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來自朋友的 email 分享/ 化解壓力 20招 

 

 

◆ 早起15分鐘→ 讓自己有更充裕的時間面對早晨的壓力。
◆改善外表 → 使自己看起來更美，心情也會更開朗。

 

 

◆ 把家裡或工作的環境整理一番→ 如此才能免去找不到東西的困擾。
◆ 家電、器具損壞馬上修理或換新→ 不要任由一些生活不便之處破壞您的情緒。

 


◆ 和樂天派的人做朋友→ 杞人憂天型的人物，讓您養成擔憂的習慣。
◆ 凡事事先計劃→ 別等到用完最後一滴油才趕著去加油。

 


◆ 做事一件一件來→ 尚未完成眼前的工作時，別去想下一個任務。
◆ 討厭的工作儘早做完→ 免得令你心煩。

 


◆ 要懂得變通→ 有些事情不值得力求完美；有些事情必須妥協、折衷。
◆ 把問題說出來和朋友討論→ 別悶在心裡。

 

 

◆ 每天做一、兩件你最喜歡的事情→ 娛悅心情 。
◆ 每天留給自己片刻寧靜 → 一方面休息，一方面整理思緒。

 

 

◆ 不能依賴「記憶」→ 重要的約會、工作應該用筆記下來，才不會耽誤。
◆ 當你感到愈來愈緊張時→ 試著放鬆肌肉，做幾個深呼吸。

 


◆ 懂得拒絕→ 學會對你沒時間或沒興趣參與的工作或活動說「不」。
◆ 碰到必須大排長龍的情形，不要感到不耐煩。

 

 

→ 因為這就是人生，何不一笑置之，安之泰如。

如果預期必須等候一段時間，應該帶本雜誌去打發時間。

 

 

◆ 避開吵雜→ 感到四周聲音過於嘈雜時，可戴上耳塞。
◆ 洗個熱水澡鬆弛情緒→ 夏季可改採冷水浴。

 

 

◆ 就寢前，先將第二天的生活做一計劃→ 包括進餐、衣著。
◆ 睡眠要充足→ 缺乏睡眠會使人變得焦慮、易怒。

 



 

人本關懷‧成長共享

擁有健康才能擁有一切

愛人就先讓自己健康喔

 

每封信都代表一份緣的傳遞.......
看信是一種幸福、它代表你有空閒....
沒空看信也是一種幸福
它代表你有比看信更重要的事忙著...

 


學習把每一件事都做到完善，
學習對每一個機會都充滿感激，
相信，我們就是自己最重要的貴人。

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港股直通車爭議折射加快匯改必要

2007年09月04日13:40大 | 中 | 小

《華爾街日報》中文網絡版專稿

張巍柏

有關匯率的著名“蒙代爾三角”告訴我們﹐一個國家在獨立的貨幣政策、固定匯率和資本自由流動三者之間﹐只能任選其二﹐三者不能共存。這意味著選擇獨立的貨幣政策和資本自由流動之後﹐就必須放棄固定匯率。換言之﹐要獲得獨立的貨幣政策和資本自由流動﹐必須以市場化的利率形成機製作為基本保障。

這一理論問題在現實世界中的表現﹐就是中國資本管制放開與匯率市場化改革之間的先後與平衡問題。就目前而言﹐人民幣兌美元匯率僅允許有千分之五的波幅﹐是典型的有管理浮動匯率制度﹐在某種程度﹐這種很小的波幅限制﹐也意味著可以把中國看成是一個仍以固定匯率為主的國家。在這種匯率機制前提下﹐中國需要資本管制（資本非自由流動）來獲取更大程度的貨幣政策獨立性。近期關於“港股直通車”政策的爭議﹐其實質就是圍繞改革先後次序問題的爭論。

廣告
國家外匯管理局在8月20日公佈了《開展境內個人直接投資境外證券市場試點方案》﹐境內個人通過天津濱海新區的中國銀行分支機構﹐可以無限制換匯投資香港證券交易所公開上市交易的證券品種。這一政策被戲稱為“港股直通車”並迅速被各界解讀為中國資本項目開放的重要步驟。

雖然這項政策在換匯上沒有限制﹐但其投資渠道卻受到了大大的限制。通過這一渠道投資香港股市﹐不允許自由選擇證券經紀人﹐只能選擇中銀國際﹔大量的香港金融市場衍生品被排除在投資選擇之外﹔而香港市場上流行的槓桿交易﹐如融資融券、買空賣空﹐也通通被禁止。因此﹐分析師更多將此項政策看成是一個更大意義上的QDII﹐在資本管制開放上﹐更多的是一項信號意義。但就是這樣一個信號﹐引起的市場反應已經不容我們忽視。儘管內地資金尚未釋放一槍一彈﹐香港恒生國企指數一週之內就已上漲近40%。這使得國內對於此項資本管制開放措施的爭議也越發激烈起來。

據悉﹐近日國務院統籌各相關部委召開會議﹐認為對包括QDII在內的對外投資應注意風險﹐要統籌考慮資本境外投資事宜。目前﹐已有相關部委開始研究對外投資風險控制及規劃問題。預計個人直接投資境外市場的具體實施﹐也將在規劃出台之後進行研究。據來自《財經》雜志的報道﹐獨立經濟學家謝國忠認為﹐目前A、H股價差恰與當年A、B股情形相似﹐亦有可能成為內地投資的“陷阱”﹐即內地資金蜂擁進入香港市場﹐國際投資者高位離場﹐將後來者套牢。2001年﹐國內向個人投資者開放B股市場﹐曾導致該市場在短短3個月內飆漲200%﹐但個人投資者一入場﹐B股則大挫50%。

前央行貨幣政策委員會委員余永定也指出﹐當前全球金融形勢異常複雜﹐西方各國中央銀行對未來金融形勢的發展都處於前所未有的心中無底的狀況。中國至少應當等待當前這場國際金融風暴塵埃落定之後再作決定﹐現在應該加速的是匯率形成機制的改革﹐而不是放鬆資本管制。

事實上﹐不僅學界、市場人士對“港股直通車”有異議﹐包括銀監部門在內的一些監管機構的人士也同樣認為﹐尚存較多的細節性問題欠缺考慮。

分析師認為﹐這一切問題的關鍵都在於匯率風險。國內個人投資者目前基本無法通過有效渠道規避匯率風險﹐這使得目前階段的資本管制放開﹐在某種程度上顯得更像是鼓勵投機而不是為了平衡國際收支狀況。解決這一問題的關鍵﹐仍舊是加速匯率形成機制的改革﹐首當其衝的就是繼續增加人民幣匯率的彈性。

關於“港股直通車”的爭議﹐其背後實際上是匯率形成機制改革和資本管制開放之間順序問題的爭議。這些爭議有可能促使中國政府加速匯率形成機制的改革﹐如繼續擴大人民幣匯率波幅﹐並加速人民幣匯率期貨、利率掉期、利率期貨等市場的建設。


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2007年08月31日14:43英 | 大 | 中 | 小

中國最引以為豪的建築奇跡──三峽大壩項目正面臨著山體滑坡和水污染等始料未及的問題﹐從而使這個代表著中國改造大自然成果的項目遭到新的質疑。

三峽大壩主體工程一年前才竣工﹐大壩上游640公里的長江水域成為一個大水庫。而如今有地質學家稱﹐三峽大壩攔截水量的龐大重力已開始在好幾個地點侵蝕長江陡峭的河岸。再加上水位波動頻繁﹐因而引發了一系列的滑坡災害﹐也使得像廟河這些大壩附近的地區的地質結構被破壞。廟河是一個距離三峽大壩上游16公里的村庄。當地官員擔心﹐一旦整個山坡塌入水中﹐附近的居民將因此喪命﹐同時還會威脅到至關重要的長江水道運輸。

危險因素還不止這些。中國的科學家稱﹐大壩阻擋了淤泥流向下游﹐使包括上海地區在內的長江入海口收縮﹐海洋的咸水正在倒灌入內陸。世界自然基金會(World Wildlife Federation)今春公佈的一份報告稱﹐通過大壩的水流速度目前正在加快﹐對下游的防洪大堤造成破壞。未經處理的污水和化肥殘留物被不斷排入大壩水庫﹐導致巨型水藻生長氾濫﹐並威脅到下游的水供應。而水庫水位的波動也被認為是湖南省農民所遭遇奇特鼠災的根源。


點擊下圖查看更多圖片

border=0從三峽大壩暴露出來的問題可以看出﹐一方面﹐中國這個正迅速向工業化邁進的國家急於擺脫自然界的束縛﹐而另一方面﹐它為此努力的結果卻是適得其反。三峽項目的啟用正逢國外生態學界對興建大壩的做法重新進行審視之時﹐經濟學界也有相同的看法﹐他們認為此類耗資巨大的項目只有靠國家補貼才能生存下來。

由於中國面臨日益嚴重的缺水問題﹐長江環境變化帶來的問題正使得局勢變得更緊迫。在全國各地﹐上百萬噸未經處理的污水、工業廢水和農藥殘留物將湖泊變成了藻類氾濫的污水池。據官方統計﹐中國半數以上的主要水道都受到污染﹐水中的魚類正逐漸消亡﹐水也無法用於灌溉或是飲用。中國政府表示﹐現有超過3億人（接近中國四分之一人口）缺乏干淨的飲用水。

更糟糕的是﹐據新華社報導﹐中國8.5萬座水庫中超過三分之一存在“嚴重”的結構問題。今年春天﹐中國水利部一位副部長將水庫比喻成會威脅到下游地區人民生命和財產的“定時炸彈”。1975年﹐中國河南某個水壩垮塌事故釀成萬人以上喪生的慘劇﹐而這件事直到最近才被公諸於眾。

廣告
中國水問題的中心話題正是三峽項目﹐它是中國最大也是最壯觀的水庫。中國的新聞媒體已開始對三峽大壩存在的問題進行報導。雖然政府方面一直未對大壩和水庫的問題公開表態﹐卻已悄悄地制定了一套塌方事故早期預警機制﹐並支持對划定高危地區的研究。政府還投入資金用於建設水處理廠、和加固約2,250公里的河堤。

中國負責保護長江環境和水資源的政府部門──長江流域水資源保護局(Yangtze River Water Resources Protection Commission)原局長、環境學家翁立達稱﹐我們考慮了所有可能發生的狀況﹐但所有的問題都比預想的嚴重。翁立達現擔任長江論壇(Yangtze River Forum)秘書長﹐該組織是為政府與非政府組織共同研究長江流域環境問題而設立的。

負責管理三峽大壩項目的長江水利委員會(Changjiang Water Resources Committee)拒絕接受採訪。

在廟河這個世代種植柑橘和梯田水稻的村庄﹐人們可以察覺到一些變化。在三峽大壩修建過程中﹐廟河的一百多名村民險些就和130萬三峽移民大軍一樣﹐離開家園﹐搬遷到別處居住。

今年春天﹐村民們發現一條長200米寬1厘米的裂縫橫貫稻田。而不久之後﹐大壩開始放水為夏季汛期作準備。

到了5月初﹐雨季來臨使水庫水位再次上升﹐距離廟河村不遠處的地點在5天內發生了4次坍塌。村民反映說﹐他們可以聽到房屋內木質結構由於地面移動而開裂的聲音。政府也要求他們疏散。

在1小時路程外的秭歸縣新縣城﹐政府官員們面臨著新一輪的重新安置問題。為了水庫建設需要﹐曾經有大約10萬人被安置到新的地方居住﹐如今當地官員擔心的是﹐還會有更多的人需要重新安置。秭歸縣三峽移民安置辦公室的崔少峰（音）表示﹐情況的變化速度要快過我們的計劃。

長江全長約6,400公里﹐是全球第三長的河流﹐它發源於青藏高原的冰川﹐穿過華中地區的崇山峻嶺後奔流直下華東大平原並最終匯入大海。千百年來﹐長江河道三峽段重重峽谷的激流和暗礁一直是船家的惡夢。長江流域的洪水更是時常肆虐。有數據顯示﹐僅上個世紀長江洪水就吞噬了約30萬人的生命。

建設長江大壩是中國領導人長期以來的夢想﹐一方面是想利用其水利資源﹐但更主要的是為了防止洪災。現代中國的奠基人孫中山早在1919年就曾設想過建造長江大壩。而堅信人定勝天的毛澤東更以“截斷巫山雲雨﹐高峽出平湖”的詩句來表達他的願望。

從上世紀五十年代末期開始﹐中國曾經數次批准三峽大壩的建造﹐但因為存在技術難題﹐又數次被擱置。到了上世紀八十年代末﹐該計劃仍然面臨諸多質疑。持反對意見的人認為﹐建造大壩和水庫不但會迫使大量農民向城市遷徙﹐還會毀滅當地一批中國最寶貴的歷史遺跡和廟宇。

1989年4月﹐中國政府對批評意見作出回應﹐宣佈將把三峽大壩計劃再推遲至少5年。可幾個月後發生的天安門事件讓反對聲音沉寂了下去﹐於是在1992年科學家和工程師們完成了最終的環境可行性評估報告﹐同年晚些時候﹐該計劃經全國人大審議並通過。但在那一次投票過程中﹐近三分之一的人大代表投了反對或棄權票。這對習慣於“俯首”的他們而言﹐實屬罕見。

即使到了三峽項目1994年正式動工時﹐爭議仍然存在。美國政府和世界銀行(World Bank)迫於人權組織的壓力也撤回了對該項目的支持。2000年﹐包括參加了三峽項目可行性研究的部分工程師在內的中國工程學界頂尖學者發表了一封公開信﹐抗議為追求利潤最大化而以較原計劃更快的速度為大壩蓄水。

問題最早於2003年6月出現﹐在三峽大壩下閘蓄水兩週以後﹐當大壩水位突破90米後向135米逼近時﹐峽谷的邊坡在水壓的作用下開始被侵蝕。

7月14日﹐一條長江支流發生特大滑坡災害﹐滑坡山體長、寬均在1公里左右﹐而厚度達18米。13名農民被吞沒在泥石流中。滑坡體進入長江支流後激起兩層樓高的大浪﹐摧毀了20餘艘船舶﹐並導致11名漁民喪生。雖然官方稱此次災害乃暴雨所致﹐但地質學家稱﹐是江水水位突然變化導致了河岸岩石鬆動。

180米高的三峽大壩於2006年5月竣工﹐耗費至少220億美元。一旦該水庫於今年晚些時候全面投入運轉﹐所容納的水量將達19萬億公升﹐相當於美國全年淡水消耗量的五分之一。三峽水電站每年將發電18,000兆瓦﹐是胡彿大壩(Hoover Dam)的20倍。

翁立達認為﹐為了防止洪災﹐建設三峽大壩是必要的。而現在他最頭疼的問題是水庫水質的惡化。一份翁立達聯合署名的世界自然基金會報告稱﹐工業廢水和化肥殘留物造成三峽水體中的氮和磷含量較10年前上升了10倍。

生活污水也被排入三峽水庫。據世界自然基金會的報告稱﹐長江流域的污水排放量激增﹐2000至2005年間增長了一倍以上。而在這一地區生活著1.6億人﹐其中包括位於三峽大壩上游640公里處全球最大都市──重慶的3,000萬人。在1995至2005年間﹐長江流域的經濟年均增長率為12.6%﹐超過全國平均水平﹐該地區正迅速從農業經濟向重工業經濟轉型。

科學家和政府官員聲稱﹐該地區有許多污水處理廠﹐污水在排入水庫前會先經過處理﹐但實際上一些污水處理廠並未與城市排污系統相連。三峽工程建設委員會(Three Gorges Project Construction Committee)水庫管理部副主任周偉（音）承認﹐排入三峽水庫的污水正在增加。他表示﹐政府已投入更多資金確保處理廠能24小時運轉。

從一開始﹐泥沙淤積就是工程師們所擔心的問題。長江每年要攜帶5億立方米的泥沙進入三峽﹐但其中大部分都無法排出去﹐水庫因此將出現淤塞﹐三峽大壩進而有可能垮塌。工程師在大壩底部設計了23道閘門用於在汛期沖走泥沙。據他們估計﹐該系統可保證三峽水庫在今後一個世紀維持90%甚至更高的庫容。不過有意見認為﹐泥沙淤積的速度在加快﹐並最終會導致大壩無法承受洪峰。

而在長江中、下游地區﹐泥沙淤積狀況的變化則會產生另外的問題。隨著水中沉澱物的減少﹐陽光可以照到更深的水中﹐進而促進那些既能吸收污水和化肥殘留物養分又具備光合作用功能的水藻旺盛生長。

而周偉認為﹐大壩並非導致水藻孳生的原因。水藻問題沒有工程建設委員會預想的那麼嚴重﹐只在長江的支流出現小規模的爆發。但他並沒有對下游流域水藻增多作出解釋。

三峽大壩是否能履行其調節洪水這項主要的功能也受到質疑。今年7月長江上游地區連續數週大雨﹐形成了自1998年來最大的一次洪水﹐98年那場大洪水導致長江中、下游地區數千人喪生﹐當時三峽大壩尚未建成。8月1日政府宣佈洪峰安全通過三峽大壩﹐並將長江中、下游地區的安瀾歸功於大壩的防洪功能。

然而批評人士稱﹐儘管大壩能起到調節洪水的作用﹐但卻有可能因一個意想不到的原因釀成下游地區洪水氾濫。當江水衝過狹窄的壩口後﹐就進入了華中大平原地區。在沒有三峽大壩的時代﹐長江流入該地區後水流流速通常會放慢﹐長年的泥沙淤積使這段長江成為“地上河”﹐要靠堤岸來約束﹐就像美國的新奧爾良。而世界自然基金會稱﹐由於大壩阻攔了大部分淤泥﹐使江水攜帶的泥沙量減少﹐導致江水流入華中大平原時流速加快、衝力加大﹐進而對這裡地上河的堤岸造成威脅。

與此同時﹐滑坡也是地質學家們關注的問題。長江三峽是在距今3億至7000萬年前通過江水不斷侵蝕岩石而形成的﹐雖然三峽大壩是建於石灰岩結構之上﹐但在這層石灰岩之下﹐卻是砂岩、頁岩和泥岩﹐這些都是質地較軟並容易發生塌陷的結構。隨著大壩管理部門按照洪水預報不斷調整水位﹐江水滲入大壩地下岩層以及巨大的水壓變化會削弱庫區堤岸的強度﹐進而出現垮塌的危險。

倫敦帝國學院(Imperial College London)一個科學小組今年早些時候在《工程地質和水文地質學季刊》(Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology)發表文章稱﹐邊坡失穩是三峽地區最普遍自然災害的成因所在。他們還警告說﹐情況可能會變得更糟。

該文的作者之一──倫敦帝國學院地質學家伊歐尼斯•弗尼阿迪斯(Ioannis Fourniadis)在觀察過秭歸、巫山和巴東縣（這三個縣的總人口超過百萬）的衛星照片後發現﹐3%的邊坡處於活躍的下滑狀態﹐7%的邊坡因為修路等活動而不穩定﹐另有15%基本穩定。其餘邊坡由堅固的石灰岩構成﹐發生滑坡的危險很低。

京都大學(Kyoto University)災難預防研究所(Disaster Prevention Research Institute)數十年來研究峽谷地質的科學家汪發武表示﹐滑坡還可能引發水嘯。狹窄的峽谷會起到放大岩石塌落所激起水浪的作用﹐引發下游巨浪。類似的災難曾於1963年在意大利北部的維昂特水壩(Vaiont Dam)發生過﹐導致兩千人喪生。

中國國土資源部(Ministry of Land Resources)某發言人將今年泥石流災害高發的原因歸咎於入春以後的大雨。他表示﹐早期預警機制已經探測到了一些重大泥石流災害﹐政府正在教給當地人如何識別將發生滑坡、泥石流的徵兆。

在離廟河村1公里的地方﹐通往這個村庄唯一的碎石路會經過一個泥濘的隧道。村民們已經暫時安置在這裡﹐睡在塑料帳篷中。地方政府正在附近清理場地供村民們建造新房。新的村址距離同一條河有1小時步行路程。

政府為村民建新房提供了一些資金。但村民們覺得這還不夠。他們可以在這裡種植水稻、柑橘和茶葉﹐但他們抱怨這塊土地不夠好。為解決村民們未來窘迫的生活問題﹐當地政府將為廟河村的女性出嫁提供嫁妝﹐鼓勵他們嫁到外地。

正在建造新屋的52歲村民韓慶喜（音）停下手中的活計說﹐“這一切都是在蓄水後不久才開始發生的。他們說這裡會更安全。”而在不遠處﹐巨大的推土機正在山腰上平整土地。

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最近非常喜歡白色!


所以找到白色的硨磲，買了手鍊& 項鍊以及一個七星陣 (給老公放在書桌上 安定心用的- 好好唸書，求取功名)。


其實對硨磲的了解並不多，但在百貨公司看到後，喜歡上，於是就買下了。我覺得心理作用的成份大的多，說什麼安定心的力量 保平安 對事業有幫助… 但最主要還是因為它是天然的有機物- 大型貝類。


但不知等級為何? 不過我買到晶瑩鍚透且帶有車輪紋的硨磲，我覺得很有質感，感覺它有能量。那種能量就是摸著它，它有微微的磁力無限擴散著，在好奇之下牽引 就買了。後來，想想大自然中 很多東西都是帶有磁性的東西，有些是靠電帶動的，有些是與生俱來的(也許在很久很久以前，地球被其他星球感染)( 但地球許多生物本能都是靠磁力回溯出生地，這也是一個科學家正在解的謎，) 只是我還是不能分別 何謂好的 何謂不好的。


擔心現在無所不在的電磁波，對生物都是一種無形的殺手，讓細胞有機會突變，不知道為什麼會這樣，究竟有什麼東西 是可以對抗 這看不見的殺手 。 高密度的手機基地台，發電場都圍繞在我們生活週圍… 唉，我的knowledge 不夠去分析這件事。總之，人的命運 被許多無形掌控，所以當自已覺得越無能無力時，就會對無形的一種大力量產生 敬畏。這就是為什麼人 要膜拜神的原因吧!! ( 我自已也不例外)


 


 


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蔣友柏很誠實地 說蔣家曾經迫害台灣人，我覺得他真的很有勇氣。事實就是事實，我相信他一定對蔣家過去所做的事非常明瞭。這學期上speech，內容大部份都以政治家的立塲來演說，我想我的老師對政治非常有興趣，所以希望同學也能夠在speech課程上兼學些理想政治家們如何對他們的人民教化及鼓吹他們的理念。


老師說得好，若是不願去面對政治，我們就會被政治操弄，民主政治是需要學習的，在台灣的政治上，最好大家都能 理性參與，但就只怕有些沒有以台灣共同利益及帶下一代走向國際視野 (若老是侷限於狹隘的區域性來思考)，或對政客的道德把關沒有做好(一昧相信那些只會耍嘴皮子的政客)，若讓許多水平不足的政客來操弄著我們國家，台灣的民政治水平堪憂呀。道德教育真的很重要，在科技無限的發展下，若沒有道德來規範大家的良心，黑暗的勢力很快地會罩上我們國家，21世紀的政治，希望是和平，理性，沒有流血的。 更希望面對許多造成恐怖的黑暗勢力 會有更多人願意參與反抗) 事實上，蔣友柏並沒有明說 蔣家究竟對台灣做了什麼? 許多年輕人也乏於去瞭解過去的真相，也不知道教育英材的老師們，他們的政治立塲是否只一昧地去中傷去批判，而不是teach我們去反省如何走出一條對台灣最好的道路(記取過去教訓，不再犯歷史錯誤，不再搞分裂)，否則對台灣的民主素養養成是一大折扣。總而言之，教育應該養成大家獨立思考的能力往更好明天來走且配合良知，相信台灣會慢慢追上真正民主的道路。


所有的政治理念，應該都是帶向自已國家進入繁榮，自由，安全，最後才是佔有國際上地位。


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去各國的照片，I should scan 幾張到blog備存。- 不知yahoo blog 可存放多久??? 會不會有天就消失不見了?


以前travel experience，比較著重於感官(尤其對東南亞，及島國)。(就是比較superficial)，diving in blue sea，good food, enjoy the exotic world. 比較不重視歷史，文明古蹟。志在必行是去感受當下被放空的feeling，什麼也不願去想，例如 在Hawaii snorkning 時，讓大型熱帶魚在志在必行的身上磨來磨去; 去做日光浴; 去享受美食; 去山上看夜景，啊!  真是好~  當下的記憶是永恆的。


Bali, China, Canada, America ( West & East but not for middle), England(London), Thiland, Japan ( Tokyo & Okinawa), Singapore


Next travel country: Spain


大學中所學的西洋文學只是打開看著世界文學的冰山一角罷了; 志在必行現在真想好好地遊走歐州各國，志在必行想著自已應該懂得如何規畫深度的文化 travel了 了。


 


 


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The Giver 這本書，志在必行早在10年前就看過了，但當時心不定沒辨法一口氣讀完;但看到本班同學claire 拿著這本書，才勾起志在必行的記憶。志在必行記得看這本書時是躲在百貨公司的按摩椅後面看的。那時在美國打工- 做銷貨員，沒事時，就躲著椅後翻翻書看。前面的故事志在必行是看的很仔細，但在後面的情節是挑著跳著看。志在必行第一次看原文的奇幻文學就是這本由一位美國小學老師送的(他是一位教語言的博士, 當時他追求志在必行，要志在必行好好唸書。但是志在必行並不喜歡他的外在，所以拒絕了他) <此時，意識流在我書寫這段時打斷我的上個思緒了> 沉浸於奇幻世界裡是很不切實際但精神面/創造面卻得到了滿足。也許因為志在必行太愛幻想了 !! 現實對志在必行而言，有時還不太能適應，志在必行的心智狀態常常是處在超現實上。看後心得: The Giver / 怎麼能夠主宰/決定一個社區所有人的未來呢?? 還好上帝給我們的是自由意識，讓我們自已選擇，我們的生命因自由選擇一切得著意義。若只為社區安逸著想而控管所有生命体的自由意識，那有什麼意思呢?? 這本是青少年所看的，可以幫助青少年思考人可以自由選擇- 真棒 !!
 

1994年美國作家路薏絲．蘿莉(Lois Lowry) 曾出版《記憶受領員》(The Giver)一書，這本以一位12歲男童為主角、敘述一個充滿人性矛盾與掙扎的烏托邦社會的幻想小說，在94年曾獲得全美兒童文學重要大獎－紐伯瑞金牌獎 (The Newberry Medal)。然而，近日媒體報導，這兩年隨著這本書進入中小學圖書館、或成為基礎教育教材，卻在美國社會引起了廣泛的爭議與迴響。　

在《記憶受領員》一書中，作者蘿莉透過豐富的想像力，創出一個令人寒心、人人都被緊緊控制的「未來烏托邦社會」。在這個看似祥和的社會中，人人壯有所用、老有所終，自然而然地進入「命定」的工作崗位，一切的爭議、痛苦，以及選擇，都不存在。每個人在童年時期都享有個人的特權和未來應盡的責任，而家庭成員也在精選後具有高度的一致性。　

書中敘述早慧的男童喬納斯(Jonas)，在他即將進入「12歲成年禮」的前夕，卻發現了自己成人後將「被分派的任務」(assignment)－成為「記憶受領員」(Receiver)，並展開一場掙扎與逃亡的過程。

喬納斯的父親，是一位撫育員，負責照顧新生兒，他的母親在司法部工作，然而，喬納斯被公認的天份並沒有為他帶來一般的工作。他「命定」要成為「記憶受領員」，將取代一位長者的獨特任務：把持整個社會成員的「記憶」──所有痛苦的、煩惱的，或者可能導致社會失序的記憶。這位將成為「記憶施與員」(The Giver)的長者，則已經開始將這些記憶移轉給喬納斯。

這個過程深深地困擾著喬納斯。這是他生平第一次接觸到一些普通的事物，像是顏色、太陽、雪和山川，以及愛、戰爭和死亡──在喬納斯看來，這個被視為「解放」的儀式，卻透露出這個烏托邦社會不為人知的謀殺本質。

驚懼之餘，喬納斯開始秘密策劃一場「逃離烏托邦」的計畫，他相信自己可以將記憶還給所有的人，但是他的計畫卻在他決定釋放記憶給一個新生嬰兒時給打亂了，原因是他愛上了這個新生的小生命。

由於不忍和幾經掙扎，在沒有裝備的情況下，喬納斯遂帶著這個小嬰兒展開了一場鋌而走險的亡命之旅… 　

根據美聯社報導，《記憶受領員》在美國出版幾年後，已逐漸進入各中小學校園圖書館，和成為小學課堂上的教材，但是書中觸及的「自殺」問題，卻成為各方爭議的焦點。包括南卡羅來納、弗羅里達、德州、俄亥俄州和科羅拉多州，都有正反雙方不同立場的意見，為這本書是否挑戰學校教育、以及是否適合兒童閱讀而相持不下。　

反對者批評，這本書最大的錯誤在於沒有清楚解釋「自殺」並非解決人生問題的方法。住在丹佛市的漢森就爭論小學老師在他11歲女兒的課堂上大聲朗讀這本書是危險的，因為書中對自殺、安樂死和殺嬰等問題，以一種中性偏正面的角度來描寫。 　

贊成者則認為，這個12歲男孩的故事可以刺激學生思考一些重要的社會難題和讓學生表達自己的意見。他們表示，這個在看到人們為了生活在一個沒有戰爭和痛苦的世界而付出的代價後，最後做出逃離決定的故事，可以激發學生思考一些問題。 　

「如果我們只是要等待每個孩子都準備好了（才談這些問題），我們將活在一個和喬納斯相同的世界，」南卡羅來納州政府機構－校園人文藝術圖書館主任史卡爾說。 　

此外，有一些團體如美國國家家長及教師協會(National Parent-Teacher Association)及國家中小學校長協會(National Association of Elementary School Principals)，面對這些爭議則表示將不採取任何立場。本書於1995年由智茂文化推出中譯本。

如果你是喬納斯，可以生活在一個沒有爭議、只有和諧，沒有苦痛、只有喜樂，人人沒有煩惱、一切井然有序的烏托邦社會，而享受所有特權的代價，只是在「12歲的成年禮後」，你必須了解真相，接手壟斷社會中不愉快記憶、避免社會解組的責任，你願意嗎？而生活在和善社會中的孩子們，又是否可以討論這樣的問題呢？(2001/7/6,博客來)
 
Context
Lois lowry was born in 1937 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Because her father was in the army, Lowry moved around as a child. She lived in several different countries, including Japan. She attended Brown University, where she was a writing major, but left college before graduation to get married. Lowry’s marriage did not last, but she had four children who became a major inspiration for her work. She finished her college degree at the University of Maine and worked as a housekeeper to earn a living. She continued to write, however, filled with ideas by the adventures of her children. In addition to working on young adult novels, Lowry also wrote textbooks and worked as a photographer specializing in children’s portraits.
For her first novel, A Summer to Die, Lowry received the International Reading Association Children’s Book Award in 1978. The novel tells the story of a thirteen-year-old girl’s complex feelings toward her older sister, who is dying. Lowry has said that she does not like to include directly autobiographical information in her books, but it is possible that some of Lowry’s experience seeped into A Summer to Die, as Lowry’s own sister died of cancer.
Since then, Lowry has written more than twenty books for young adults, including the popular Anastasia series and Number the Stars, which won the Newbery Medal and the National Jewish Book Award in 1990. She was inspired to write The Giver—which won the 1994 Newbery medal—after visiting her elderly father in a nursing home. He had lost most of his long-term memory, and it occurred to Lowry that without memory there is no longer any pain. She imagined a society where the past was deliberately forgotten, which would allow the inhabitants to live in a kind of peaceful ignorance. The flaws inherent in such a society, she realized, would show the value of individual and community memory: although a loss of memory might mean a loss of pain, it also means a loss of lasting human relationships and connections with the past.
The society Lowry depicts in The Giver is a utopian society—a perfect world as envisioned by its creators. It has eliminated fear, pain, hunger, illness, conflict, and hatred—all things that most of us would like to eliminate in our own society. But in order to maintain the peace and order of their society, the citizens of the community in The Giver have to submit to strict rules governing their behavior, their relationships, and even their language. Individual freedom and human passions add a chaotic element to society, and in The Giver even the memory of freedom and passion, along with the pain and conflict that human choice and emotion often cause, must be suppressed. In effect, the inhabitants of the society, though they are happy and peaceful, also lack the basic freedoms and pleasures that our own society values.
In this way, The Giver is part of the tradition of dystopian novels written in English, including George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. In these novels, societies that might seem to be perfect because all the inhabitants are well fed or healthy or seemingly happy are revealed to be profoundly flawed because they limit the intellectual or emotional freedom of the individual. 1984 and Brave New World both feature characters who awaken to the richness of experience possible outside the confines of the society, but they are either destroyed by the society or reassimilated before they can make any significant changes. The books function as warnings to the reader: do not let this happen to your society.

The message of The Giver is slightly more optimistic: by the end of the novel, we believe that Jonas has taken a major step toward awakening his community to the rich possibilities of life. The novel is also slightly less realistic: although the technological advances that allow the community to function are scientifically feasible, the relationship between Jonas and the Giver has magical overtones. But Lowry’s dystopian society shares many aspects with those of 1984 and Brave New World: the dissolution of close family connections and loyalty; the regulation or repression of sexuality; the regulation of careers, marriages, and reproduction; the subjugation of the individual to the community; and constant government monitoring of individual behavior.


The Giver was published in 1993, a time when public consciousness of political correctness was at a peak, and this historical context is interestingly echoed in some aspects of the society that Lowry portrays. One of the most prominent debates surrounding political correctness was—and is—the value of celebrating differences between people versus the value of making everyone in a society feel that they belong. The society in The Giver’s emphasis on “Sameness” can be seen as a critique of the politically correct tendency to ignore significant differences between individuals in order to avoid seeming prejudiced or discriminatory. At the same time, the society refuses to tolerate major differences between individuals at all: people who cannot be easily assimilated into the society are released. Lowry suggests that while tolerance is essential, it should never be achieved at the expense of true diversity.

In The Giver, Lowry tackles other issues that emerged as significant social questions in the early 1990s. The anti-abortion versus pro-life controversy raged hotly, and new questions arose concerning the ethics of a family’s right to choose to end the life of a terminally ill family member (euthanasia) and an individual’s right to end his or her own life (assisted suicide). Questions about reproductive rights and the nature of the family unit also arose due to advances in genetic and reproductive technology. Books such as Hillary Clinton’s It Takes a Village and increased press coverage of single parents, extended families, gay parents, and community child-rearing raised complex questions about the forms families could take and the ways they could work.

Lowry’s willingness to take on these issues in The Giver, as well as her insistence on treating all aspects of life in the community, has made The Giver one of the most frequently censored books in school libraries and curricula. Some parents are upset by the novel’s depictions of sexuality and violence, and feel that their middle-school and high-school aged children are unprepared to deal with issues like euthanasia and suicide. Ironically, their desire to protect their children from these realities is not dissimilar to the novel’s community’s attempts to keep its citizens ignorant about—and safe from—sex, violence, and pain, both physical and psychological.

 

 

Plot Overview

The giver is written from the point of view of Jonas, an eleven-year-old boy living in a futuristic society that has eliminated all pain, fear, war, and hatred. There is no prejudice, since everyone looks and acts basically the same, and there is very little competition. Everyone is unfailingly polite. The society has also eliminated choice: at age twelve every member of the community is assigned a job based on his or her abilities and interests. Citizens can apply for and be assigned compatible spouses, and each couple is assigned exactly two children each. The children are born to Birthmothers, who never see them, and spend their first year in a Nurturing Center with other babies, or “newchildren,” born that year. When their children are grown, family units dissolve and adults live together with Childless Adults until they are too old to function in the society. Then they spend their last years being cared for in the House of the Old until they are finally “released” from the society. In the community, release is death, but it is never described that way; most people think that after release, flawed newchildren and joyful elderly people are welcomed into the vast expanse of Elsewhere that surrounds the communities. Citizens who break rules or fail to adapt properly to the society’s codes of behavior are also released, though in their cases it is an occasion of great shame. Everything is planned and organized so that life is as convenient and pleasant as possible.


Jonas lives with his father, a Nurturer of new children, his mother, who works at the Department of Justice, and his seven-year-old sister Lily. At the beginning of the novel, he is apprehensive about the upcoming Ceremony of Twelve, when he will be given his official Assignment as a new adult member of the community. He does not have a distinct career preference, although he enjoys volunteering at a variety of different jobs. Though he is a well-behaved citizen and a good student, Jonas is different: he has pale eyes, while most people in his community have dark eyes, and he has unusual powers of perception. Sometimes objects “change” when he looks at them. He does not know it yet, but he alone in his community can perceive flashes of color; for everyone else, the world is as devoid of color as it is of pain, hunger, and inconvenience.

At the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas is given the highly honored Assignment of Receiver of Memory. The Receiver is the sole keeper of the community’s collective memory. When the community went over to Sameness—its painless, warless, and mostly emotionless state of tranquility and harmony—it abandoned all memories of pain, war, and emotion, but the memories cannot disappear totally. Someone must keep them so that the community can avoid making the mistakes of the past, even though no one but the Receiver can bear the pain. Jonas receives the memories of the past, good and bad, from the current Receiver, a wise old man who tells Jonas to call him the Giver.

The Giver transmits memories by placing his hands on Jonas’s bare back. The first memory he receives is of an exhilarating sled ride. As Jonas receives memories from the Giver—memories of pleasure and pain, of bright colors and extreme cold and warm sun, of excitement and terror and hunger and love—he realizes how bland and empty life in his community really is. The memories make Jonas’s life richer and more meaningful, and he wishes that he could give that richness and meaning to the people he loves. But in exchange for their peaceful existence, the people of Jonas’s community have lost the capacity to love him back or to feel deep passion about anything. Since they have never experienced real suffering, they also cannot appreciate the real joy of life, and the life of individual people seems less precious to them. In addition, no one in Jonas’s community has ever made a choice of his or her own. Jonas grows more and more frustrated with the members of his community, and the Giver, who has felt the same way for many years, encourages him. The two grow very close, like a grandfather and a grandchild might have in the days before Sameness, when family members stayed in contact long after their children were grown.

Meanwhile, Jonas is helping his family take care of a problem newchild, Gabriel, who has trouble sleeping through the night at the Nurturing Center. Jonas helps the child to sleep by transmitting soothing memories to him every night, and he begins to develop a relationship with Gabriel that mirrors the family relationships he has experienced through the memories. When Gabriel is in danger of being released, the Giver reveals to Jonas that release is the same as death. Jonas’s rage and horror at this revelation inspire the Giver to help Jonas devise a plan to change things in the community forever. The Giver tells Jonas about the girl who had been designated the new Receiver ten years before. She had been the Giver’s own daughter, but the sadness of some of the memories had been too much for her and she had asked to be released. When she died, all of the memories she had accumulated were released into the community, and the community members could not handle the sudden influx of emotion and sensation. The Giver and Jonas plan for Jonas to escape the community and to actually enter Elsewhere. Once he has done that, his larger supply of memories will disperse, and the Giver will help the community to come to terms with the new feelings and thoughts, changing the society forever.

However, Jonas is forced to leave earlier than planned when his father tells him that Gabriel will be released the next day. Desperate to save Gabriel, Jonas steals his father’s bicycle and a supply of food and sets off for Elsewhere. Gradually, he enters a landscape full of color, animals, and changing weather, but also hunger, danger, and exhaustion. Avoiding search planes, Jonas and Gabriel travel for a long time until heavy snow makes bike travel impossible. Half-frozen, but comforting Gabriel with memories of sunshine and friendship, Jonas mounts a high hill. There he finds a sled—the sled from his first transmitted memory—waiting for him at the top. Jonas and Gabriel experience a glorious downhill ride on the sled. Ahead of them, they see—or think they see—the twinkling lights of a friendly village at Christmas, and they hear music. Jonas is sure that someone is waiting for them there.



Character List

Jonas -  The eleven-year-old protagonist of The Giver. Sensitive and intelligent, with strange powers of perception that he doesn’t understand, Jonas is chosen to be the new Receiver of Memory for his community when he turns twelve. Even before his training, Jonas is unusually thoughtful, expresses great concern for his friends and family, and thinks it would be nice to be closer to other people. After his training begins, Jonas’s universe widens dramatically. His new awareness of strong emotions, beautiful colors, and great suffering makes him extremely passionate about the world around him and the welfare of the people he loves, though on the whole he remains level-headed and thoughtful.

 




 

 

The Giver -  The old man known in the community as the Receiver of Memory. The Giver has held the community’s collective memory for many years and uses his wisdom to help the Committee of Elders make important decisions, even though he is racked by the pain his memories give him and believes that perhaps those memories belong in the minds of everyone in the community.

Jonas’s father  -  A mild-mannered, tenderhearted Nurturer who works with infants. He is very sweet with his two children. He enjoys his job and takes it very seriously, constantly trying to nurture children who will stay alive until the Ceremony of Names. However, even if he is attached to a child, he will release it if that seems to be the best decision. He has an affectionate, playful relationship with his two children, usually referring to them by silly nicknames, and he likes playing childish games with the children he nurtures.

Jonas’s mother -  A practical, pleasant woman with an important position at the Department of Justice. Jonas’s mother takes her work seriously, hoping to help people who break rules see the error of their ways. She frequently gives Jonas advice about the worries and fears he faces as he grows up.

Lily -  Jonas’s seven-year-old sister. She is a chatterbox and does not know quite when to keep her mouth shut, but she is also extremely practical and well-informed for a little girl.

Gabriel -  The newchild that Jonas’s family cares for at night. He is sweet and adorable during the day, but has trouble sleeping at night unless Jonas puts him to sleep with some memories. He and Jonas become very close.


Asher -  Jonas’s best friend. Asher is a fun-loving, hasty boy who usually speaks too fast, mixing up his words to the exasperation of his teachers and Jonas. He is assigned the position of Assistant Director of Recreation.

Fiona -  Another of Jonas’s friends. She has red hair, which only Jonas can see, and works as a Caretaker in the House of the Old. She is mild-mannered and patient. Jonas’s first sexual stirrings come in the form of an erotic dream about Fiona.

Larissa -  A woman living in the House of the Old. Jonas shares pleasant conversation with her while he gives her a bath during his volunteer hours. Like many inhabitants of the House of the Old, she enjoys gossip and looks forward to her release.

The Chief Elder -  The elected leader of Jonas’s community. She to shows genuine affection for all of the children at the Ceremony of Twelve, knowing of their names and an anecdote about each one.

 



Analysis of Major Characters


Jonas

On the surface, Jonas is like any other eleven-year-old boy living in his community. He seems more intelligent and perceptive than many of his peers, and he thinks more seriously than they do about life, worrying about his own future as well as his friend Asher’s. He enjoys learning and experiencing new things: he chooses to volunteer at a variety of different centers rather than focusing on one, because he enjoys the freedom of choice that volunteer hours provide. He also enjoys learning about and connecting with other people, and he craves more warmth and human contact than his society permits or encourages. The things that really set him apart from his peers—his unusual eyes, his ability to see things change in a way that he cannot explain—trouble him, but he does not let them bother him too much, since the community’s emphasis on politeness makes it easy for Jonas to conceal or ignore these little differences. Like any child in the community, Jonas is uncomfortable with the attention he receives when he is singled out as the new Receiver, preferring to blend in with his friends.


Once Jonas begins his training with the Giver, however, the tendencies he showed in his earlier life—his sensitivity, his heightened perceptual powers, his kindness to and interest in people, his curiosity about new experiences, his honesty, and his high intelligence—make him extremely absorbed in the memories the Giver has to transmit. In turn, the memories, with their rich sensory and emotional experiences, enhance all of Jonas’s unusual qualities. Within a year of training, he becomes extremely sensitive to beauty, pleasure, and suffering, deeply loving toward his family and the Giver, and fiercely passionate about his new beliefs and feelings. Things about the community that used to be mildly perplexing or troubling are now intensely frustrating or depressing, and Jonas’s inherent concern for others and desire for justice makes him yearn to make changes in the community, both to awaken other people to the richness of life and to stop the casual cruelty that is practiced in the community. Jonas is also very determined, committing to a task fully when he believes in it and willing to risk his own life for the sake of the people he loves.

Although as a result of his training Jonas possesses more wisdom than almost anyone else in his community, he is still very young and knows little about life in the community itself. At twelve years old, Jonas is too young to control the powerful emotions that his training unleashes, and the natural hormonal imbalances of preadolesnce make him especially passionate and occasionally unreasonable. Of course, his youth makes it possible for him to receive the memories and learn from them—if he were older, he might be less receptive to new experiences and emotions—but he needs the guidance and wisdom of the Giver, who has life experience as well as memories, to help him keep all of his new experiences in perspective.


The Giver

Like Jonas, who is a young person with the wisdom of an old person, the Giver is a bit of a paradox. He looks ancient, but he is not old at all. Like someone who has seen and done many things over many years, he is very wise and world-weary, and he is haunted by memories of suffering and pain, but in reality his life has been surprisingly uneventful. In the world of the community, the Giver has spent most of his life inside his comfortable living quarters, eating his meals and emerging occasionally to take long walks. Yet he carries the memories of an entire community, so he feels like a man who has done more in his life than anyone else in the world: he has experienced the positive and negative emotions, desires, triumphs, and failures of millions of men and women, as well as animals. He is responsible for preserving those memories and using the wisdom they give him to make decisions for the community. Anyone would feel weighted down by this enormous responsibility, and because the Giver is forbidden to share his knowledge and pain with anyone else, including his spouse and his children, the weight is more difficult to bear. Thus, the Giver has become an exceptionally patient, quiet, deliberate person, growing resigned to the fact that he cannot change the community even though he realizes that it needs to be changed. He endures his loneliness and frustration as well as the increasing physical pain that the memories bring him with a quiet calm that makes him a rather stoic figure. His patience, wisdom, and restraint make him an excellent teacher and mentor.

However, the memories that the Giver carries inside him are too powerful for him to be entirely stoic: he still feels strong emotions, and under the right circumstances they surge to the surface. Among the members of the community, the Giver alone is capable of real love, an emotion he experiences with Rosemary, the first child who was designated to be the Receiver. Years of loneliness, isolation, and unshared emotion made the Giver’s love for Rosemary intense, even by the standards of the time before Sameness, and when she is taken from him, his anger and grief are equally intense. It is this anger and grief, fueled by the Giver’s growing love for Jonas and Jonas’s own youthful energy, that allow the Giver to finally overturn his years of silence and endurance and change the community. The decision is also influenced by the Giver’s aptitude as a teacher and advisor: it is natural for him to want to help the community learn to handle the memories, as he has helped Rosemary and Jonas.


Jonas’s Father

Jonas’s father is one of the only characters in the novel, besides the Giver and Jonas, who seems to grapple with difficult decisions and complex emotions. Although Jonas’s father does not have access to the memories that give Jonas and the Giver insight into human relationships and feelings, he displays many of the characteristics that were valued in pre-Sameness societies. As a Nurturer, he feels a strong connection with the babies he cares for and a deep concern for their welfare. Although he agrees with Jonas’s mother that “love” is a meaningless, obscure word, the feelings he displays toward the newchildren and his family seem very much like love: he delights in taking care of them and playing with them, he worries about them, and he makes minor and major sacrifices for their benefit, from indulging his daughter’s fondness for her comfort object to bringing baby Gabriel home to his family every night in the hopes of saving him from being released. His concern for the newchildren might be concern about his own personal failure as a Nurturer, but he obviously feels pain and regret when children are released. He also has an independent streak that is unusual in the community, demonstrated when he breaks a rule and peeks at Gabriel’s name in the hopes that it will help the child.


In the end, however, Jonas’s father is a product of his society. Under other circumstances, he probably would have loved the newchildren passionately and fought against all odds for their survival. But having grown up in a society where release, though an occasion for sadness, is not considered tragedy, Jonas’s father cannot access the deeper feelings that might be available to him. He regrets the release of newchildren, but he performs releases himself: not knowing the value of life as Jonas does, he cannot appreciate its loss, and never having felt intense pain, he cannot summon it for the death of a baby.



Themes, Motifs & Symbols


Themes

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.


The Importance of Memory

One of the most important themes in The Giver is the significance of memory to human life. Lowry was inspired to write The Giver after a visit to her aging father, who had lost most of his long-term memory. She realized that without memory, there is no pain—if you cannot remember physical pain, you might as well not have experienced it, and you cannot be plagued by regret or grief if you cannot remember the events that hurt you. At some point in the past the community in The Giver decided to eliminate all pain from their lives. To do so, they had to give up the memories of their society’s collective experiences. Not only did this allow them to forget all of the pain that had been suffered throughout human history, it also prevented members of the society from wanting to engage in activities and relationships that could result in conflict and suffering, and eliminated any nostalgia for the things the community gave up in order to live in total peace and harmony. According to the novel, however, memory is essential. The Committee of Elders does recognize the practical applications of memory—if you do not remember your errors, you may repeat them—so it designates a Receiver to remember history for the community. But as Jonas undergoes his training, he learns that just as there is no pain without memory, there is also no true happiness.


The Relationship Between Pain and Pleasure


Related to the theme of memory is the idea that there can be no pleasure without pain and no pain without pleasure. No matter how delightful an experience is, you cannot value the pleasure it gives you unless you have some memory of a time when you have suffered. The members of Jonas’s community cannot appreciate the joys in their lives because they have never felt pain: their lives are totally monotonous, devoid of emotional variation. Similarly, they do not feel pain or grief because they do not appreciate the true wonder of life: death is not tragic to them because life is not precious. When Jonas receives memories from the Giver, the memories of pain open him to the idea of love and comfort as much as the memories of pleasure do.


The Importance of the Individual

At the Ceremony of Twelve, the community celebrates the differences between the twelve-year-old children for the first time in their lives. For many children, twelve is an age when they are struggling to carve out a distinct identity for themselves, differentiating themselves from their parents and peers. Among other things, The Giver is the story of Jonas’s development into an individual, maturing from a child dependent upon his community into a young man with unique abilities, dreams, and desires. The novel can even be seen as an allegory for this process of maturation: twelve-year-old Jonas rejects a society where everyone is the same to follow his own path. The novel encourages readers to celebrate differences instead of disparaging them or pretending they do not exist. People in Jonas’s society ignore his unusual eyes and strange abilities out of politeness, but those unusual qualities end up bringing lasting, positive change to the community.


Motifs

Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.


Vision

The motif of vision runs throughout The Giver, from the first mention of Jonas’s unusual pale eyes to the final image of the lights twinkling in the village in Elsewhere. For most of the novel, vision represents all perception, both sensory and emotional. Jonas’s eyes, which appear to be “deeper” than other people’s, are actually able to see more deeply into objects than other people’s eyes: Jonas is one of the few people in the community who can see color. Jonas’s perception of color symbolizes his perception of the complicated emotions and sensations that other people cannot perceive: he sees life differently from the rest of the community. Jonas shares his abilities with the Giver and Gabe, both of whom have eyes the same color as his. Although the ending of the novel is ambiguous, we know that Jonas sees the village in his mind, even if the village does not really exist.


Nakedness

In Jonas’s community, it is forbidden to look at naked people, unless they are very young or very old. Moments involving physical nakedness are closely related to the idea of emotional nakedness: Jonas feels an emotional connection with the old woman, Larissa, when she trusts him to wash her body, and his training involves receiving memories through his bare back. Both situations involve trust and intimacy; both are curiously related to the idea of freedom. Jonas thinks of the naked woman as “free,” perhaps because he associates her physical nudity with a mind bare of the constraints his society places on human behavior, and the information that the Giver transmits to him is liberating in much the same way—it helps him to look beyond the community’s rules and beliefs. Nakedness is also related to innocence and childishness: the Old can be seen naked because they are treated like children, and Jonas’s relationship to the Giver is like a child’s to his father or grandfather.


Release

Though few people know it, the word “release” actually refers to death—or murder—in Jonas’s society, but throughout The Giver, the word means different things to different people. At the beginning of the novel, most of the characters truly believe that people who are released are physically sent to Elsewhere, the world beyond the limits of the community. Release is frightening or sad because no one would want to leave the community, not because it involves violence or death. Later, when Jonas discovers the real meaning of release, the word becomes ominous. At the end of the novel, however, when Jonas escapes despite the fact that he is forbidden to request release, he changes the meaning of the word once again, restoring its original meaning—an escape from the physical and psychological hold of the community.






Symbols

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.


The Newchild Gabriel

For Jonas, the newchild Gabriel is a symbol of hope and of starting over. Babies frequently figure as symbols of hope and regeneration in literature, and in The Giver this makes perfect sense: Gabriel is too young to have absorbed the customs and rules of the community, so he is still receptive to the powerful memories that Jonas transmits to him. Jonas takes Gabriel with him to save Gabriel’s life, but his gesture is also symbolic of his resolve to change things, to start a new life Elsewhere. His struggles to keep Gabriel alive reflect his struggles to maintain his ideals in the face of difficulty.


The Sled

The sled, the first memory Jonas receives from the Giver, symbolizes the journey Jonas takes during his training and the discoveries he makes. It is red, a color that symbolizes the new, vital world of feelings and ideas that Jonas discovers. Before he transmits the memory, the Giver compares the difficulty he has in carrying the memories to the way a sled slows down as snow accumulates on its runners. The novelty and delight of the downhill ride are exhilarating, and Jonas enjoys the ride in the same way that he enjoys accumulating new memories. But the sled can be treacherous, too: the first memory of extreme pain that he experiences involves the sled. Pleasure and pain are inevitably related on the sled, just as they are in the memories. When, at the end of the novel, Jonas finds a real sled, it symbolizes his entry into a world where color, sensation, and emotion exist in reality, not just in memory.


The River

The river, which runs into the community and out of it to Elsewhere, symbolizes escape from the confines of the community. When little Caleb drowns in the river, it is one of the few events that the community cannot predict or control, and Jonas and the Giver are inspired to try to change the community by the idea of the river’s unpredictable behavior.

 

 

Chapters 1–2


Summary

We are introduced to Jonas, the eleven-year-old protagonist of the story, as he struggles to find the right word to describe his feelings as he approaches an important milestone. He rejects “frightened” as too strong a word, recalling a time when he had really been frightened: a year ago, an unidentified aircraft flew over his community—it was a strange and unprecedented event, since Pilots were not allowed to fly over the community. As Jonas remembers the community reaction to the event, we learn more about the society in which he lives. It is extremely structured, with official orders transmitted through loudspeakers planted all around the community. As a punishment, the pilot was “released” from the community—the worst fate that can befall a citizen. Jonas decides he is apprehensive, not frightened, about the important thing that is going to happen in December. Jonas and his society value the use of precise and accurate language.


At dinner that night, Jonas’s family—his father, mother, and seven-year-old sister Lily—participate in a nightly ritual called “the telling of feelings.” Each person describes an emotion that he or she experienced during the day and discusses it with the others. Lily says she was angry at a child visiting from a nearby community who did not observe her childcare group’s play area rules. Her parents help her to understand that the boy probably felt out of place, and she becomes less angry. Jonas’s father, who is a Nurturer (he takes care of the community’s babies, or newchildren), describes his struggles with a slowly developing baby whose weakness makes it a candidate for release. The family considers taking care of the baby for a while, though they are not allowed to adopt him—every household is allowed only one male and one female child. We also learn that spouses are assigned by the government. Jonas explains his apprehensiveness about the coming Ceremony of Twelve—the time when he will be assigned a career and begin life as an adult. We learn that every December, all of the children in the community are promoted to the next age group—all four-year-old children become Fives, regardless of the time of year when they were actually born. We also learn that fifty children are born every year. The ceremonies are different for each age group. At the Ceremony of One newchildren, who have spent their first year at the Nurturing Center, are assigned to family units and given a name to use in addition to the number they were given at birth. Jonas’s father confesses to his family that he has peeked at the struggling newchild’s name—Gabriel—in the hopes that calling him a name will help the child develop more quickly. Jonas is surprised that his father would break any kind of rule, though the members of the community seem to bend rules once in a while. For instance, older siblings often teach younger siblings to ride bicycles before the Ceremony of Nine, when they receive their first official bicycles.

Jonas’s parents reassure him that the Committee of Elders, the ruling group of the community, will choose a career for him that will suit him. The Committee members observe the Elevens all year, at school and play and at the volunteer work they are required to do after school, and consider each child’s abilities and interests when they make their selection. Jonas’s father tells him that when he was eleven, he knew he would be assigned the role of Nurturer, because it was clear that he loved newchildren and he spent all his volunteer hours in the Nurturing Center. When Jonas expresses concern about his friend Asher’s Assignment—he worries that Asher does not have any serious interests—his parents tell him not to worry, but remind him that after Twelve, he might lose touch with many of his childhood friends, since he will be spending his time with a new group, training for his job. Then Jonas’s sister Lily appears, asking for her “comfort object”—a community-issued stuffed elephant. The narrator refers to the comfort objects as “imaginary creatures. Jonas’s had been called a bear.”


Analysis

At the beginning of The Giver, we have a difficult time figuring out the setting of the novel. We do not know what it is that Jonas is afraid of—from the reference to unidentified aircraft, we might think that he lives in a war zone. When we find out that it is against the rules for Pilots to fly over the community, we know that Jonas lives in a community that is different from our own, but we do not know at first how different it. Lowry allows the small details about life in Jonas’s community to build up gradually into a more complete picture.

Initially, the picture we get of Jonas’s society is positive. From the emphasis on precision of language and the considerate, careful way in which Jonas’s family shares its feelings, we learn that his society values the clear communication of ideas. We also know that members of the community pay attention to each other’s feelings and try to solve each other’s problems in rational, reassuring ways: the family helps Lily to control her anger and encourages her to feel empathy for visitors in unfamiliar surroundings, and they resolve to help their father take care of a struggling baby. The community must be very safe and peaceful indeed if the only time Jonas can remember being frightened is when an unidentified plane flew over his community.

Some aspects of life in the community are startling, but they are easily explained. The loudspeakers transmitting orders to the people in the community are somewhat unsettling—the idea of a disembodied, faceless authority with the power to control many people’s actions is reminiscent of police states and dictatorships. At the same time, it is a convenient public address system that was able to reassure many frightened people. The fact that the government chooses people’s spouses, jobs, and children for them is also unsettling, but the picture we get of Jonas’s family life is full of tranquility and comfort—the system obviously works pretty well. We know that the society is extremely orderly and peaceful, and that everyone has a job that he or she enjoys and can do well. There seems to be very little competition in Jonas’s community. Jonas is not hoping for a desirable or prestigious position, just one that he will be able to do well. In general, the society seems to be an almost perfect model of a communist society, one in which everyone in the community works together for the common good and receives an equal share of the benefits of living in the community.


However, the discordant notes remain, highlighted by Jonas’s description of himself as “frightened” at the beginning of the book. Even though he immediately rejects the word as inaccurate, its appearance in the first sentence of the novel colors the mood of the first several pages. Since Jonas seems so comfortable with the more unusual aspects of his society, we begin to think of them as normal, but at the same time his fear at the beginning of the story makes us slightly wary of totally accepting them. We are more likely now to notice that the society’s rules, though they are meant to help its citizens, limit personal freedom. We are also more likely to pick up on the ominous meaning of release—the punishment given to the pilot who accidentally flew over the community. Why would an accident be given the most serious punishment in the community? What does release actually mean? The word usually has a positive meaning, but in this context it is negative. In the tension between the two meanings, Lowry hints that everything in the society might not be exactly how it seems.

By the end of Chapter 1, though Jonas has decided he is not frightened, he has decided that he is apprehensive. Having accepted that Jonas likes living in his community with his family, we have grown less frightened and more apprehensive with him. However, we have the feeling that, just like Jonas, the entire novel is on the brink of an important change. Jonas’s apprehension is a kind of foreshadowing that gets us ready for the idea that the whole society he lives in might be reaching an important milestone very soon, just as Jonas awaits the important milestone of the Ceremony of Twelve.

 



Chapters 3–4


Summary

He liked the feeling of safety here in this warm and quiet room; he liked the expression of trust on the woman’s face as she lay in the water unprotected, exposed, and free.

Jonas’s father brings the struggling newchild Gabriel home to spend nights with Jonas’s family. Lily remarks that Gabriel has “funny eyes” like Jonas—both boys have light eyes, while most people in the community have darker eyes. Lily is being slightly rude: in their society it is inappropriate to call attention to the ways in which people are different. Lily also says she hopes she will be assigned to be a Birthmother when she grows up, since she likes newchildren so much, but her mother tells her that the position of Birthmother carries very little honor—Birthmothers are pampered for three years while they produce children, but then do hard labor and never get to see their biological children.


Jonas thinks about the Speakers who make announcements to the community over the loudspeakers all day, including reprimands to rule-breakers. He remembers a time when an announcement was specifically directed at him, though his name was not mentioned—no one is singled out in his society. The announcement reminded male Elevens that “snacks are to be eaten, not hoarded,” referring to an apple that he had taken home with him from school. Jonas had taken the apple because, while playing catch with his friend Asher, he had noticed the apple change in a way he could not describe. On closer investigation, the apple remained the same shape, size, and nondescript shade as always, but then it would briefly change again, though Asher did not seem to notice. Jonas took the apple home to investigate it further, but discovered nothing. The event bewildered him.

In Chapter 4, Jonas meets Asher so that they can do their mandatory volunteer hours together. Children from eight to eleven volunteer at different locations daily to develop skills and get a sense of their occupational interests. Jonas enjoys volunteer hours because they are less regulated than other hours of his day—he gets to choose where he spends them. He volunteers at a variety of places, enjoying the different experiences, and has no idea what his Assignment will be. Today, he goes to the House of the Old, where he notices Asher’s bike is parked. In the bathing room, he gives a bath to an elderly woman. He appreciates the sense of safety and trust he gets from the woman—it is against the rules to look at other people naked in any situation, but the rule does not apply to the Old or newchildren. They discuss the release of one of the Old, a man named Roberto. The old woman, Larissa, describes the release as a wonderful celebration—the man’s life story was narrated, he was toasted by the other residents of the House of the Old, he made a farewell speech, and then walked blissfully through a special door to be released. Larissa does not know what actually happens when someone is released, but she assumes it is wonderful; she does not understand why children are forbidden to attend.


Analysis

In these chapters, we begin to get a sense of how different Jonas is from other members of his society and also of the degree to which his society discourages differences. Jonas is both physically different, in that his eyes are a very unusual color, and mentally different—he sees the world in a different way, as illustrated by his ability to see the apple change. He is also slightly troubled by some of the strict rules that govern his society. He enjoys the closeness he gets from physical contact with the old woman and does not understand why that kind of closeness is forbidden with other people. He also enjoys having freedom of choice in a way that other people in his community do not seem to appreciate as much. He likes his volunteer hours because he can choose where to spend them, and he takes advantage of that freedom more than most people do. However, although Jonas enjoys freedom, he is still a loyal member of the community. He follows the rules scrupulously, apologizing for stealing the apple as soon as he realizes he has taken it, and he does notdoes not think seriously about changing the society’s rules.

Lowry uses Jonas’s unusual eyes as a metaphor for the unusual way in which he sees the world. His eyes, different from other people’s, are a physical representation of his different “vision”: he is different on the inside as well as on the outside. The fact that his eyes seem deeper than other people’s is also significant. The moment when Jonas sees the apple change will be used later in the novel as an example of Jonas’s ability to “see beyond”—to physically see past what other people in his community see, to see qualities of objects that are deeper than the qualities other people see. This ability to see colors when everyone else sees the world in nondescript shades of dark and light is closely related to Jonas’s spiritual and emotional ability later in the novel to feel emotions more deeply than other people do.

At this point, the description of how the apple changes is slightly confusing—we have no idea what happens to it when it changes. However, it is the only way that Jonas, with no experience of color, can describe what happens to the apple: it changes, taking on a quality it did not have before. Lowry gives us some hints about what happens to the apple, though. When Jonas describes the apple, he notes that it is the same size and shape as before.

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前幾天 坐上一台公車 沿路上經過二所私立高中，號稱素質不怎麼樣的高中。


一群年輕小伙子HAIR STYLE，簡直就像日劇中 叛逆的小子 豎立但有造型，很吸引人的注意力。


我認為在外表上作些創造 是不錯，悅已悅人，但不要全心全力只在外表上下功夫，8/9年級生可能被媒体帶著走，炒起的流行而已，說真的，看這那炫耀的外表，相信花了不少時間settle，不難想像 他們大部份的心志都只放在表面功夫上。


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最近的功課很多:
1，英史/美史口頭報告。
2，modern drama- 約2~3星期寫一份報告。
3，speech/ 期中考/ quality的speech。
4，translation/ 每星期都有homework。
5，speculative literature- final report- read page 200 book。
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學到很多新知，對超越主義更有新一層的認知。
每個時代不同，有不同的思維，突顯author願意分享其不凡的創作與思考。
文學有跨時代的深度。
擔心美史報告/重點並不多。
而英史的東西又太多
每星期必需做復習。


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