Secret in the Names—Allusions to The Bible in The Giver
投稿類別：英文寫作
Secret in the Names—Allusions to The Bible in The Giver
Authors:
Ting Yu Zeng (曾庭昱)
Yi Ting Huang (黃依婷)
National Hsin-Chu Girl’s Senior High School
Class 303
Instructor: Shu Hui Lin (林淑慧)
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Secret in the Names—Allusions to The Bible in The Giver
I.
Introduction
Have you ever wonder what is the element for choosing a character’s name? In
some novels, names are not just names because there are some secrets hidden behind
them. When the name is chosen, the personalities of that role may have been decided
at the same moment.
In The Giver (2002), the story begins in a utopian community which, however, has
some problems hidden in it. Utopia can be interpreted as the Garden of Eden and
Heaven in Christianity. So the author utilizes some names and stories in the Old
Testament (1978) to support the development of this book. The two names of the main
characters in The Giver, Jonas and Gabriel, are aliases of Jonah and Gabriel in the Old
Testament. The giver, the noblest person in this novel, has no name. However, the
author makes an analogy between the Giver and the almighty God in the Christian
scripture.
The characters in this novel share many similarities with the Christian figures.
Besides, the stories in the Old Testament are skillfully interwoven in the plot.
Referring to the tales, the writer ingeniously creates a world near a calamity. To
clarify how this novel alludes to Biblical stories, this essay will include summaries of
the tales in the Old Testament and analysis of the three characters mentioned above.
The following is a summary of this novel.
The Giver is told by a third-person narrator whose view is limited to a
twelve-year-old teenager－Jonas. Jonas lived with his father, a Nurturer of new
children, his mother, who worked at the Department of Justice, and his seven-year-old
sister Lily. Every family unit in their community was not in blood relationship as
spouses and children were assigned by the committee and people didn’t have privacy
since no door existed in the family unit. At the beginning of the story, Jonas was
apprehensive about a coming Ceremony, in which eleven-year-old children would
receive their jobs arranged by The Committee of Elders. Their jobs were considered
to be based on their own interests because the Elder had observed their behaviors and
activities they had participated in since their childhood. Possessing unique traits:
intelligence, integrity, courage, wisdom and the capability of seeing “the beyond,”
Jonas was selected to be the highly honored “Receiver of Memory.” (Lois Lowry,
2002)That is, he had the responsibility for preserving all of the knowledge and
memories of this community, which were kept unknown to the inhabitants.
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Secret in the Names—Allusions to The Bible in The Giver
During the training, the Giver transmitted his memories to Jonas by putting his
hands on Jonas’ back. In the process, Jonas not only experienced a variety of mental
and physical feelings he had never had before but saw the real nature that had
disappeared in their community. Also, he realized that his community, though seemed
perfect, was actually artificial and profoundly flawed. People didn’t have the right to
make decisions for their lives. Besides, their behavior and even emotions were strictly
regulated by the community’s systems, in order to achieve the sameness. In the
meanwhile, Jonas took care of a child, Gabriel, who had trouble with sleep in the
night and was temporarily living with Jonas’ family because Jonas’ father wanted to
keep her from being released by the community. Jonas transmitted peaceful, warm
and comfortable images to Gabriel while soothing her to fall into sleep every night.
Then, Jonas developed an intimate affection toward Gabriel. When Jonas perceived
that releasing a child was synonymous to killing a child, his grief and frustration
reached the climax and his desire to change the community grew stronger. Devising a
meticulous plan with the Giver, he was determined to flee the community at the risk
of his life in order to disperse his memory to people, letting people burden, enjoy and
master their own lives. A few days after, Jonas fled the community with Gabriel. They
entered a natural world full of various cute animals, fantastic colors and changing
weather, all of which are unreachable for their community. Simultaneously, they
suffered from kinds of pain. The story ends when Jonas and Gabriel mounted a high
hill, on which they saw or thought they saw a friendly village and heard music with
the hope that someone in the village would take them in.
II.
Thesis
i.
Characteristics of the main roles
A. Jonas
Jonas looks like a normal eleven year-old child in his community. However, there
are many details showing that he is different from others. Take some of his behaviors
for instance. He shows his interests in his volunteer time, which points out a truth that
he’s passionate when learning new things. Jonas is thoughtful, and concerns about his
friends and family. Also, he shows an advanced worry before his twelfth ceremony.
Though the ceremony is quite important to children in the community, the others do
not seem so worried. An apparent trait is his pale eyes, which enable him see
something that he can’t explain. For example, he could see the change of light while
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Secret in the Names—Allusions to The Bible in The Giver
watching his friend throw an apple in the air. However, Jonas kept it as a secret
because it was improper to advert to others’ difference in their community.
His unusual life had begun since his twelfth ceremony. Being announced and
trained as the next “Giver”, Jonas gradually understands why he has so many
differences from others. His willing heart makes his initial training go smoothly.
However, after he gets the perception of what “release” really means—the euphemism
for death or even execution by injecting drugs into the released person—from the
giver, he no longer regards this community as a perfect one. Instead of sticking to its
traditional rules, Jonas wants to let people get those true feelings. Only by escaping
from that community can he fulfill his motive. Gabriel’s earlier fate of being released
accelerates their departure because he wants to save this little baby.
Jonas does not get along with his community well. His pale eyes, thoughtful
mind, and his great compassion for lives are the factors inspire him to change the
community. In addition, these factors make him a person who sticks to his own ideals
during the escape.
B. The Giver
The Giver is a wise person who holds the long chain of memories of the community.
He has to make a precise decision for the community while it meets with difficulties.
His life seems uneventful, like spending most of his life inside his comfortable living
quarter and emerging occasionally to take long walks. Actually, the community has
eliminated fear, pain, hunger, illness, conflict, and hatred by making the Giver bear all
of these bitter things in his memory. Naturally, he also owns positive and warm
memories. That makes him possess real emotions and have sympathy for people in
contrast to the inhabitants in the community, who know only order and regulations.
He realizes that the community needs to be changed, but he resigns himself to the fact
that he can’t change it by himself alone. To maintain the stable community, he tries
hard to conceal his emotions. However, haunted by sufferings and forbidden to share
his memories with anyone else, he lives a life of loneliness and sorrow.
The Giver once had a daughter called Rosemary, who was also selected to be the
Receiver of Memory. Because she couldn’t endure the ugly truth hidden in the
community and the responsibility of bearing painful memories, she chose to end her
life at last. This incident left a deep scar in the Giver’s heart. To his comfort, the Giver
is no longer isolated after training Jonas because Jonas is strong enough to carry on
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Secret in the Names—Allusions to The Bible in The Giver
the memories and they can share their thoughts sincerely. The memories are like a
bond that holds the two people tightly together as in blood relationship.
Fueled by his heart-raking experience of losing Rosemary, the growing love for
Jonas and years of repressions, the Giver’s powerful emotions erupts and surges to the
surface. He finally makes a plan to help Jonas escape from the community and let the
memories Jonas carries on disseminate to the people in the community to overturn the
system. He is willing to stay in the foreseeable chaotic community and instruct people
what to do afterwards. The decision is fortified by the Giver’s aptitude as a teacher
and advisor: it is natural for him, who plays the god-like role in the community, to
guide the community learning to handle the memories, just as he has helped
Rosemary and Jonas.
C. Gabriel
Gabriel is a one year-old baby in this story. It has some differences from other
babies, for example, her pale eyes, which are the same as Jonas’. She was not heavy
enough when she reached one and was given an additional year to properly grow.
Jonas’ father was a nurturer so he took Gabriel to their house. Gabriel often cried and
made sounds when sleeping at night. One night Jonas unexpectedly found the baby’s
ability to accept memories when he was trying to stop Gabriel from crying. He
tenderly tapped on the baby’s back and thought of a memory that the Giver had just
given him not long before-“ a bright, breezy day on a clear turquoise lake, and
above him the white sail of the boat billowing as he moved along in the brisk
wind.” (Lois Lowry, 2002) Suddenly Gabriel became quiet and Jonas felt himself no
longer had the memory. After that, Jonas usually gave her some memories when
Gabriel couldn’t sleep well. Jonas plotted his escape with the giver and meanwhile
transmitted memories to Gabriel during the baby’s staying in his room at night. He
then perceived the feeling of true love when taking care of Gabriel. Things of the plan
proceeded flawlessly until a bad news was breaking to him. Gabriel had cried all night
during her examination in the nurture center and was arranged to be released. This
occurrence made Jonas’ plan execute earlier.
ii.
The bonds of the Old Testament and The Giver
A. Jonas and Jonah
The name “Jonas” is related to the Old Testament, Jonah. It implies some
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Secret in the Names—Allusions to The Bible in The Giver
personalities of the boy in this book. Jonah, in the Old Testament, is a man who once
violated God’s order. There’s a short story about him below.
According to the Old Testament, Jonah was assigned to make a prophecy to the
people of Nineveh to save them from destruction. People living there were said to be
cruel to those who they defeated, and that was why Jonah didn’t want to save them.
So when God asked him to redeem these people, he refused and tried to escape. He
found a ship leaving to Tarshish so he went with the crew. However, God figured out
where he was in a short time and sent a storm to them. The storm was so strong that
the ship was almost broken. Instead of helping the crew to lighten the boat by
throwing things in the sea, Jonah went to the other side to lie down. And then the
captain went to ask him “Why do you sleep here? Wake up and pray to God that we
won’t perish our lives in this storm. ” Hence, Jonah told the captain that he was
fleeing from God, and that only if they forced him into the sea would it became calm
again. So the crew cast Jonah into the sea. God then had prepared a big fish to
swallow him. After being trapped in the big fish’s belly for three days and nights,
Jonah suddenly found it was time to make an amend. He prayed to God and was soon
vomited out from the mouth of the fish.
From reading Jonah’s story, we can surprisingly figure out some similarities
between Jonas and Jonah. To begin with, they are both prophets in their own stories,
knowing more things than the others. Jonah was assigned to make a prophecy about
the perdition of the habitants in Nineveh by God. Jonas in The Giver was responsible
for accepting all the memories so that people in the community so that the inhabitants
didn’t need to sustain bad memories such as war, disease, death and so on. In addition,
there’s a strong sense of justice in their minds. Jonah considered the inhabitants in
Nineveh brutal people so he didn’t want to redeem them. Jonas, who couldn’t bare the
unfair rules in the community, was trying his best to change it. Furthermore, both of
them chose to defy the things they originally obey though they might run the risk of
losing their lives. In the Old Testament, Jonah would rather be trapped in a big fish’s
stomach than compromise on God’s request. Jonas in The Giver decided to leave the
community with Gabriel. For him, keeping the baby alive rather than passively
receiving the community’s verdict of releasing the baby is closer to justice.
B. The Giver and God
In the community, the giver takes the role of God in the following aspects.
(The characteristic is adapted from Mike Scott Family [3].)
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Secret in the Names—Allusions to The Bible in The Giver
a. All Knowing
“God Is All Knowing. God possesses all knowledge. (Job 38:39; Rom
11:33-36)”
As the Giver holds all the memories in the past, he is all-knowing compared to
other inhabitants of the community. And they all respect him for the knowledge he
possesses.
b. Wisdom
“God Is Wisdom. God's wisdom is revealed in His doing the best
thing, in the best way, at the best time for the best purpose. God is
"the only wise God" (1 Tim 1:17).”
The Giver is the only man of wisdom in the community. His wisdom is formed by
his vibrant experiences from the memories. He helps the community make significant
decisions. When the committee is met with difficulties, the elders will ask him for
advice. His wisdom is best illustrated in the process of training Jonas. Apart from
transmitting memories to Jonas, he also knows how to instruct Jonas to realize the
truth and then calm down this youth’s upset mood. The detailed plan to escape from
the community is also arranged by him.
c. Love
“God Is Love. Love is the essential, self-giving nature of God. (Gen
1:31; Ps 145:9; Mark 10:18).”
Having sympathy for others, the Giver wants to help the community get through the
tough time after Jonas’s escaping there. His whole life is devoted to the community.
Besides, in the process of training Jonas, the giver regards him as his child. Instead of
transmitting all painful memories to Jonas at one time, the giver gives them away to
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Secret in the Names—Allusions to The Bible in The Giver
Jonas little by little, followed with some softly fragrant and amusing memories. We
can see his mercy and consideration for others in this case. The giver could have
dispensed himself from oppressive responsibilities by throwing all of the bitter
memories to Jonas and retaining joyful memories for himself, but he didn’t do so.
d. Rightness
“God Is Righteous. Righteousness as applied to God refers to His
affirmation of what is right as opposed to what is wrong. (Gen 18:25;
Deut 32:4; Rom 2:6-16)”
The Giver chooses to let people know the reality of the world by overturning the
false systems of the community. It requires a lot of courage especially for the giver
since he is assigned to carry on the memories of the community, which are not
allowed to be revealed to people in order to maintain the stability of the community.
The giver’s strong sense of rightness urges him to take action contradictory to his
duty.
C. Two Gabriels
The angel Gabriel appeared two times in the Book of Daniel, a chapter of the Old
Testament. Her visits were about God’s prophecy for Daniel, who had prayed to God
for forgiving him and his people’s sin.
Daniel prayed to God because he had just perceived in God’s prophecy that their city
would be devastated in seventy years. He confessed to God that his people had sinned
against God but they yearned to get God’s forgiveness. So here came the prophet,
Gabriel, again. The angel came to Daniel and told him that she was here to give him
understanding and wisdom. The angel then pronounced God’s words to Daniel. She
said that Daniel and his people were promulgated seventy weeks to finish their crimes.
In order to compensate for their sins, they should rebuild Jerusalem, the holy city, in
the days that God gave them. After sixty two weeks passed, a prince would come to
destroy the city, but then he would make sacrifice to cease the chaos.
In both Daniel and The Giver, Gabriel is the announcer who carries some prophetic
messages. In the Old Testament, the angel Gabriel appeared to reply to Daniel’s prayer.
She gave Daniel code words and he had to decipher them so that he would know how
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Secret in the Names—Allusions to The Bible in The Giver
to save his people. And in The Giver, the baby Gabriel’s release serves as a signal to
Jonas and expedites Jonas’ plan to leave. Actually, Gabriel, the newborn life,
symbolizes the continuity of their race while the angel Gabriel brings massages to
help Daniel’s people to survive.
Apart from the above, Gabriel gives the two characters understandings. To Jonas,
the recognition that “release” is synonymous with death in his community hits home
when he learned of dear Gabriel’s early release and that’s why he left so urgently. In
Daniel’s story, Daniel was the only person to foresee all the things that were to happen
in their future. Here we can also make a bond between Jonas and the prince in
Gabriel’s prophecy. Can Jonas be a “prince” who at first appears to derange the
community he is in and at last becomes a person who sacrifices for his land? And this
is immediately triggered by his love for baby Gabriel and the significance Gabriel
shows in Jonas’ life.
D. Other Connections
Names or things mentioned in The Giver
Connections with the Biblical
The ceremony was held in December.
Jonas’ escape was in December.
The celebration of Jesus’ birth is in
December.
Asher (the name of Jonas’ good friend)
A symbol of “happiness” from Hebrew
Jonas can see the apple moving in a way
beyond description.
Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in
the bible.
III.
Conclusion
After Jonas escaping from the community, the memories would pervade in the
community, thus thrown back to the inhabitants. And the community would fall into
chaos since people have got used to the same peaceful life and they don’t know how
to deal with these ponderous burdens. However, under the Giver’s instruction, most
people would be able to confront these arduous adversities with faith and hope,
gradually seeing this nature from a new realm. After all, people all regarded the giver
as the wisest character in their community. The Giver for sure has the ability to help
them go through this tough hardship.
The author didn’t tell us directly what happened to Jonas and Gabriel at the end of
the story. But we can learn from the story that Jonas’s vision of the village is not just
an illusion that he experienced when he and Gabriel were freezing to death. Because
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Secret in the Names—Allusions to The Bible in The Giver
Jonas had lost all of the memories that were transmitted to him from the giver after he
and Gabriel escaped, the thoughts came to his mind were exactly the reality he had
experienced in his own life. This indicates that the landscapes Jonas saw were around
him. Also, the music Jonas heard at the end is real, too, since music is never a part of
his memories. That means Jonas and Gabriel would lead a new life in the village.
Even if Jonas and Gabriel didn’t survive at last, Jonas’ contribution to the community
was admirable and valuable. He turned a new page to the community. Meanwhile, on
way of his escape, he experienced the joy to embrace the freedom as well as the real
world.
Thus we find a similar theme both in the story of The Giver and that in Genesis of
the Old Testament. “Adam and Eve were once naked and ignorant in a lush and
plush garden enjoying fellowship with the Lord and each other. “(Keith Krell,
2009)After they sampled the forbidden fruit--the fruit of wisdom, their lives started to
change. Though they had to be faced with numerous dilemmas after driven out of
Eden, the paradise, they learned how to make a living by themselves and their
horizons were broadened simultaneously. They could reproduce children and form a
new world full of their descendants. Though acting against God’s authoritative will,
Adam and Eve became the ancestors of all humans. Like Adam, and Eve, Jonas and
the Giver also defy their stifling totalitarian community and usher in a completely
new era. Then, the ostensible story of paradise lost is actually a story of the birth of a
brave new world in the novel.
IV.
Reference
[1.] International Bible Society. (1978). The Holy Bible, New International Version Containing the Old Testament and the New Testament. Zondervan Publishing House,
Author
[2.] Lois Lowry. (2002). The Giver. New York: Laurel-Leaf Library.
[3.] Mike Scott Family. (1997) What Do The Scriptures Say? Retrieved November
fifth, 2010, from http://www.scripturessay.com/index.php
[4.] Keith Krell. (2009)"Paradise Lost" (Genesis 3:1-7)│Bible.org, Retrieved
November eleventh, 2010, from
http://bible.org/seriespage/paradise-lost-genesis-31-7#P7_2737
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