Book vs. movie: ‘The Giver’
“The Giver” by Lowis Lowry is a dystopian novel that takes place in a community far in the future. In this community, differences are frowned upon because they caused problems in the past, or what is now the present, to us. Nobody has any memories of the past; nobody has true feelings or emotions, except the Giver.
The Giver’s job is to hold all memories of the past to keep the events that occurred then from happening again. Everyone in the community is assigned a job at age 12. The main character, Jonas, who narrates the novel, is assigned Receiver of Memory, meaning he will receive memories of the past. Soon after he learns about the past, he feels more people need to know what happened. He feels the way the community lives is wrong, and he wants to change it.
Some people find the book confusing and boring, others inspirational and exciting. I find the book to be an interesting story about how our world today takes all of our amazing things in life for granted, unlike one boy who discovers these things and treasures everything he finds.
Like I said before, some people find the book confusing, causing them to find it boring. For those of you who found the book to be this way, you might enjoy the movie more. The movie explains things a bit better, since there is a narrator and a visual.
One of the differences I liked in the movie was that two of the book’s characters, Fiona and Asher, played a much larger part. In the book, they only have a few conversations with Jonas. In the movie, they both play a much larger role in the plot. Asher also has a different personality. He still has the fun personality described in the book, but at times he becomes serious.
Jonas also has a few changes. In the book, Jonas was always afraid to disobey the rules, but in the movie, his character is more rebellious and free-spirited. Jonas having a rebellious character causes conflict, since the community is strict. This creates excitement and tension throughout the movie, making it interesting. There is plenty of emotion during this movie.
The one thing I didn’t enjoy about the movie is that it seemed too modern compared to the book. I know that might not make much sense, but when I read the book; it had this classic and simple theme to it. The movie seemed like it didn’t incorporate that theme. Though there were a few differences, I still enjoyed the movie and I believe many others will too.
If you decide to go see “The Giver,” don’t expect it to be exactly like the book, as it will ruin it for you. I enjoyed the book and movie in different ways – and hopefully you will too.