Have you ever considered how much power and influence best-selling authors have? They may not be superheroes, but they are able to control what millions of people see, feel, and think about―at least while those people are reading their words.
Lois Lowry’s novel The Giver was published in 1993, and just ten years later, 10 million copies had been sold. Behind every copy was at least one reader who now remembers Lowry’s story and the themes or ideas it suggests.
Celebrated authors like Lowry also influence other writers. Earlier in this module, you should have read Jeff Martin’s short story “Bonehead.” Martin wrote “Bonehead” with some aspects of The Giver in mind. As a result, there are important similarities between the two stories.
If you did not read “Bonehead” for a previous lesson, or if you do not recall many of the story’s details, click the button below to read or review it.
Can you see echoes of The Giver in “Bonehead”? What elements are similar? Think about the answer to each of these questions. Then, click the question to compare your answer to ours.
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Both are unsure of themselves and their abilities. Also, both have the ability to “see beyond” the everyday details of reality. Jonas can see colors, and the narrator of “Bonehead” creates superheroes and imagines them intervening in the day-to-day interactions of his life. |
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Both Gabe and Galen are in need of protection―they are unable to protect themselves from the whims or decisions of authority figures. Gabe may be sacrificed because he is developing differently than other children. Galen is an immediate target for bullies because is different from other students. |
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Both Mr. Stone the Elders are authorities within their communities, and they have absolute power over the other people in their little world. Just as the Elders tell everyone one else in the Community what to do―and can punish them harshly if they don’t obey, Mr. Stone controls his classroom with efficiency and, sometimes, cruelty. |
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Both stories demonstrate the dangers of giving someone too much control over other people’s lives. They also show how any individual can “fight back” and make a difference―in their own lives and in the lives of others. That individual doesn’t have to be a superhero, either. Oppression can be overcome in many different ways. |
