"Literature is my utopia" -Hellen Keller

Leaving My Mark

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A Short Extract


"Do you love me?"

There was an awkward silence for a moment. Then Father gave a little chuckle. "Jonas. You of all people. Precision of language, please!"
"What do you mean?" Jonas asked. Amusement was not at all what he had anticipated.
"Your father means that you used a very generalized word, so meaningless that it's become almost obsolete," his mother explained carefully.
Jonas stared at them. Meaningless? He has never before felt anything as meaningful as the memory.
"And of course our community can't function smoothly if people don't use precise language. You could ask, 'Do you enjoy me?' The answer is 'Yes,'" his mother said.
"Or," his father suggested," 'Do you take pride in my accomplishments?' And the answer is wholeheartedly 'Yes.'"
"Do you understand why it's inappropriate to use a word like 'love'?" Mother asked.
Jonas nodded. "Yes, thank you, I do," he replied slowly.
It was his first lie to his parents.


This extract is from the 16th chapter of The Giver. This scene happens after Jonas received a memory from The Giver of a family celebrating Christmas. In this memory, he felt love and warmth flowing very strongly in this room. Curious to know if his parents loved him, he mustered up the courage to ask them if they loved him.

When he finally asked his parents, Jonas was caught by surprise when his parents did not say an immediate yes which he expected, but instead gave him a brief lecture about precision of language.

Enjoying or being proud of someone is different from love. You can enjoy someone's company and be proud of a classmate, but that doesn't equate to love. Love is a word on its own, not a broad word that could be used to describe many other kinds of feelings. Jonas' parents do not understand what the warm fuzzing feeling called love means just like everybody else in the Community. Everybody is programmed to be a robot, to function just as the Elders want them to. They are devoid of any feelings, of any emotions. This can be seen in many other parts of the Community.

Due to the memories, Jonas learnt how to feel. He knew what real rage, sadness, loneliness and love meant. Therefore, he knew what the feeling of love encompassed. Love was neither too general not obsolete, its just that Father and Mother did not know what it meant. Furthermore,from other parts of the book, we can see that Jonas is pretty law-abiding and takes great care not to break the rule of precision of language. Therefore, asking if his parents loved him was not a mistake on his part.

It is very saddening to see that the people in the Community do not get to experience love. Love makes people want to dance. Thinking of it brings a smile to one's face. Jonas understood this, and he wished that the people he now knew he loved, could wake up from the terrible nightmare of being held hostage to a world without emotions.

As the media continues to rule over our lives, it sends many wrong and thwarted definitions of love. Recently, I checked up the definition of love on Dictionary.com and was horrified to see that love could also mean a sexual desire. This is totally false! Love is what one feels for someone they care for, certainly not a desire that could fade away easily. Therefore, I think that people should reflect on the true meaning of love, and who really loves them as love is an essential ingredient to life.

Reflection- Walkabout

When you are bored, what do you do? Talk to your pet fish or do star jumps? What I thought of doing one mundane saturday afternoon, was to have a miniature tour around my house with my soft toy, Sally.



Daddy gave me Sally when I was four years old.

"What is this dada?"

Dad met my questioning eyes and said with a smile,"it it a giraffe, sweetie!"

Thinking back surfaces so many fond memories dear to my heart! Lily had her soft toy too. In her society, however, it is called a comfort object. Sadly, her comfort object was the closest she could ever get to an elephant. I, could visit the zoo anytime I wanted.

Heaving a sigh, I moved on.

STOP 1-the living room
Have you ever wondered why this particular place in the house is specially for "living"? I have meditated on it before and I guess it is named so as the living room is a place why family members bond, share and have fun together! It may not have the the best entertainment facilities, or the most comfortable chairs, but the times I share with my family here, they are what matter the most

Jonas and Lily's family unit had a sharing of feelings every night at the dinner table. It was a routine they had to carry out everyday. A routine, not a bonding session.

STOP 2-the balcony
Open the doors and fill the invigorating coolness of wind sweeping past your face. I close my eyes to take in the tranquility of the serenity.

"HORN!"

I jumped at the sudden horn of a car from downstairs. My peace, disrupted.

Cars are such an important transportation mode now and many people rely heavily on it. What if my family did not possess a car? Hmm... That would be quite hard for me! I certainly do not like the idea of waking up an hour earlier just to catch the public transport!

After the people have gone through the Ceremony of Nine, they travel around the community by bicycles. They do not have cars like our present world. Although travelling by bicycles may take a longer time, it could be a better way of transport. In our present world, many of us travel by cars. This may seem very convenient for us, but it is doing more harm to the Earth than we can ever imagine. If we are planning to go to somewhere within walking distance, maybe we should consider walking there, or ride the bicycle!

As I make my way to the final stop of the tour, mummy shouts from the kitchen, "darling, have you taken your daily vitamins?"



"No, mum. I will take it later!" I answered. I consume two kind of vitamins daily, Vitamin C pills and cod oil pills. Jonas takes a pill everyday to stop his Stirrings. Stirrings are the feelings of attraction to the opposite sex. Even though these pills help to prevent sexual-related crimes and problems, the element of feelings are lost and there is a dilution of human emotions.

Luckily, everybody in our society is free to feel, but some people take it too far, and do things they regret eventually.

LAST STOP-bedroom
A smile stretched across my face as I pick up a photo frame with a photo of our family celebrating Christmas the year before.



During a training session at the Annex Room one day, Jonas received a memory from the Giver of a family celebrating Christmas. Happiness and love filled the room as everyone celebrated Christmas together.

When humans do not function without love, there is a big hole in their lives and beings. Although Jonas' community is rather perfect and efficient, the people do not get to experience the essence of life: to live, love and enjoy. Therefore, the people are like living robots, functioning according to the system of the community. Nothing more than that.

When Jonas realised how amazing love felt, he knew that there was a gap in his life, and in him grew a longing, that love could exist in his community.

When I reflect on this, I realise how important and precious my friends and family are to me, because their love defines who I am, and makes me whole.


The tour has ended, but the lessons learnt will stay with me. The Giver has made me realise how blessed I am to be living in this present world, and to experience the ups and downs of emotions. It has also taught me that one cannot create a perfect world, as there will always be flaws present. However, one can live in a less than perfect world, and rejoice. Although there are many bad things happening around the world now, there are also countless things to give thanks for.


"Every point of view has another angle
And every angle has its merit
But it all comes down to faith
Thats the way I see it"

A page Into My Diary



Dear Diary,

scenes from The Handmaid's Tale keep running through my head. What am I to do?

Miss Li showed us a part of The Handmaid's Tale during Language Arts Lesson. This movie is adapted from the book of the same name by Margaret Atwood. This story is set in the Republic of Gilead, which was once the United States Of America. The Republic of Gilead is a place where sexuality has gone wrong and all women are sterilised except a group of special women called the Handmaids. When a family from the ruling class wants a baby, a handmaid will be employed.

The story is presented from the point of view of Kate, who after failing to escape, is forced to become a handmaid. Soon, she is employed by a family and is renamed Offred, which actually means "Of Fred", the man she is serving.

This story is a classic example of a dystopian society, which can be quite frightening. During the first minute of the show, I already felt that something was very wrong and that feeling of wariness crept up on me. Wait, this feels familiar. Oh, I felt this way too when reading the Giver!


Hmm...the party which formed the Republic of Gilead must have aimed to create a utopia, but how did could it have gone so terribly wrong! Women are so oppressed. For example, women get the blame when they are raped. This society clearly puts men at a greater advantage. There is also the concept of Sameness in this society. For example, the wives of the elite society dress in blue, while the handmaids are dressed in red.

The part of the movie which struck me the most was the scene where the people were labelled as livestock. I checked up the dictionary and found that the definition of livestock was the horses, cattle, sheep, and other useful animals kept or raised on a farm or ranch. An uncontrollable rage burst out of me. People are not animals! We are meant to be treated with respect and love!


The Republic also thwarts the teachings of the Bible for its own use. For example, The Handmaids are made to sing Hymns every night before they go to bed, and before the Handmaid serves her employer, they go through a brief reading of the Bible. This feels a like propaganda to me, where the government influence the minds of the people through false beliefs. The government uses these twisted teachings to justify their actions.



Do you know that all Handmaids wear a red gown which looks like a nun's uniform. This may be an effort of the government to constantly remind in the Handmaids about their relations to the twisted doctrines.

Lastly, I would like to add that the last part of the clip was... highly disturbing. You could see the word "disturbed" written all over everybody's faces after that particular scene. Fortunately, Miss Li learnt her lesson and did not show the disturbing part to the other classes! (:

I have to sleep soon! Goodbye Diary!

Signing off,
me

They Speak A Thousand Words




This picture depicts four plush toys, namely a giraffe, a lion, a hippo and a cow. In Jonas' society, all children had their comfort objects which were animal soft toys. Lily's comfort object was a stuffed elephant. The children had never seen the animals in real life but only in the form of toys. This shows how enclosed and restricted Jonas' society is. This is particularly saddening as I believe that everybody should be exposed to how animals live and behave as they are a vital part of Mother nature.




Shhh! Do not say the wrong word!

In Jonas' society, the precision of language is emphasised. If one uses the inappropriate word, he may be scolded or punished. For example, a three year old Asher who was too excited for his snack said "smack" instead and was given what he asked for: a smack.




Which one?

The joy of colour, or the mundane black and white?

Well, the people in Jonas' community do not really have a choice, or rather, they had only seen their world in black white since they were part of the community. Imagine a world without colours. No colourful flowers to enjoy, no rainbow to get excited about... I could go crazy. Luckily, jonas gets to experience colour finally! Apparently, it was Jonas' ability to see colour that made him the appropriate choice for a new Receiver. When he finally knew what colour was, he was desperate to share it with everybody around him, to show them that hey! Look around! There is a world beyond your wildest imagination you haven't realised!



Children do not get to celebrate their birthdays in Jonas' community. Instead, they are officially known to be a year older in December, when the Ceremonies for each age group take place. This is another situation that shows the ideology of sameness where children cannot celebrate their special birth date. Individuality is lost too.



“Father asked us what was God's noblest work. Anna said men, but I said babies. Men are often bad, but babies never are.” -Louisa May Alcott

Why release a baby when it is a gift from God to Humanity? Why deny a baby's right to live when it has a weaker physique? In the community's effort to advocate sameness, shouldn't they let every baby who is brought into the world be given a chance to live? To be equal like everyone else? Why the ruthlessness? These questions constantly ring in my mind when I think about the Giver. However, I know that the community has their rationale behind it. There are always two sides to a story, aren't there?

The government is very pragmatic and may only want physically strong people to join the workforce. They could be worried that the community may be bereaved shall the baby die. Maybe, just maybe.



"What does this picture have got to do with the Giver?"

The people in Jonas' community will never ever experience the real joy of falling in love, of having a baby together. The people have to take their pill daily after they encounter their first Stirrings. Yes, this may be an effective way of eradicating the problem of premarital sex, abortion, and sexual-related crimes, but the people will never know how exhilarating falling in love can be.

In the community, each couple applies for a child, instead of having their own flesh and blood. I feel that this system creates a void in the parent-child relationship as the child is not the couple's flesh and blood so there is no special bond and the element of love present between parent and child. How sad.



Pain
This photo represents the anguish Jonas must have felt when he receeived his first memory of pain- a twisted leg, and loneliness. The subsequent memories of pain, were not of physical pain anymore, but emotional hurt.



How it all seems okay.

Release is akin to murder. So does that make Jonas' father a murderer?
The people have always believed that the Release meant going to Elsewhere. However,as Jonas finds out the ugly truth of his community, he finds out that Release is injecting a person with a chemical that kills the person.

But we cannot blame the people who perform Release. They were taught that after the people were injected, they would go to somewhere else, perhaps another community. They were led to think that Release was a normal routine. Very normal.

"Great things are done when men and mountains meet. This is not done by jostling in the street." ~William Blake

He must have felt rejuvenated.
Rejuvenated to see a spectacular view before him. To finally experience the majestic hills after seeing it only from memories.

He must have felt encouraged.
Encouraged to continue moving on with Gabe till he finds another community where he and Gabe will be loved. Why? Simply because the wondrous magic which he only knew in the memories he received are now coming face to face with him. He spirit must have been lifted when he realised that the memories were not the past, but the present and the future, where there are hills, rainbows, and most importantly, love.