While reading The Giver by Lois Lowry, I noticed several repeated themes, but there was just one that stood out to me because of its reoccurring nature, not just in this book, but in several of the other books we’ve read as a class thus far this semester. That theme is the importance of individuality. In The Giver, Jonas learns of the importance of individuality after living his entire life in a community that deprives its members of their sense of identity and their ability to choose for themselves. They cannot choose their partner, their occupation, or their home, among other things. Every decision is made for them; their actions, thoughts, words, and dreams are meticulously policed, either through verbal or physical punishment or through mysterious pills that all members are forced to take around the age of puberty so that their sexuality is policed as well. This reference to the importance of individuality immediately reminded me of both A Wrinkle in Time and of Alanna: The First Adventure. In A Wrinkle in Time, Meg learns of the importance of individuality on the planet Camazotz, where everyone is forced to be alike (much like the community in The Giver). Similarly, Alanna: The First Adventure tackles issues of individuality when Alanna refuses to conform to the occupational expectations that exist in the novel. All three books have a suggested age range of 12 and up or 6-9th grade. I wonder why the importance of individuality is such a popular theme for this age group and why each of the authors decided to include it as a major part of their works.
Individuality in The Giver and others
6 responses to “Individuality in The Giver and others”
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I think that individuality is a popular theme in young adult books because of the target audience. The intended audience for YA books are pre-teens/teens, and it’s during this period of life that the desire of belonging intensifies. To belong into a group pre-teens/teens usually change aspects of themselves to belong. The theme of individuality is used to combat that process of altering oneself to join the crowd. It’s also at this time that young adults try to find their individual identity separate from their parents, so reading about others finding their individual identity maybe beneficial. Another reason is that American culture is very individualistic therefore, it’s not surprising to see that message reflected in YA books.
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Good point! I definitely remember caring a lot about how other people perceived me and feeling pressured into dressing and acting a specific way in order to blend in. As for the idea that the novels are reflecting American culture as a whole, I could definitely see that in The Giver. Between the three, I feel as though The Giver’s dystopian society is attempting to teach young readers to feel thankful for their relative freedom of choice in America, while A Wrinkle in Time attempts to demonstrate the disadvantages of sameness by depicting (essentially) the worst case scenario, and Alanna: The First Adventure tackles sort of a mix between the two.
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I agree with Kedam, and want to add that individualism is overly emphasized in western literature, which tends to conflate individualism with humanity — that’s why when literature conjures up an alien other or a threat that initially appears perfect or appealing, they are often described as embodying some manner of uniformity (e.g. sentient hive-mind insect aliens such as in Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, or the carapacial aliens in District 9; dystopian subjects like in A Brave New World; and so forth) as a means of signaling reader’s apprehension. Individualism is especially prevalent in young adult literature because making one’s own choices, and accepting the consequences, is considered a sign of maturity in western and American cultures. Honestly, I suspect that what makes a YA hero heroic is their ability to stand out (almost to the point of fault) and lead others due to their difference. We very rarely have heroes who are second-in-commands, or who defeat their enemies as a community.
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I believe that individuality plays a large role in YA novels because it is directed towards a young audience. The ever-present fear of rejection or not fitting into the norm causes havoc on middle school aged children. Thus, by teaching that individuality (and being your own person) is okay, nonetheless encouraged, attempts to alleviate the pressure some kids might feel. I wonder if there is any YA novel that challenges this trope? Would there be a reason to do so? If so, what purpose does it serve?
Tangentially, I find it funny that YA novels preach individuality and self-acceptance yet they also follow the love triangle pattern as well. These two concepts seem contradictory to me because the protagonist can be their own person yet is confined to being their own person with somebody else (of whom they must choose). What does this say about independence and the ability to be on one’s own, especially for female protagonists?LikeLike
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I agree with elgriott in that individualism is specific to Western YA lit, not just YA lit in general. Since this class focuses on American YA lit, I’m guessing that practically all of our books will endorse individualism to some extent! Because the Western world is comprised of individualistic cultures, and because America is the most individualistic of them all, our YA lit indoctrinates kids into our culture of emphasizing the individual. I would be interested to see how YA books function in a collectivist culture – certainly, they would emphasize the importance of the group, and I think this might alter the hero’s/heroine’s journey to include more characters. Additionally, I’d be curious with what the general opinion of The Giver is in more collectivist cultures. The society that Jonas lives in at the beginning of the book is highly collectivist, and values the well-being of the group over the individual. The Giver paints this society (and one could argue, collectivism generally) in a negative light – it’s seen as restrictive and strips people of what Americans think of as human rights. However, most collective societies don’t engage in many of the practices that are outlined in the giver, so I wonder if this book would be considered highly controversial in collectivist cultures, or if they too would recognize the dangers of the extreme society that Lowry creates!
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As a young adult or child, a daily conflict in your life is figuring out who the hell you are and are going to be. You still don’t fully understand the world and society you live in, and everyone else is telling you how they think you should understand it. Thus individuality can be quite appealing as it allows younger readers to understand that they can make their own opinions and choices and beliefs about the world by themselves, you can listen or not to however many people you want to and draw any conclusions you want from that.
Individuality shows that your perspective can be unique, and that everyone’s is, and that nobody’s matters more than any one else’s, at least for you. With this you can make your own path through the world and not feel controlled by the will or beliefs of others, and for whatever natural or conditioned reason, we don’t like to be controlled.
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Reading Young Adult Literature 
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