2004 Discussion Questions from a Faith Perspective

The following discussion questions on Lois Lowry's The Giver are designed for use in many types of faith groups. As a result they are not specific to any one religion or spiritual viewpoint. We encourage you to review these questions before you use them. Feel free to modify them, delete ones you don't find helpful or add questions you want to include in your group's discussion. The words our faith group are printed in place of the name of any particular faith group and you might want to substitute terms familiar to your group. Page numbers used in the questions refer to page numbers in the trade paperback version of the book.

1. What do you think happens in the story? Why do you think the book begins and ends in December? What do you think happens to Jonas and Gabriel at the end of the novel? Are there implications for or connections to our faith group in this story?
2. In what ways did Jonas's world seem perfect? What were some of the things missing from Jonas's world? How could our community of faith influence such a world?
3. What is memory? What are the different kinds of memory? Why are memories important? Where do individuals and groups of people keep their memories? In our faith community, how do we pass memories from generation to generation? What can we learn from our memories, both individual and collective?
4. What are the good and bad things about Jonas's family?
5. How do rituals and milestone foster a sense of belonging in Jonas's society? In our own? In our faith community?
6. How important is sameness in Jonas's community? How important is it in our faith group? What value, if any, is there to Sameness?
7. What do you think Jonas's Capacity to See Beyond is? How do we handle believing in something we cannot see?
8. Do you agree with Jonas that people have to be protected from wrong choices?
9. Poet Alfred Lord Tennyson said, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." What do you think he meant? What is our faith group's definition of love? Would Tennyson agree? Would the Giver agree?
10. Examine the ways in which Jonas's community uses euphemism to distance itself from the reality of the "Release." How does our society use euphemism to distance ourselves from such realities such as aging and death, bodily functions, political activities, or national and international events? How do we, inside and outside of our faith communities, use language in ways that hurt and also, in ways that heal?
11. Under the placid calm of Jonas's society lies a very orderly and inexorable system of euthanasia, practiced on the very young who do not conform, the elderly, and those whose errors threaten the stability of the community. What is our faith community's position on such a vision? What is our vision for these situations? What are the disadvantages and benefits of a community that accepts such a vision of euthanasia?
12. At the end of Chapter 15, Lowry writes: "The Giver looked away, as if he could not bear to see what he had done to Jonas. 'Forgive me,' he said." What is the role of forgiveness in this scene? In the book? In our faith? Among those of our faith community?
13. What does Gabriel represent at the end of this book?