Linda Ulleseit

Perseverance and Hope

by Anisha

In the novel The Giver, by Lois Lowry, Jonas is selected to be the Receiver. The Giver transferred memories that made Jonas feel emotions that he had never felt before. Jonas perseveres and never loses hope.

In the beginning, Jonas waited impatiently for the Twelve Ceremony since all twelve year olds, referred to in the book as Twelves, are assigned their roles in the community there. When the Twelve Ceremony occurs, Jonas is selected to be the Receiver of Memory, a very honored and rare position. He starts his training off with a pleasant memory from the previous Receiver, The Giver. He trains for a year, receiving more painful and sad memories. He and The Giver formulate a plan in which Jonas travels to Elsewhere and the community would have to take the memories. He finally conducts the plan, but instead of going alone, he takes Gabriel. He was a baby who had been living with Jonas’ family unit and was going to be released (killed).

Perseverance is the key to success. In the book, Jonas goes through pain and hardship. Still, he doesn’t give up and trains harder and harder, receiving more and more memories. When I began running the mile, I got thirteen minutes and ten seconds, a horrible time. Since I persisted, I was able to run the mile faster, and in the end, I achieved a time of ten minutes and thirty seconds. When Thomas Edison was trying to invent the light bulb, many of his attempts failed. Eventually, he succeeded in inventing the first light bulb. It’s important that you always persist and persevere, no matter how hard your task may be.

Hope is essential to life. After Jonas received memories of Elsewhere, he was determined to find it though he knew the dangers of going out of the community. If he had lost hope, he would not be able to save Gabriel and would never find the love he now knew of. In my sister’s school’s girls basketball game, they were being crushed by another middle school called Valley Christian. Still, they hoped to win, and in the end, Chaboya beat them by two points. During the Revolutionary War, the British Army was killing many of the soldiers in the U.S. Army. If they had lost hope completely in winning the war after losing so many battles, Britain would still be ruling over the United States. It’s vital to have hope if you want to achieve a goal.

After becoming the new Receiver, The Giver gives memories in which Jonas feels love, pain, and many more emotions. He fights off losing hope and never gives up.