References

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What is symbolism? Dictionary.com defines symbolism as “the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character.” 

//The Giver// by Lois Lowery offers multiple symbols within the text. There are three symbols reviewed in depth on this wiki: biblical, colors, and words. Although there are many other symbols within //The Giver//, we chose to focus on these three. Through the use of the multi-genre format, we incorporate poetry, visual images, video segments and essays to examine the various symbols. The following are references to the symbols we review. All quotes are taken from //The Giver// published by Delacorte Press.

Color Red - Chapter 12 - "This time it had been Fiona who had undergone that fleeting indescribable change. As he looked up and toward her going through the door, it happened; she changed." (90) "He ran through it in his mind. It was clearly beginning to happen more often. First, the apple a few weeks before. The next time had been the faces in the audience at the Auditorium, just two days ago. Now, today, Fiona's hair." (91) "This time the sled had - and continued to have, as he blinked, and stared at it again - that same mysterious quality that the apple had had so briefly. And Fiona's hair. The sled did not change. It simply was - whatever the thing was." (93) "There were a lot of colors, and one of them was called red. That's the one you are starting to see." (94)

Color Blue (pale eyes) - Chapter 3 - "And he has funny eyes like yours, Jonas!" (20) "Now, seeing the newchild and its expression, he was reminded that hte light eyes were not only a rarity but gave the one who had them a look - what was it? //Depth//, he decided; as if one were looking into the clear water of the river, down to the bottom, where things might lurk which hadn't been discovered yet." (21) Chapter 8 - " It was a man Jonas had never noticed before, a bearded man with pale eyes. He was watching Jonas intently." (61)

Apple - Chapter 3 - "But suddenly Jonas had noticed, following the path of the apple through the air with his eyes, that the piece of fruit had - well, this was the part that he couldn't adequately understand - the apple had //changed.//" (24) see Red above - Chapter 12.

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//Book of Rules// - Chapter 1 - "He had never seen aircraft so close, for it was against the rules for Pilots to fly over the community." (1) "Do you think it's possible that their rules may be different? And so they simply didn't know what your play area rules were?" (6) "Two children - one male, one female - to each family unit. It was written very clearly in the rules." (8) Chapter 2 -"He was fascinated. It didn't seem a terribly important rule, but the fact that his father had broken a rule at all awed him." (12) "It was one of the few rules that was not taken very seriously and was almost //always// broken. The children all received their bicycles at Nine; they were not allowed to ride bicycles before then. But almost always, the older brothers and sisters had secretly taught the young ones." (13) Chapter 4 - "It was against the rules for children or adults to look at another's nakedness; but the rule did not apply to newchildren or the Old." (30) Chapter 5 - " He remembered that there was a reference to the Stirrings in the Book of Rules, though he didn't remember what it said." (37) Chapter 9 - "In each dwelling tonight they would be studying the instructions for the beginning of their training. Each night for years the children had memorized the lessons for school, often yawning with boredom. Tonight they would all begin eagerly to memorize the rules for the adult Assignments." (65-66)

Precision of Language Chapter 1 - "No. Wrong word, Jonas thought." (1) "Jonas was careful about language. Not like his friend, Asher... 'And I thank you, because once again you have provided an opportunity for a lesson in language.'" (3-4) Chapter 7 - "The instructor of Threes were in charge of the acquisition of correct language." (54) "And precision of language was one of the most important tasks of small children." 55 Chapter 16 - "'Do you love me?' There was an awkward silence for a moment. Then Father gave a chuckle. '//Jonas.// You, of all people. Precision of language, //please!' 'IWhat do you mean?' Jonas asked.// Amusement was not at all what he had anticipated. 'Your father means that you have used a generalized word, so meaningless that it's become almost obsolete,' his mother explained carefully" (127)