Archive for June 20, 2010
The Giver- Chapter 3
Posted by: Lucy Knisley
Book: The Giver, by Lois Lowry
“Oh, look!” Lily squealed in delight. “Isn’t he cute? Look how tiny he is! And he has funny eyes like yours, Jonas!” Jonas glared at her. He didn’t like it that she had mentioned his eyes. He waited for his father to chastise Lily. But Father was busy unstrapping the carrying basket from the back of his bicycle. Jonas walked over to look.It was the first thing Jonas noticed as he looked at the newchild peering up curiously from the basket. The pale eyes.Almost every citizen in the community had dark eyes. His parents did, and Lily did, and so did all of his group members and friends.”(p. 20)
This chapter opens with the arrival of a “newchild,” Gabriel. Jonas’ father is a caregiver to very young children in the community, who reside at a care facility until they are placed with a family at the annual ceremony. Gabriel is a poor sleeper, so he is allowed to be cared for in Jonas’ home in the hopes that it will improve his health. It’s immediately apparent that Jonas and Gabriel have a connection, as illustrated by their similarly unusual eye shading.
Later, Jonas goes on to ruminate on a memory of a strange occurrence during his recreation period…
Jonas had casually picked up an apple from the basket where the snacks were kept, and had thrown it to his friend. Asher had thrown it back, and they had begun a simple game of catch.
There had been nothing special about it; it was an activity that he had performed countless times: throw, catch; throw, catch. It was effortless for Jonas, and even boring, though Asher enjoyed it, and playing catch was a required activity for Asher because it would improve his hand-eye coordination, which was not up to standards.
But suddenly Jonas had noticed, following the path of the apple through the air with his eyes, that the piece of fruit had– well, this was the part that he couldn’t adequately understand– the apple had changed. Just for an instant. It had changed in mid-air, he remembered. Then it was in his hand, and he looked at it carefully, but it was the same apple. Unchanged. The same size and shape: a perfect sphere. The same nondescript shade, about the same shade as his own tunic.
(p.23-24)
Finally, I can use a little color in these illustrations! And by a little, I mean, the absolute tiniest bit. More to come, though… See you next month!
