Mittwoch, 30. März 2011

Comment to Chapter 9

“What if they had all been instructed: You may lie?
His mind reeled. Now, empowered to asked questions of utmost rudeness –and promised answers- he could, conceivably (thought it was almost unimaginable), ask someone, some adult, his father perhaps: “Do you lie?”
But he would have no way of knowing if the answer he received were true.” (p.60, ll.19-25)

I really like this last part of chapter 9 because Jonas thinks very philosophically about the rules he has to obey. The eighth rule is:  “You may lie.”(p.58, l.22) . Jonas is shocked and confused, because he has learned to be polite, faithful and honest since he was born. Now he asks himself how he could be sure that all the other members of the community do not have the same rules. Maybe, he thinks, everyone he is talking to is allowed to lie. I think Lois Lowry told this part in a really good way, so that Jonas seems to be wise and the reader sees the sides of Jonas which do not fit in the sameness of the community.
You can also see that Jonas gets uneasily the rules, because they are against everything he believed. Because he becomes the Receiver many things change –Jonas has to stand strongly a lot of pain and confusedness.
I think, additionally it shows the influence of the sameness in Jonas life. He does not see himself as a special man and guesses that everyone could have the SAME rules.

1 Kommentar:

  1. Good analysis of these central thoughts of Jonas. I especiall like the way you explain how Jonas is trained to live with sameness and how difficult it is that all of a sudden he has to realize he is "alone, apart", different.

    PS: the noun of confused is "confusion" ;)
    Some genitive 's are missing. Check that.

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