Humans need to communicate

Humans want to connect

Humans want to be happy

Humans need friends/companions

Humans need hopes and dreams

Humans can be empathetic

Humans like to help

Humans sometimes strive for knowledge

Humans are scared of each other

Humans abuse power

Humans are selfish

Humans are violent

Humans are inventive and innovative

Humans are resilient and with unity, may overcome adversity

Humans are diverse

Humans are curious

The novel The Giver by Lois Lowry is written from point of view of Jonas, a boy living in a seemingly perfect futuristic community revolved around “Sameness,” where all knowledge of the past has been erased from all minds but few. Everything is under control, there is no fear of pain, and everyone is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life in the past. Jonas discovers the dangerous truths of his community’s secret past and he realizes that he must escape from their world to protect himself and those he loves – a challenge no one has ever completed successfully. From reading this novel, I learned that some differences are important to the human experience, and that you must take the bad with the good.