a kaleidoscope;

Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 2:45 AM

photo montage

here are several photos that are related to the themes or key events in the novel:

this is a photo of an apple. the apple is red, standing out against its white background, and is also the only object in the photo. In The Giver, the first time Jonas had experienced colour was during a game of catch with Asher, when he noticed that something about the apple had 'changed'. He noticed the changed for an instant only, when it was in mid-air. As it was the first time Jonas had such an encounter with seeing colour, he found it hard to describe it, and hence could not clearly define or explain what he saw as colour. I chose this photo as it is of significance to the novel, as it was Jonas's first encounter with colour and also something that he would later understand as part of his capacity of 'Seeing Beyond', something that only the giver, gabriel and himself would be able to do. This makes him different from others, as he is the only one with this ability, and also indicates the start of a huge change that is going to occur later on in the novel- his assignment as the Receiver of Memory and what it encompasses.

the second picture i chose is as shown above. this picture depicts a boy expressing 9 types of different emotions, such as happiness, anger, shock and sadness. In The Giver, one thing that struck me was the community's inability to feel 'real' emotions. As described in the book, there was a scene of the evening telling of feelings, whereby Lily had said she "felt angry this afternoon", and "held up a clenched fist" to show her anger. However, this was not 'real' anger, but simply something that on perceived as being angry, and not the real anger. It seemed only like a declaration of their feelings, accompanied with an action that would depict their feeling. Jonas had too thought that this was 'feelings', until he received different memories, and understood the real meanings to feelings, and how it was nothing like what the community perceived it to be. Hence, i felt that this picture shows something that all of us are able to feel and have, in contrast to Jonas's community, where everything was so fake, unreal and controlled. It also shows the difference between Jonas and his peers, as well as the whole community, since only the giver and himself were the ones that could truly understand feelings.

This picture shows many different shades and hues of colours, stemming out from the same place and streaming out in different directions. I chose this picture mainly because of the colours that can be seen in it, which are mainly variations of the seven colours of the rainbow. Colours is an important part of the novel, as only Jonas and the receiver are able to see it. This sets them apart from the rest of the community. Also, it represents change and variation, like how Jonas would soon have a different viewpoint of things with his acquired knowledge, or maybe the huge change that he would face- being distanced from his close friends, Asher and Fiona, or perhaps the journey that he would have to take alone, to Elsewhere.

This is a picture of a heart. It reminded me of a scene in the novel whereby Jonas had experienced the feeling of love through The Giver's memories, and had asked his parents "Do you love me?". Instead of what parents would probably answer in today's society, a simple 'Yes', Jonas's parents talked about how he had generalised the word, and made it 'meaningless'. They said that he should have used more precise terms, such as 'enjoy' or 'take pride in [your] acomplishments', something that would have defined the question more clearly. This was not only a shock for Jonas, since he did not expect such a response from his parents, especially one where they said that it was 'meaningless'. I too felt shocked since there seemed to be no such thing as 'love' in this society, and children could not feel loved by their parents, or vice versa. Love is such a general term in society, but is also the very basis of relationships, and a key thing that one should have.
Also, this reminded me of another detail in the novel , something that is specific to Jonas's community- the precision in language. Flip open the novel to any page. 7 out of 10 chances is that you would flip to a page where there the precision of language and it's importance can be seen in the community. What i had mentioned above, about love, is one. Another example would be the time where Jonas was reprimnaded for using the word 'starving'.
Hence, this simple picture of a heart represents a number of things, leading me to choose it.

The above photo is of a red-yellow pill. This represents the pill that Jonas takes to control his Stirrings, as well as the first time he had experienced Stirrings. Stirrings are the feelings of want and desire that one would start to feel when one is about 12 years old, or so. In his community, it is compulsory for one to take the pill everyday after experiencing Stirrings, through his or her entire life, till the day of release. This pill suppresses the feelings of want and desire throughout the community, making it impossible to have natural, human feelings. This also shows how controlled the community is.

Lastly, this photo depicts a man with a little girl on his lap, as they are riding down a hill on a red sled. This is similar to the scene in The Giver, where Jonas is making his escape with Gabe. This is a key event in the novel as it represents freedom, change and hope.
Firstly, freedom. The representation of freedom is that of what Jonas and Gabe would be able to get once they successfully escape from their community, and into Elsewhere, where they would not have to lived in such a controlled structured place, and be free to do whatever they like, whenever they like, not restricted by anything.
Secondly, change. This represents the change that the community would face once Jonas has left the community. The memories that Jonas received from The Giver would then be released to the community, which would experience a number of new things, like colour and emotions. They would then have to adapt to change with this new acquired knowledge.
Lastly, hope. At the end of the novel, it was stated that Jonas had seen twinkling lights of different colours and heard music. This is a representation of hope. The glimmer of hope that was present when he heard and saw such things, the hope he felt when it was almost certain he reached 'Elsewhere'.

I hope that through these images you may have a new insight to how these pictures or photographs can be related to the themes or key events in the novel.

love,
sarah(:

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