Freedom and choice?

" Gabriel's breathing was even and deep. Jonas liked having him there, though he felt guilty about the secret. Each night he gave memories to Gabriel: memories of boat rides and picnics in the sun; memories of soft rainfall against windowpanes; memories of dancing bare-footed on a damp lawn.

"Gabe?"

The new child stirred slightly in his sleep, Jonas looked over at him.

"There could be love" Jonas whispered.

The next morning, for the first time, Jonas did not take his pill. Something within him, something that had grown there through the memories, told him to throw the pill away"

This is a passage from the book, The Giver, and it does indicate the theme of freedom and choice. It indicates both in very different ways. I think these themes are similar in a way, but at the same time different in many ways.

The way this passage indicates freedom is that it shows that Jonas is letting Gabriel imagine how life would be without Sameness. He shows that there is color and that there are feelings like love. At the same time, this passage is indicating that there isn't much freedom. Like this part, "There could be love" Jonas whispered. This part shows a little bit that there isn't so much freedom because Jonas has to whisper. Why does he whisper, though? Is it because Gabriel is asleep? Could it maybe be because Jonas isn't supposed to be talking about love and people could be listening? Or did the author make him whisper it because she wanted to make it sound dramatic? It really made me wonder. This part also shows some freedom because it says, "though he felt guilty about the secret. " This part shows that Jonas is being free and letting himself do this to Gabriel freely. Even though it is a bad thing to do, it still shows that he is being free. So that's how that part shows freedom.

This passage also showed choice, and choice isn't much of a difference than freedom, but they do have their differences. Jonas made the choice to give Gabriel a memory. It might have not been the right choice, but it still relates to making choices! Freedom is more like doing anything you want. Choice is being capable of doing things and choosing what you want to do from the available things to do. Freedom you can do ANYTHING you want! There is a difference between the two. Another part of choice in this passage is when it says, "The next morning, for the first time, Jonas did not take his pill." This is showing that Jonas made the CHOICE of not taking his pill. So this passage and the rest of chapters 16-18 really do relate to the theme of freedom and choice.

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http://www.almuntalaq.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/choice.jpg

Commenting (:

For our homework we had to comment on two peoples' blog post. I did:

Tiffany's-

http://ttang17.blogspot.com/

and

Alexandra's-

http://aflynn17.blogspot.com/

(:

Why does The Giver say that making choices would be frightening for people?

Making choices is a big deal. There can be really hard decisions to make. The people in the town that Jonas lives in aren't used to making choices because all their choices are made for them. That's one reason why the Giver says that making choices would be frightening. Another reason is because the town could be very chaotic if everyone was choosing everything on their own. There would be too many people doing everything that they wanted.

The people in that town aren't used to making choices. It would be frightening for themselves and a lot of other people. They wouldn't know what to do. They live better when everything is ordered and choices are made for them. Sometimes it's not good for people to choose your future for you, but sometimes it is. What if you had the choice of being an actor or actress or a singer and you were equally good at both of them. Wouldn't it be a hard choice to make? You would have to look all the way down the path to see where you'll end up. So I think that's one reason why the Giver said it would be frightening.

I think the another reason why the Giver said that is because everybody would go crazy over their choices. It's kind of like the Ancient Egyptian social pyramid. We talked about this in class. Peasants are peasants because it's what they are good at and what they are supposed to do. If all the people in Ancient Egypt could choose their own job, there would be so many people wanting to be a Pharaoh or a vizier or someone else in the higher classes. Then, they would have no more peasants left to grow crops. That is quite the same as this situation. If everybody made their own choices, there would probably be a lot of the same ones, and that also means there will be none of some of the other assignments. I think you should need someone for each assignment. So I think that's the other reason why the Giver said it would be frightening to make choices.

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Would I want my future to be decided by others? Why or why not?

Would I want my future decided by others? That's a hard question for me to answer. I would say both for two different reasons. For me, the decision of my future would be hard choice to make. I also think that if I decide on my own, I would enjoy more and feel a bit more free. So they are both really important parts about your future.

Yes, the decision is really hard and you wouldn't know what to do. Choosing your own future can be stressful. You would have to make the right choices. Nothing can really be changed. You can't just go back in time and restart. So you have to choose carefully on which path you're going to follow. For me, that is really hard! I really don't like making important decisions. It puts me under a lot of stress and I'm not good under stress. "I wanna do this! Wait! But what if this happens!" These things will keep popping up in your mind while making a decision like this. So that's one reason why I think someone else making a decision for me is better.

I also think making my own decision is important. Making your own decision is like freedom! You can choose what you want to do with your life. It's all your decision. Also the if you choose your own future you are most likely to enjoy it more than if someone else chooses it for you. Enjoyment in life is very important. You don't want to live the rest of your life not enjoying what you do. So that's why it's also important to make your own decisions.

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