Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary
devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Vision
The motif of vision runs throughout The Giver, from
the first mention of Jonas’s unusual pale eyes to the final image
of the lights twinkling in the village in Elsewhere. For most of
the novel, vision represents all perception, both sensory and emotional.
Jonas’s eyes, which appear to be “deeper” than other people’s, are
actually able to see more deeply into objects than other people’s
eyes: Jonas is one of the few people in the community who can see
color. Jonas’s perception of color symbolizes his perception
of the complicated emotions and sensations that other people cannot
perceive: he sees life differently from the rest of the community.
Jonas shares his abilities with the Giver and Gabe, both of whom
have eyes the same color as his. Although the ending of the novel
is ambiguous, we know that Jonas sees the village in his mind, even
if the village does not really exist.
Nakedness
In Jonas’s community, it is forbidden to look at naked
people, unless they are very young or very old. Moments involving
physical nakedness are closely related to the idea of emotional
nakedness: Jonas feels an emotional connection with the old woman,
Larissa, when she trusts him to wash her body, and his training
involves receiving memories through his bare back. Both situations
involve trust and intimacy; both are curiously related to the idea
of freedom. Jonas thinks of the naked woman as “free,” perhaps because
he associates her physical nudity with a mind bare of the constraints
his society places on human behavior, and the information that the
Giver transmits to him is liberating in much the same way—it helps
him to look beyond the community’s rules and beliefs. Nakedness
is also related to innocence and childishness: the Old can be seen
naked because they are treated like children, and Jonas’s relationship
to the Giver is like a child’s to his father or grandfather.
Release
Though few people know it, the word “release” actually
refers to death—or murder—in Jonas’s society, but throughout The
Giver, the word means different things to different people.
At the beginning of the novel, most of the characters truly believe
that people who are released are physically sent to Elsewhere, the
world beyond the limits of the community. Release is frightening
or sad because no one would want to leave the community, not because
it involves violence or death. Later, when Jonas discovers the real
meaning of release, the word becomes ominous. At the end of the
novel, however, when Jonas escapes despite the fact that he is forbidden
to request release, he changes the meaning of the word once again, restoring
its original meaning—an escape from the physical and psychological
hold of the community.
