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Lois Lowry’s 1993 young adult masterpiece The Giver holds a much more intricate backstory than you might expect.
1. A visit to her father in a nursing home played a key role in inspiring the story.
In his later years, Lowry’s father experienced significant memory loss, which led her to reflect on the significance of memories: Without them, there would be no pain. She envisioned a world where the past was intentionally erased to allow its people to live in a state of 'peaceful ignorance.' While this might shield them from suffering, its major flaw lies in stripping away vital ties to the past and the potential for deep, lasting relationships.
In a 1994 speech, Lowry discussed this visit and the thoughts it provoked: “We can forget pain, I think. And it is comfortable to do so. But I also wonder briefly: is it safe to do that, to forget?”
2. The Giver featured a man who was celebrated in his own right.
In 1979, long before she penned The Giver, Lowry worked as a journalist and interviewed painter Carl Gustaf Nelson. The Swedish-born artist had lived in New York and taught painting in Boston before settling in Maine’s Cranberry Island. Nelson’s work earned him spots in renowned exhibitions like the Whitney Biennial, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum houses two of his pieces. Lowry visited Nelson at his home in Maine, where she had the opportunity to photograph him.
3. Nelson might have also influenced the character of the Giver.
In her 1994 Newbery Award acceptance speech, Lowry reflected on her time with Nelson: “I spent a lot of time with this man, and we talked a great deal about color. It became clear to me that while I am a highly visual person—someone who appreciates form, composition, and color—this man’s ability to perceive color was far beyond mine… Occasionally, I wished, in a playful way, that he could have somehow magically given me the ability to see as he did.”
4. Nelson shared something in common with the Giver.
Nelson passed away in 1988, but his image stayed with Lowry. She was so captivated by the unique portrait of Nelson that she kept it, later transforming it into the cover art. Choosing Nelson for the cover would come to symbolize something deeper for Lowry. The artist had spent the final years of his life in blindness, which resonated with her. As she shared in a 2006 interview with Teachingbooks.net, “[His] life was filled with color… for him to lose color, as the Giver in the book starts to lose color, seemed such a wonderful analogy, and I’ve always been happy his photograph is on the cover.”
5. Some critics accuse the book of promoting euthanasia or abortion.
The book’s portrayal of “release,” which involves a man injecting a newborn with a lethal dose, has been pointed to as proof that Lowry is advocating for euthanasia, suicide, or abortion, but she rejects these claims. She argues that these accusations often come from individuals who haven’t read the book carefully, missing the true message she’s conveying.
6. The book faced some harsh critiques …
Like many popular young adult books, The Giver hasn’t always been embraced by critics. Author Debra Doyle expressed dissatisfaction, saying, “Personal preferences aside, The Giver fails the Plausibility Test for me… Things are as they are because The Author is Making a Point; things turn out the way they do because The Author’s Point Demands It.”
7. … But it gained praise from other critics.
On the other hand, The New York Times’ Karen Ray noted that despite “occasional logical lapses,” the book is still “sure to keep older children engaged. And thinking.” Lowry also received the annual Newbery Award for “the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."
More significantly, the novel connected deeply with its intended audience. It resonated so strongly with young readers that it has sold over 12 million copies. A 2003 review by Michael Butler, a seventh-grader from Rome, Ga., begins with a sentiment shared by many peers: “The Giver is one of the many great books in our society today.”
8. Lowry received news of her Newbery win in an unexpected place.
Lowry had previously won the award in 1990 for Number the Stars, but the committee struggled to find her to share the exciting news about her second win in 1994. Eventually, they reached her via radiogram, a necessary step since she was traveling in Antarctica. “I was feeling on top of the world, though, technically speaking, I was actually at the bottom,” she humorously shared on her personal website.
9. It took Jeff Bridges over 20 years to adapt the book into a film.
The actor first became interested in bringing the novel to the big screen in the early ‘90s, but faced repeated delays due to studio issues and disputes over ownership rights. Initially, Bridges planned to direct his father, Lloyd Bridges, in the leading role, but this idea was scrapped following the elder Bridges’ death in 1998. The project remained stalled in development for nearly 15 years until Bridges finally received approval in 2012. The film, released in 2014, starred Bridges as the Giver, with Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, Odeya Rush, Cameron Monaghan, and also featured Katie Holmes, Alexander Skarsgård, and Taylor Swift.
10. Readers bombarded Lowry with questions about the ending …
Lowry was fond of the novel’s open-ended conclusion, but it drove readers mad. She even addressed it during her Newbery speech: “Those of you who hoped that I would stand here tonight and reveal the ‘true’ ending, the ‘right’ interpretation of the ending, will be disappointed. There isn’t one. There’s a right one for each of us, and it depends on our own beliefs, our own hopes.”
Lowry was so committed to the novel’s ambiguity that she told interviewers she would never write a sequel to clarify Jonas’s future, even as letters from readers requesting closure flooded her mailbox.
11. ... until she eventually relented.
The overwhelming response from readers led Lowry to reconsider her stance against writing a sequel. In a 2012 interview with Entertainment Weekly, she shared, “I didn’t plan on writing a sequel. I liked the ambiguity of the ending. Over the years, though, it became apparent that younger readers, in particular, didn’t share that view.”
Lowry set out to satisfy the readers’ demand, resulting in three more books. Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son form a “loose quartet” set in the same world, although Lowry didn’t initially aim to create a series. In a 2012 interview with The Wire, Lowry explained, “I hadn’t meant for [Gathering Blue] to be connected to The Giver at all; I was creating a separate, intriguing world where things were different. As I went on, I realized I could answer some questions… I added a reference to the boy Jonas at the end of Gathering Blue… Four years later, I wrote the third book, and they weren’t really sequels; they were set in a different place at roughly the same time.”
