Write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow...: The Giver Blog Post Discussion 2

Of all God's gifts to the sighted man, color is holiest, the most divine, the most solemn.~John Ruskin

High in the sky, arching above me, was a long, strip of color. Red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, and violet were all streaked in that line across the sky. Serving as a magnificent background, was the vast blue sky, dotted with fluffy, white clouds. And there below it was what seemed to be an endless meadow of green grass, speckled with pink flowers. There were a few dark green leaved- trees that were supported by brown trunks. Color. What was before me was a colorful landscape. It would not be as fascinating without the color.

Imagine a world without color... What could that mean? What would be the advantages and losses?

Color brightens our world. It engulfs us every day in our lives and has immense psychological impact on our minds. Color can provoke our emotions and they cause our brains to stimulate and process what we are seeing, so we are able to identify the sights we glance at. Multiple colors can catch our eye and can make the environment around us more appealing. Color compliments our sensitivity to our surroundings. Our reactions and perceptions of life are influenced by color.

Having no color is normal for Jonas, a boy who lives in a constricted community, but as he explores the numerous abilities that comes with being the Receiver, he begins to question why his world does not have color. He has grown up in a world devoid of any color all his life and this new look of life is overwhelming. All these different hues popping up in various places excites Jonas.

"The Giver told him that it would be a very long time before he had the colors to keep.

'But I want them!' Jonas said said angrily. 'It isn't fair that nothing has color!' "

(Page 97)

This statement of Jonas's was provoked by his opinion and thoughts. Jonas says this for a myriad of possible reasons.

Jonas's community does not have freedom of expression or emotion, both of which are evoked by color. Several unique colors are in contact with our emotions and have the ability to make us feel a certain way. Non-primary colors are more calming than primary colors. Yellow invokes cheeriness and orange has a calming sense about it. People have different opinions to go with different colors. Every individual color has its own set of evident influences and meaning, which can be used to help better understand our world and our behavioral patterns.

Jonas must have a liking for colors for they enable him to express himself, something he is not very familiar with, because of the rules of the community where he resides. When the Committee took away color, they removed an essential part of people's expression. Color forms the pathway for expression to follow. They are only a limited number of ways to express yourself and when the Committee diminished color, they withdrew one of these few ways.

Colors can provide choices. In our world, you can pick what sort of color you want to wear or single out a color you particular like such as shade of blue, red, etc. Jonas realizes this in the story:

" 'Well...' Jonas had to stop and think it through. 'If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?

He looked down at himself, at the colorless fabric of his clothing. 'But it's all the same always.'"

(Page 97)

I could feel the pain in Jonas's tone. He is not able to make choices for himself, because they are all predetermined by the Committee in Jonas's community. Jonas wants the responsibility of making his own decisions and I would to. No choices means no freedom. What is a life without freedom? Taking away color was the Committee's way of manipulating the thoughts of the people in the community. Along with color they also extracted their freedom of choice and opinion.

Just as colors can be pleasing and nice, they can be used for negative purposes. For example, people have associated black or dark colors with something mysterious or evil. White is often portrayed as a pure, angelic, or virgin color. In some instances around the world, people were treated differently by the color of their skin. For example, ancient India had caste system based on color or varna. The Committee in Jonas's community decided to diminish color, because it created differences. And when there is a difference, people usually disagree, because they do not think the same way. Although in our current society, people have learned not to use color as a negative tool against others.

In Jonas's community, I suspect, that their surroundings are no longer beautiful. Color creates the effect of beauty. Diverse colors make the world pretty. Colors give character to life. The serene green of the trees, the thrilling blue of water, and the fiery red of the sun burning in the sky. All of these are exquisite colors that we usually see everyday. Picture all that gone. What is left is a world that has been sucked of all its choice, opinion, expression, attractiveness, and beauty. Jonas does not want that, because he has experiences seeing color and how it could affect his opinions, choices, expression, and the beauty to the world and this is why he states that it is unfair that his world does not have color.

Color is around us so often, that most of the time we do not appreciate the true significance of color. We take it for granted, for we are born with the ability to see all the colors around us. Color should be valued for it is one of our pathways to connect with our emotion and expression. The ability to see color is a gift and everyone should cherish it.

The whole world, as we experience it visually, comes to us through the mystic realm of color. ~Hans Hoffman