Son of The Giver: A Review
October 4, 2012, by Bobbi Samuels
I couldn’t wait to start reading Lois Lowry’s new book, Son. I loved The Giver , Gathering Blue, and Messenger, the other books in the series. Although it had been probably twelve years since I last read it, I remembered many of the details of The Giver and a little from the other books. I thought about rereading The Giver before starting Son, but decided I would just dig in and read the book as if I were a new reader approaching it. Of course, my previous knowledge about the community influenced and supported my beginning reading, but I believe the book stands on its own.
Son opens with fourteen-year-old Claire in the process of giving birth. She has been given the job of “birthmother” in the community, although she is told nothing about the process of giving birth. I found myself instantly drawn in to the drama of this young woman, a 14 year-old, giving birth and knowing nothing about what was happening to her or about her child after the birth. I remembered how in The Giver, the people of the community had no free will, were assigned jobs, went through life without emotions, color, rain, or sunshine. Similarly, in the first section of Son, Claire gives birth by caesarian to a child who is immediately taken away from her at birth. She is expected not to care about what happens to him. But in the confusion surrounding a difficult birth and her reassignment to the Fish Hatchery, Claire isn’t given the pills that prevent emotion. Claire cannot forget her baby and is willing to risk her life to find him.
Not until I was well into the story did I fully recognize that the baby, Child #36, was really the baby known as Gabriel in The Giver. Eventually, in this fourth book of The Giver series, I was reintroduced to the characters I remembered from the other books – Jonas, Gabriel, and Kira. And I empathized deeply with Claire, the new character in this book.
Like Jonas, Claire chooses to run away from the community. She is determined to do whatever it takes to find her baby. Jumping on to a supply barge that gets pummeled at sea, Claire washes up on shore of another community, one very different from hers. There in a simple fishing village she finds loving people who nurse her back to health and over the years give her the strength and the skills to set out again to find Gabriel.
Lois Lowry continues the themes that resonated so strongly with me in her other books: the importance of freedom, of choice, of the interdependence and interactions of people, and of appreciation of the beauty in nature and the seasons. Lowry clearly feels very strongly about forming communities in which people have a say in who leads them and what they choose to do.
Lois Lowry continues the themes that resonated so strongly with me in her other books: the importance of freedom, of choice, of the interdependence and interactions of people, and of appreciation of the beauty in nature and the seasons. Lowry clearly feels very strongly about forming communities in which people have a say in who leads them and what they choose to do.
One contemporary issue she addresses head-on is immigration. She clearly states that the community where Jonas and Gabriel live is one that welcomes outcasts from other communities and is a sanctuary for all. “It had been Jonas…who had gently but firmly reminded the villagers that they had all been outsiders once. They had all come here for a new life. Eventually they had voted to remain what they had become: a sanctuary, a place of welcome.” (p.290) Lowry also uses the vehicle of her novel to express strong feelings against violence and war. Lowry’s novels in this series provide fodder for discussion about a variety of topics from personal relationships to politics. Most importantly, she emphasizes here again in Son the significance of love, particularly family love.
Reading Son, the last book in the series, has drawn me back to the other books. I’ve pulled out the earlier titles and I’m planning to reread them all.
Lois Lowry will be in Houston on Sunday, October 14, 3 pm for Cool Brains! Inprint Readings for Young People. For details, click here.
Bobbie,
Thanks for your thoughtful review. I started one of her earlier books and got sidetracked. I need to go back to the beginning.
I am SO glad I found this blog. LOVE your review and will rereading all books soon. I have a dystopian book club with the 7th graders and will pull these in for selected reads. I have to say that I fell into your writing voice right away. I have always enjoyed your writing. 🙂