Fun little book. The concept used here, of demonstrating what the world would be like if we could realistically approach some kind of utopic static existence, has certainly been utilized before, such as in the Dune sci-fi series in [book: God Emperor of Dune]. It also kind of reminded me of the movie The Village. It's the old commons vs individualism debate, or protectionism vs freedom.

I think what is interesting about the parable-like simplicity of this book is that the more you think about it, the darker its implications become. On the surface, it is fairly straightforward: we must allow for the freedom of individual choice in order to enjoy true depth of feelings. But remember the pain and burden of The Giver's memories? These are overwhelmingly terrible memories of warfare and suffering. What Lowry seems to suggest is that these terrible aspects of human society are a fundamental flip side of the coin of deep enjoyment of the most beautiful feelings of love, community, and beauty. That we could not have one without the other, unless we were to endure a shallow, homogeneous existence.

Whether or not this was the author's intent (for all we know, she may have been writing an anti-communist manifesto), it speaks to its artful crafting that it can lead us to deeper insight and understanding through such a simple and deceptively child-like structure.