrupt) because of what has happened on the Earth. The civilization is in a disaster and the people are going crazy because of their memory loss. The specific techniques used to achieve this purpose are diction, rhetorical questions, imagery and short sentence structure. The diction in this passage helps to create the overall mood in this novel. The mood of sad is created through the way that the author writes his paragraphs and the tone that he uses. The use of rhetorical questions in this passage like “How much was gone already” presents the reader with a different view on things. Maybe it posses something different that the reader never thought of before or maybe it presents a different position on the situation. The imagery in this passage contributes to the senses of seeing and hearing. You can see the “world shrinking” and you can hear the “raw core” of parsible entities and the “birds.” The imagery helps the reader to paint a picture of the situation in his or her head. The short sentence structure helps contribute to the tone, the short sentences lead up to the dramatic parts of the book. The short sentences are little hints of bigger ideas and the reader reads right through them and holds their breath to wait for the bigger idea being presented. The overall effect of this passage is to show the tough times that the people in this society are facing because of the memory loss and the disaster that has taken place in their society.

            So far in this novel the word human means to be degraded down in the society because you are suffering from memory loss because of the surrounding factors of your environment. The humans are suffering from a loss of memory because of the disaster and this is causing them to not be able to remember things that they used to be able to do on a daily basis. Our depictions of the future reveal that the present is more valuable than we may think. For example in this society everything was perfect until this disaster took place. The people had everything but now they are forgetting everything and are losing everything. People in this society took everything for granted because they thought that they would have it forever but not it is all gone and they are suffering. We use language and images to manipulate people’s minds by providing images that relate to the subject and then describing them in a different way than what they were presented in which causes the people’s minds to be confused.  

The Giver (government) 6

" He forced his eyes open as they went downward, downward, sliding and all at once he could see lights, and he recognized them now. He knew they were shining through the windows of rooms, that they were the red, blue and yellow lights that twinkled from trees in places where families created and kept memories, where they celebrated love. Downward, downward, faster and faster. Suddenly he was aware with certainty and joy that below, ahead, they were waiting for him; and that they were waiting, too, for the baby. For the first time, he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard people signing. Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo (178-179)."

            This passage from The Giver by Lois Lowry talks about Jonas and his first ever Christmas celebrating town, he is now in a utopian society instead of a dystopian society. He has a different view point on life thanks to the Giver. At this new town he can now live a life in peace and live his life to the fullest. Jonas now sees what life is supposed to be like so he has a new perception about things, a new perception that wasn’t available to him in his previous town because of the dystopian ways of the community. Jonas is now living by himself without the Giver for the first time, how will Jonas survive on his own without the Giver? Jonas is listening to the music that he hears in his new town that he had never heard before, he listens to the people singing all together in one which shows how together the community is and they are willing to accept Jonas even though he may be different from them. This is the total opposite of what Jonas experienced in his previous dystopian society.

            My reaction to this passage is that I wonder how Jonas will survive on his own without the help of the Giver. The Giver was such an essential part of Jonas’s life and he acted as a father figure to him. It will definitely be tough for Jonas without the Giver being around but I think that he will do fine because the Giver stored a lot of good qualities in Jonas that Jonas will take with him to his new town. Also I think that we can already tell how opposite of a society this is from his previous town. The values are different, the people are different and the whole town is different, this new way of living for Jonas will definitely benefit him in the long run. He needed to get out of his dystopian society and into a town that is going in the right direction and the Giver helped him do that.

            The overall purpose of this passage is to show the differences between the two societies that Jonas has lived in. The one he was previously living in is very different from where he is living now, the one where he is living now is very utopian like while his previous town was very dystopian. When Jonas first heard the people playing the music all together he could already tell that this place was different, he felt accepted in the society unlike any other time when he was previously living in that dystopian society. Jonas feels appreciated in the society, he feels loved and he feels like everybody is different, everybody is unique and nobody has that “sameness” about them that was so obvious in his previously town. This society is all different, with difference comes good things not everybody can be the same, if everybody is the same then that is what creates problems like we saw in Jonas’s dystopian society. The specific techniques used to achieve this purpose are the people signing represent a symbol of the new town that Jonas is in. The words “he heard people signing” is used as a symbol to show how united and together the people are, something that you would never see in Jonas’s past community. Also there is more symbolizing with the music because the Giver loved music and he would always share this music with Jonas. This music represents a symbol of hope and that the Giver isn’t with Jonas anymore and he has nobody to share his music with which makes Jonas reflects back on the good times he had with the Giver right before his death. The overall effect of this work shows how one person can have such a big impact on someone’s life; they can act as a role model and a father figure. The Give was definitely a role model/father figure to Jonas.

            After finishing the novel, the word “human” means something different to each part of the word. Each part of the world might have a different view on what the word “human” actually means or what it is supposed signal but in this book the real “humans” were shown in Jonas’s society that he moved into at the end of the book. They were the real “humans” they lived life free without living in fear or without anybody telling them what to do, or controlling them. They were the total opposite of what the so called “humans” were in the dystopian society that Jonas previously lived in before his death.

            Our depictions of the future reveal that the present is better than what people make it out to be. Yes, there are places that are bad like we seen in the dystopian society that Jonas lived in, but for the most part it is good and people need to cherish these moments because they could be gone soon. In Jonas’s case he was lucky enough to get into a good town with the help of the Giver. We use images and language to manipulate people’s minds by posting irrelevant things so people get scared but in reality people have no reason to be scared.

The Giver (government) 5

" The word had been "starving." You have never been starving, he had been told. You will never be starving. Now he was. If he had stayed in the community, he would not be. It was as simple as that. Once he had yearned for choices. Then, when he had had a choice, he had made the wrong one: the choice to leave. And now he was starving. But if he had stayed. His thoughts continued. If he had stayed he would have starved in other ways. He would have lived a life hungry for feelings, for color, for love. And Gabriel? For Gabriel there would have been no life at all. So there had not really been a choice (173)."

            In this passage from “The Giver” by Lois Lowry Jonas is reflecting back on his past actions. He wonders if it was the right thing to do, should he have left in hopes for a better life or should he have stayed in his town which is characterized by a dystopian society. He is reflecting back on the past because he questions his decision of leaving, he thinks that by leaving he has made things worse because he is not with the Giver anymore and he feels like he is starving. He made the right decision though of leaving because if he had stayed then he would be dealing with the same old problems that he dealt with before and his previous town is heading towards a disaster.

            My reaction to this passage is that Jonas did make the right decisions by leaving his town and going to a new one in hopes of a better lifestyle. He definitely found a better lifestyle where he is at now, the people are together, they have goals that they are striving for and there is more of a community life where Jonas is now. The only bad thing is that Jonas is no longer with the Giver, he is by himself so I wonder how the transition will be without the Giver considering Jonas has relied on the Giver so much like a father figure throughout this whole novel.  

            The purpose of this passage is to show that Jonas questions his decisions to leave, was it really worth it? Was it necessary to leave? What would of happened if he stayed in the society? He would have been around negative people who are living in fear of the government, Jonas needed a change and he needed to be in a place that was a good environment with a positive attitude. The specific literary techniques used in this passage are word choice, the technique of asking rhetorical questions, and imagery. The word choice in this passage contributes to the overall understanding of the novel and the passage. Words like “starving” and “if he had stayed he would have starved in other ways, he would have lived a life hungry for feelings, for love and for color.” These sentences and words suggest that Jonas thinks he is starving in his new society because everything seems so different to him because he is not used to living in a society that is perfect. He reflects back on the past and realizes that it was the right decision for him to leave because if he stayed he would have lived a life without “color, love and feeling.” The use of rhetorical questions gives the reader a better understand of the novel and it also posses questions to the reader in which he/she might have never questioned before. It makes the novel more interesting by the use of posing questions to the reader it makes the reader think in a different perspective. The imagery in this passage helps to contribute to Jonas reflecting back on the past. You can see Jonas looking back and reflecting on his dystopian society and you can hear all of the chaos in that society because of how dysfunctional it is. The imagery is from words like “for love, for feelings and for color.” If Jonas stayed in his society then he would have misses out on all of those things which are so important in life. The overall effect of this passage is achieved greatly through the eyes of Jonas when reflecting back on the past; he realizes that he needs to move on because his society is going down the wrong road.

            In this novel the word “human” means to be able to live a life freely without any problems, concerns or issues. You are able to live your life without anybody telling you what to do. You can make your own decisions and you are able to live by yourself. In Jonas’s case he is going to have to be able to live without the Giver. Even though this will be hard for Jonas, he will be able to do it because the Giver has provided him with all of the necessary tasks for success; he has been there for Jonas through the thick and the thin. Our depictions of the future reveal that the present will only last for a short time. With all of the technological advancements in today’s society, the world is moving quickly and the life we live now is going to be very different each and every year so don’t take anything for granted. We use images and language to manipulate people’s minds by reeling them into something that we want them to believe. When they believe it they will think that you are right and that will cause people to do things that they do not want to do.

The Giver (government) 4

" Jonas, you and I are the only ones who have feelings. We've been sharing them now for almost a year." "I',m sorry, Giver," Jonas said miserably. "I don't mean to be so hateful. Not to you." The Giver rubbed Jonas's hunched shoudlers. "And after we eat," he went on, "we'll make a plan." Jonas looked up, puzzled. "A plan for what? There's nothing. There's nothing we can do. It's always been this way. Before me, before you, before the ones who came before you. Back and back and back." His voice trailed the familiar phrase. "Jonas," The Giver said, after a moment, "it's true that it has been this way for what seems forever. But the memories tell us that it has not always been. People felt things once. You and I have been part of that, so we know. We know that they once felt things like pride, and sorrow, and-"

This passage from The Giver by Lois Lowry talks about trying to make a plan so the memories of the community can be restored. In this passage The Giver is talking to Jonas about trying to save the memories and restore the values of the community. When the Giver tells Jonas that they need to restore the memories, Jonas becomes quickly surprised. He soon realizes that his vision of the future is not going to happen; his community is still going to be hopeless and unchanged because the people are living in fear because of the government. Jonas wanted his community to change, but instead of changing they are just going to be like how they always were, everything is going to be the same. Jonas realizes this and he becomes sad that he won’t be able to make a difference in the society; his society will still follow its dystopian ways. But when Jonas becomes sad by this the Giver gives Jonas hope, like a father figure and quickly revitalizes Jonas and his decisions of a better future and a utopian like society.

My reaction to this passage is that Jonas as the new receiver is doing a good job in trying to get the community out of this dystopian world. But the problem is people don’t want to go against the government because the government has put so much fear into them that they are scarred and they believe that the government is a higher power then them, they control all the power and give the people no freedom. As the new receiver Jonas is just trying to make his society better, the Giver implemented to Jonas that their society that they live in is bad and although it may seem like everything is perfect, things are bad and it is heading toward disaster. I wonder what Jonas will do because it seems like nobody wants to change in the society, will Jonas step down as the new receiver? Will the Giver provide Jonas with the courage to keep pushing and stay strong because the people will eventually follow?

The purpose of this passage is to show how much fear the government has put into the people. It could also show maybe how much the people believe in the government that things will get better. If the people did not believe in the government then they would go with Jonas’s idea to change the society and restore their values that they once had. But the people aren’t going with Jonas which shows that they believe in the government, that they can push them through this tough time. Also it shows that the people are living in fear and the government has all of the control in the society, the people aren’t living free because they are being controlled like robots. The specific techniques used to achieve this purpose are the use of phrases and repetition. The phrases like “back and back and back” suggests that Jonas wants to go back to the time where everything was good in their society, where everybody was free and the government did not run them. But the people do not want to go back, they are afraid of change. They are afraid to get rid of the “sameness” in the society. Also the phrase “back and back and back” is repeated over and over again to emphasize the fact that Jonas is trying really hard to restore the values of the community that they once had. The Giver sys that the memories tell them that it has “not been this way forever” which suggests it once used to be good probably during the time that Rosemary was the receiver, once Rosemary stepped down as the receiver the society became in total chaos. Jonas is trying to revive a big job but with the help of the Giver he can do it. The overall effect of this passage is that people are not willing to be different; they are not willing to change because they don’t want to be different. They are willing to just go with the flow like they have been doing even though that it is not working, they are still unwilling to change from these dystopian ways that the government has them under.

The word “human” means to be able to live around each, getting along with each other and being compassionate with each other. Everybody may have their different views but everybody gets along. Being a human also means you try and do the best for yourself and do things that will positively affect your life. In this situation Jonas is just trying to be human when wishing that people would follow his lead and change the way that they have been behaving in hopes of getting out of these dystopian ways. Jonas is just trying to do what is the best for his society, being the new receiver he feels like it is his obligation to do these tasks and to try and make things better.

Our depictions of the future reveal that the present although maybe a time to cherish, there are still a lot of bad qualities during this time. People are all different and not everybody is willing to be different. If not everybody is willing to be different then everybody is too much alike and that is not good in the society because you need diversity. If everybody is the same then it creates“sameness” in the society and causes a disaster just like what is happening in this society. We us images and language to manipulate people’s minds by providing people with false information so they believe what they say.

The Giver (government) 3

" Jonas was silent for a minute. "Oh, I see what you mean. It wouldn't matter for a newchild's toy. But later it does matter, doesn't it? We don't dare to let people make choices of their own." "Not safe?" The Giver suggested. "Definitely not safe," Jonas said with certainty. "What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong? "Or what if, " he went on, almost laughing at the absurdity, "they chose their own jobs?" "Frightening, isn't it?" The Giver said. Jonas chuckled. "Very frightening. I can't even imagine it. We really have to protect people from wrong choices." "It's safer." "Yes," Jonas agreed. "Much safer." But when the conversation turned to other things, Jonas was left, still with a feeling of frustration that he didn't understand. He found that he was often angry, now: irrationally angry at his groupmates, that they were satisfied with taking on. And he was angry at himself, that he could not change that for them. He tried. Without asking permission from The Giver, because he feared or knew that it would be denied, he tried to give his new awareness to his friends (98-99)."

              This passage from the book The Giver by Lois Lowry comes after Jonas has accepted the job as the new receiver in the dystopian society. This is when Jonas is talking to the people and speaking out about the fact that he wishes that there was still color so the people could enjoy the color and they could have the pleasure and feeling to chose between different colors. But the government quickly shoots down this idea that Jonas has, this shows the dystopianess of the society. They said that if people were allowed to choose their own colors then they would be gaining too much freedom and then they would want to chose who they marry and they would want to choose their own jobs. The government said that these choices and decisions are a big part of people’s lives and if we let the people have more freedom then their decisions could be disastrous. This shows the power that the government holds over the people in the society.

            My reaction to this passage is that the people should be allowed to make their own decisions. The government shouldn’t interfere with people’s lives, it’s their own life and they should be able to live their life anyway they want to and the government should have no say in what they say or the things that they do. The government says that they want to control the people in case they make wrong decisions because their decisions could be disastrous. But my point f view on this subject is that if the people do make bad decisions then they should learn from their bad decisions so they won’t make those same mistakes again. But if they keep making the same mistake over and over again then the government should be able to take action and put in place their rules and regulations.  

            The purpose of this passage is to show you how the government likes to control people in their society, they like to be in control and if they are not in control then they feel like they are not in power. Since the government is living in so much power it causes the people to live in fear because they know that the government is controlling them and if they do something wrong or mess up then they are going to be punished because of the strict rules and regulations in the dystopian society. The specific techniques used to achieve this purpose are words like “wrong choices” and “we really have to protect people from wrong choices.” These phrases suggest the strictness is Jonas’s society. This also acknowledges that Jonas recognizes that his society is bad and people are making the “wrong choices.” But in a community that is as strict as Jonas’s people can damage the society if they make the “wrong choices” so as a result in order to keep the society running smoothly the people have to abide by all of the rules that the government puts in place. This passage has a negative connotation, it is taking about the government controlling people and how the people cannot live free because of the strict control by the government. Also in this passage the literary technique of asking questions is being used, by asking questions the reader is proposed with new ideas in their heads that they might have never thought of before. It provides the reader with a different view on an aspect and could provide a solution to a problem.

            In this novel so far the word “human” means that the government controls you, your rights are limited by the government and the government allows you not to be free. The “humans” are living in fear because of the government and the government is putting the people in fear. The “humans” in this dystopian society remind me of robots because they have to do what the government tells them to do, if they don’t do it then there are punishments that they are going to receive.

            Our depictions of the future reveal that the present is a lot easier than what the future could hold, nobody knows what the future is going to look like but if it is like anything that is described in this book then it won’t be good. The government will control the people and people will live miserable lives because nobody wants the government to control them, people want to live freely and be able to do the things that they want to do without anyone telling them different. We use language and images to manipulate people’s minds by showing them certain things to make them believe it because people are so gullible, but in actuality the thing that they are seeing, they aren’t interpreting it correctly. So false acquisitions are taken place.

The Giver (government) 2

" We failed in our last selection,” the Chief Elder said solemnly. “It was ten years ago, when Jonas was just a toddler. I will not dwell on the experience because it causes us all terrible discomfort." Jonas didn't know what she was referring to, but he could sense the discomfort of the audience. They shifted uneasily in their seats. "We have not been hasty this time," she continued." "We could not afford another failure." "We have had our current Receiver for a very long time," she went on. Jonas followed her eyes and saw that she was looking at one of the Elders. The Commitee of Elders was sitting together in a group; and the Chief Elder's eyes were now on one who sat in the midst but seemed oddly separate from them. It was a man Jonas had never noticed before, a bearded man with pale eyes. He was watching Jonas intently (60-61)."

            In this passage from The Giver by Lois Lowry, the Chief Elder at the Ceremony of Twelve is introducing Jonas as the new receiver. There has not been a receiver in more than 10 years in this society so this is a big deal for Jonas. The previous receiver was named Rosemary but she applied for release of the receiver position, which made this new receiver position open for Jonas. There wasn’t a receiver for over 10 years because Rosemary experienced traumatizing memories that were released into everybody’s minds. 

My reaction to this passage is that this again shows the dystopian society, the traumatizing memories caused nobody to apply for the receiver position which made it empty for over 10 years. This also shows the courage that Jonas has to accept a position that is of such importance that has been empty for over 10 years. I wonder if the Giver has anything to do with Jonas accepting the position of the new receiver. How do you become a receiver? I wonder if Jonas will be able to handle the responsibilities of being a receiver? What powers does the position of being a receiver have?

The purpose of this passage is to show the dystopian view that the society has on everything, everybody has been scared to accept the position of the new receiver because it has been empty for over 10 years and everybody is scared of the traumatizing memories but Jonas comes along and shows that he is strong and has the courage to do this new receiver position. With the help of the Giver, Jonas can be a good receiver. Without the Givers help Jonas would not be able to do this job. The Giver has given Jonas the strength to accept this position, the Giver realizes that Jonas can do it and the Giver can guide him through the tough times like a father figure. The specific techniques used to achieve this purpose are words like “discomfort.” The word discomfit has a negative effect and a negative connotation. In this passage the word “discomfort” represents the feeling that the people in the community had when Jonas accepted the position of being a receiver. This came at a shock to the society because the position has been empty for over 10 years. The society was discomforted because Rosemary had such a traumatic experience of being a receiver that the community could not understand why someone would want to be a receiver after what had happened to Rosemary. At the end of this passage, foreshadowing is used, you are left with yourself asking many questions, who is this bearded man that Jonas saw in the crowd? Could it be a relative of Jonas? This is left with the reader asking questions and makes the reader want to keep on reading to find out who is this man. The overall effect of this passage is that the people in the society are living in fear because of what happened to the previous receiver Rosemary. The people in the dystopian society need to stop living in fear and accept the new position that Jonas has accepted.

In this book so far the word “human” means you are living in a dystopian society that the government has all control over you, they have strict rules and regulations that are set forth and you have to follow them or else there are consequences. In this passage the “humans” are living in fear because of the past experiences that Rosemary had when she was the receiver. Our depictions of the future reveal that the present is very valuable and is of the essence. You have to value your time in the present because the future is going to be far different than anything that you can imagine, maybe it will be better or maybe it will be worse nobody knows but you have to value the things that you have right now. We use language and images to manipulate people’s minds by providing circumstances and certain situations to show certain things that aren’t actually true. It’s all about the way people perceive certain things. In this case the people in the society all were in fear of accepting the position of the new receiver because of what happened to Rosemary. They let this one incident cause them to not accept the job, they just went with the flow and denied the job instead of being different and accepting the position of the new receiver like Jonas did.   

The Giver (government) 1

" Last night he had watched as his father bathed the newchild. This was much the same: the fragile skin, the soothing water, the gentle motion of his hand, slippery with soap. The relaxed, peaceful smile on the woman's face reminded him of Gabriel being bathed. It was against the rules for children or adults to look at another's nakedness; but the rule did not apply to newchildren or the Old. Jonas was glad. It was a nuisance to keep oneself covered while changing for games, and the required apology if one had by mistake glimpsed another's body was always awkward. He couldn't see why it was necessary. He liked the feelig of safety here in this warm and quiet room; he liked the expression of trust on the woman's face as she lay in the water unprotected, exposed, and free. From the corner of his eye he could see his friend Fiona help the old man from the tub and tenderly pat his, thin naked body dry with an absorbant cloth. She helped him into his robe (30-31)."

             The book The Giver by Lois Lowry is a dystopian book, everything in Jonas’s world seems perfect but in reality it is not. Jonas seeks the Giver for help and relies on him for answers, in this dystopian society that they live in. I interpret the Giver in this book as a higher power, almost like a “God-like figure” to Jonas, with that interpretation I feel like the Giver has all the answers and everybody in the society relies on him for answers almost like a “government figure.”

            This quote is from Chapter 4 where Jonas starts to realize that his community is not everything that he may think it is, he starts to realize that something is missing in his society. He realizes this when he was training to be a “receiver” when the Giver showed him what it was really like to live in a utopian society. In this quote we also see that Jonas has a strong relationship with the woman and the Giver. He feels safe with these people and he very much trusts them. My reaction to this quote is that I feel like Jonas has been limited to what he is allowed to see in the society. As a result it is almost as if he does not recognize what is real and what is fake in society. I feel like the Giver presents him with the real and factual information that is true about his dystopian society. Up to this point Jonas has been living in a fake world before he met the Giver, whether or not Jonas accepts the Giver, the Giver provides Jonas with what their society is actually like, unlike what Jonas makes it out to be. Jonas thinks his society is utopian but it is really dystopian.  

            The purpose of this passage is to show the Giver and his importance to the book, it is only the beginning of the book but we already see the affect that the Giver has on Jonas. The Giver and Jonas are forming a strong relationship/bond because the Giver is being real to Jonas and Jonas can’t believe what he is actually experiencing with the Giver. Also the purpose of this passage is to show how much power the Giver possesses in the society, it is almost as if the Giver is a form of “government” because of how powerful he is. He is accepted in the society and people come to him for advice in this dystopian world that they live in. The specific techniques used to achieve this purpose is the use of words that Lowry chose to use, the words “unprotected, exposed and free” are key words in this passage because Jonas liked the way that the woman laid their being “free” and free caring. Jonas is not used to this new world that the Giver has brought him to because he is so used to his society being uptight and strict, nothing like this would happen in Jonas’s dystopian society. The word “free” is the most important word because Jonas is not free in his society because of the strict rules and regulations unlike this woman who lives in a utopian society, she is the definition of “free” that Jonas wants to be. The word “free” suggests that Jonas does not like the rules and regulations that his society puts in place. This passage foreshadows what’s to come later in the novel, we can see by the Giver showing Jonas this new world that they are going to have a strong relationship with each other, he feels safe with the Giver and maybe he will be like Jonas’s father figure.

            In this novel so far the word “human” in Jonas’s cases means that you are living in a dystopian society and you do not get to see the real world and what your society is really like because of the strict rules and regulations that are in place by the government in your society. In Jonas’s case the word “human” is not used correctly because I believe that if you are a human you are free and nobody has to tell you what to do, you are capable of making your own decisions whether you are wrong or right. So far in this novel the word “human” is being incorrectly used in my point of view because Jonas is not living “free” like Larissa and the Giver.

            Our deceptions of the future reveal that the present is a time to cherish because it may not be there for long, you need to cherish the good things in life that are available and at your dispense now because one day they are not going to be there. In Jonas’s case he needs to go with the Giver so the Giver can guide him to the utopian society that Jonas envisions, not the dystopian society that Jonas is living in now. We use language and images to manipulate people’s minds by only showing what people want to see. People want to see all the good things, but do not want to see the bad so people often make it seem like everything is alright and good so people don’t get scared. In Jonas’s case he thinks his society is perfect because he is only seeing the good, not the bad. So the Giver introduces Jonas to the bad of society and then shows him Larissa who is actually living in a utopian society, unlike Jonas.