Skip to main content

Were the real birthdays of the children celebrated in Jonas's community in The Giver?

Children in Jonas’s community do not celebrate birthdays in the same way we do.  Every child born in a year is assigned a number.  Then, once a year in December there is a ceremony where they enter the next age category.  The actual month when they were born does not matter.  The first December, they all turn One, and then the next year they are all Two, and so on.


Each December, all the newchildren born in the previous year turned One. … Some were already walking, wobbly on their unsteady legs; others were no more than a few days old, wrapped in blankets, held by their Nurturers. (Ch. 2) 



Each class has fifty in it, because the community controls the population and makes sure there are fifty children born each year.  Unless one of the babies is released, they all turn One on the same day whether they are walking or just born.  Thus older kids have a real advantage at first, but it possibly diminishes as they get older. 


Like in our world, each ceremony results in gifts.  The gift of the Ceremony of One is a name and a family.  Babies are born to birthmothers, cared for by Nurturers until December, and then assigned to a family unit.  Each family unit has one boy and one girl, and a mother and father who are matched as well. 


Most of the gifts are clothes, but there are some more interesting ones.  At Nine children are given a bicycle.  At the Ceremony of Twelve, they are given their assignment.  This will be their job for life.  After Twelve there is no ceremony any more.  The children are considered adults-in-training.  They are preparing for their careers.


When Jonas becomes Receiver and sees birthday parties in the memories, it seems like a nice thing to him.



He had seen a birthday party, with one child singled out and celebrated on his day, so that now he understood the joy of being an individual, special and unique and proud. (Ch. 16)



It is unusual to Jonas that one child would be singled out for a birthday.  No one is ever singled out for anything in his community.  This is part of Sameness.  The only time they ever call attention to individuals is at the Ceremony of Twelve.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How and why does James Gatz become Jay Gatsby? Describe the young Gatsby/Gatz.

James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune,... James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune, whereas they arose from well-to-do families. Gatz became Gatsby through determination and discipline. At the end of the novel, the narr...

What gift did Della buy for Jim and why in "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry?

Della buys Jim a watch fob because his watch is his most prized possession. Della and Jim Young do not have much money. Despite this, Della really wants to buy Jim a good Christmas present. She is even willing to sell her hair to get him a nice gift. This is ironic because we learn Della and Jim both highly prize her hair. Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which... Della buys Jim a watch fob because his watch is his most prized possession. Della and Jim Young do not have much money. Despite this, Della really wants to buy Jim a good Christmas present. She is even willing to sell her hair to get him a nice gift. This is ironic because we learn Della and Jim both highly prize her hair. Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair.  Della is still willing to sell her hair so she can b...

Explain and discuss how the definitions of freedom change for the nation, for the freedmen and for southern whites after the Civil War.

After the Civil War, the definition of freedom changed in the nation, as slavery was ended with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. The practice of slavery was disallowed, but definition of the freedom that would take its place was a subject of controversy, ongoing debate, and even violence in the decades to come.  For freedmen, freedom often meant reconciling with their families, who were broken up by slavery; choosing which church to... After the Civil War, the definition of freedom changed in the nation, as slavery was ended with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. The practice of slavery was disallowed, but definition of the freedom that would take its place was a subject of controversy, ongoing debate, and even violence in the decades to come.  For freedmen, freedom often meant reconciling with their families, who were broken up by slavery; choosing which church to belong to without being ordered to attend religious services (or not to attend) by their mast...