The Giver & The Receiver

It was back then in junior high when i watched Hayley Williams's home tour video given by friend Tsabita, when i first heard about The Giver. In the video, She and her friend, Hannah made this artsy $6 wall art from a cardboard paper and wrote the last two sentences from the last chapter of book;

"Behind him, across the vast distance of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. 

But perhaps it was only an echo."

There is something so fascinating yet daunting about it that it left me wondering at night and i was determined to read The Giver because life would seem incomplete if i didn't and pretty much everyone on the internet is still blabbing about it up until this day and i am also very excited that the movie is gonna be out soon at some time this year!

Anyways, i have acquired a lot of wisdom in the moments where i've spent reading it. The Giver tells a story about a young boy, named Jonas, who lived in a uniform society. Once they reach the age of 12, every each and one of them will be assigned in specialise areas that the leaders of their society will place them in an area that fits best for them in order for society to be stable and there are certain rules that they firmly believe, some of them are; they avoid vanity (because it triggers jealousy), disobedient is not accepted (even from an early age, everyone was taught to have good manners),  and none of them feel emotion. All in all, the rules were made to avoid rebellions. It took a long time to recover from the war that happened a long time ago and the leaders believe to keep the society in a uniform act to prevent it from happening again.

Jonas was excited and terrified at the same time as the days of the year had almost come to an end. Soon he will be 12, and soon he will have a title in the society and he will be an adult. But Jonas was unlike the other children. Strange things started to happen to him just before he turned 12. He started to see things change it's motion in a blink of an eye and no one seems to comprehend him when he shares his feelings. He even felt this tingling sensation in him whenever he encounters his dear friend, Fiona, and he cannot foretell what will happen if it keeps happening to him every time he sees her. There were so many questions in his mind and none seems to be the right person that can help Jonas.

At the choosing ceremony, Jonas has been assigned to be the next Giver and it was a huge honour to hold that title; as of because the society only chooses a person from their kind to be the next Giver is a very rare moment. For his training Jonas will be trained by the current Giver and he will be his Receiver. The Giver told at the beginning of the journey that, it will be bittersweet. Jonas will be the only one in the society that can hold precious memories of the past, memories that happened long ago before the war and he cannot tell it to anyone. The reason why the Giver is someone that is dearly needed is because the Giver is the only one that still contains all of those memories. And for Jonas, he was set to be the next great person. 

Jonas's training began with the Giver giving him happy memories of the past such as, the first snowdrop at winter time, the art of togetherness, the celebration of holidays, the beauty in welcoming newborns and many more. The Giver even showed Jonas 'colour', as the world that they lived in is very plain in black and white, Jonas first saw the colour red, which was why the colour of the apple that Jonas saw earlier shifted from grey to red. But every time the Giver passes the memories to Jonas, he will no longer hold those in his head, it is now all owned by Jonas. 

Great opportunities comes with great responsibilities, and that was something Jonas was not prepared for. As the days got older, the Giver began transferring more dark memories to Jonas, which he did not like it because it was painful for Jonas to see and he felt numb afterwards whenever the Giver showed him the meaning of death, betrayal, suffering, and so on. Which made Jonas question, why do we have to go through suffering? The Giver smiled and told him,

Wisdom is gained through pain.

Okayyyyy now i'm gonna stop telling you guys the summary of The Giver and actually giving you guys the main point of this blog post! If you guys wanna know what happens next, again, i strongly suggest on reading The Giver for yourselves! i promise, you will not regret.

I think one of my biggest misconceptions about life is when we have a desire to reach at a certain point, we will feel happiness from there and so on, and when we do get to that point, we expect all of our high expectations to come true about how our lives will change and how everything will be different with the reason of we have suffered before and the future will be presented as a dream coming to life.

But no, that is not life. From reading this book, i have learned more and more about the procure of wisdom. I often wonder why the process of learning often involves internal pain and how it leaves a mark. In the book, Jonas was a much more wiser child from the start compared to the other children, and he became more and more aware of his stance in the society. It is all because Jonas had tasted the beauty that pain brings. Of how it seems such a compelling bitter truth that the world has been kept it in hiding when we as humans refuse to go through the bad days even though it will later on lead us to the best days of our youth.

Aside from that, there is a part of the movie where the Giver was in suffering from a great pain because he had been holding the bitter memories for far too long and he cannot share the pain to anyone as being the Giver meant he cannot pass it to someone else, even to his bloodlines. But since Jonas was ought to be the next Giver and since Jonas insisted to lend the bitterness to him, the Giver finally showed him his darkest past memories and how it burdens him until this day. Once it is shared, the Giver felt much more airy and less painful.

I have learned that when we are keeping something to ourselves. We feel like we're being tied to a death rope as we are holding on to too much bitterness within. It is better if we share our thoughts to someone we trust or even writing it down on a piece of paper to transfer the negativity.

I am very thankful for having so many good friends that listens to my stories and comforts me to make me feel better. For a moment, it is as if i am like the Giver sending those thoughts to my Receivers in a form of words that they can translate it into imaginative sceneries of their own. 

Long story short, the moral of this post is to not hold on to bitter memories of the past. Let them go, share those thoughts to people you trust most. They are able to help and mend your sadness. As of for now, i think i am still on the journey of finding wisdom in life. Even if pain is included. I will be prepared, and after all, I have my Receivers to be a place for me to let my guards down.

xoxo,
Gia