The Giver
For starters Iâd like to be clear. This role play is based of a book called The Giver. There will be some twist but this is not my original idea. Credits to Lois Lowry for making such an amazing book and you should read it if you havenât already.
In 2020 we came to an all time low. Wars began and the already divided world became even more separated. The world leaders saw this as a problem and came up with a solution. They decided they would start over, and erase everyoneâs memories except for one. He was known as the receiver. He would pass the memories of the past from one person when the time came. He was not allowed to share these memories with anyone. There were other leaders, they just didnât bear the burden of having the memories, feeling the pain, the love, the joy.
Everything is different, but the correct word to describe it would be sameness. This no utopia they made forced us into sameness. But you donât know that. You donât know thatâs not how itâs always been. Welcome to your new society.
Rules of the Society
- Children are not allowed to ride bikes before they become 9s.
- Public apologies are required for causes interruptions to normal schedules.
- Objects are not to be removed from the recreation area and snacks are to be eaten not hoarded.
- Stirrings must be reported in order for treatment to take place.
- Two Children-one male,one female-to each family unit.
- Bragging and Rudeness are against the rules
- At the ceremony of 8s, children have their comfort objects taken away.
- Family Units observe two tellings:
-
Telling of Feelings at Night
-
Sharing of Dreams in the Morning
- The Names of new children are kept secret until the Naming ceremony
- Community Members are not to look upon one anotherâs nakedness.
- Pilots are not to fly over the community.
- You CANNOT see color. Your character does not know this. Do NOT describe anything in color detail.
Jobs of the Society
Once you have made your character you will be added to the fcâs like normal. Once the ceremony has happened you will be pmed a list of rules that are for your job. Please include the job you most show interest in from the list below. DO NOT PICK RECEIVER AS A JOB. I will be giving that.
Birthmother - In this position, a young woman is pampered for three years as she gives birth each year; after than, she will become a Laborer.
Engineer - So, the engineer creates and designs blueprints and oversees constructions of buildings, etc.
Assistant and Director of Recreation- They will organize the various activities of the community
Fish Hatchery Attendant - You will watch over the fish eggs, and make sure they are sterile.
Rehabilitation Center worker - They have to design some new equipment for the injured.
Food Production - This job could be at the school or other institution.
Caretaker of the Old - Being assigned this position mean you are tasked with taking care of the Elders.
Doctor- takes care of the sick
Nurturer - A nurturer cares for the infants. They also release them if they do not progress.
Instructor of the different age groups - For example this is a teacher.
Representative of the Department of Justice - They are essentially an attorney for the community.
Speaker - This person makes the public announcements. (Will be pmed about announcements that need to be made.)
Receiver of Memory - This job is given to a selected member. They will be the keeper of memories for the community. The previous Receiver of Memory, who has been given memories of war, pain, joy, color, light, and music, all from a time before the community existed departed and these memories are lost.
Chief Elder - This is the leader of the community. (I will be the Chief Elder.)
This does not mean you can only reserve the following. This is just reserves with important jobs such as controlling the community
Reserves Needed:
Council member (3)
Judge (1)
The Giver (1) - will be pmed if given this job.
Important Links
Face-claims:
Sign ups:
Job sheet:
Assigned Families:
Application for a spouse:
Writing test:
Reserve list:
Before I forget:
Long Summary of The Giver
The giver is written from the point of view of Jonas, an eleven-year-old boy living in a futuristic society that has eliminated all pain, fear, war, and hatred. There is no prejudice, since everyone looks and acts basically the same, and there is very little competition. Everyone is unfailingly polite. The society has also eliminated choice: at age twelve every member of the community is assigned a job based on his or her abilities and interests. Citizens can apply for and be assigned compatible spouses, and each couple is assigned exactly two children each. The children are born to Birthmothers, who never see them, and spend their first year in a Nurturing Center with other babies, or ânewchildren,â born that year. When their children are grown, family units dissolve and adults live together with Childless Adults until they are too old to function in the society. Then they spend their last years being cared for in the House of the Old until they are finally âreleasedâ from the society. In the community, release is death, but it is never described that way; most people think that after release, flawed newchildren and joyful elderly people are welcomed into the vast expanse of Elsewhere that surrounds the communities. Citizens who break rules or fail to adapt properly to the societyâs codes of behavior are also released, though in their cases it is an occasion of great shame. Everything is planned and organized so that life is as convenient and pleasant as possible.
Jonas lives with his father, a Nurturer of new children, his mother, who works at the Department of Justice, and his seven-year-old sister Lily. At the beginning of the novel, he is apprehensive about the upcoming Ceremony of Twelve, when he will be given his official Assignment as a new adult member of the community. He does not have a distinct career preference, although he enjoys volunteering at a variety of different jobs. Though he is a well-behaved citizen and a good student, Jonas is different: he has pale eyes, while most people in his community have dark eyes, and he has unusual powers of perception. Sometimes objects âchangeâ when he looks at them. He does not know it yet, but he alone in his community can perceive flashes of color; for everyone else, the world is as devoid of color as it is of pain, hunger, and inconvenience.
At the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas is given the highly honored Assignment of Receiver of Memory. The Receiver is the sole keeper of the communityâs collective memory. When the community went over to Samenessâits painless, warless, and mostly emotionless state of tranquility and harmonyâit abandoned all memories of pain, war, and emotion, but the memories cannot disappear totally. Someone must keep them so that the community can avoid making the mistakes of the past, even though no one but the Receiver can bear the pain. Jonas receives the memories of the past, good and bad, from the current Receiver, a wise old man who tells Jonas to call him the Giver.
The Giver transmits memories by placing his hands on Jonasâs bare back. The first memory he receives is of an exhilarating sled ride. As Jonas receives memories from the Giverâmemories of pleasure and pain, of bright colors and extreme cold and warm sun, of excitement and terror and hunger and loveâhe realizes how bland and empty life in his community really is. The memories make Jonasâs life richer and more meaningful, and he wishes that he could give that richness and meaning to the people he loves. But in exchange for their peaceful existence, the people of Jonasâs community have lost the capacity to love him back or to feel deep passion about anything. Since they have never experienced real suffering, they also cannot appreciate the real joy of life, and the life of individual people seems less precious to them. In addition, no one in Jonasâs community has ever made a choice of his or her own. Jonas grows more and more frustrated with the members of his community, and the Giver, who has felt the same way for many years, encourages him. The two grow very close, like a grandfather and a grandchild might have in the days before Sameness, when family members stayed in contact long after their children were grown.
Meanwhile, Jonas is helping his family take care of a problem newchild, Gabriel, who has trouble sleeping through the night at the Nurturing Center. Jonas helps the child to sleep by transmitting soothing memories to him every night, and he begins to develop a relationship with Gabriel that mirrors the family relationships he has experienced through the memories. When Gabriel is in danger of being released, the Giver reveals to Jonas that release is the same as death. Jonasâs rage and horror at this revelation inspire the Giver to help Jonas devise a plan to change things in the community forever. The Giver tells Jonas about the girl who had been designated the new Receiver ten years before. She had been the Giverâs own daughter, but the sadness of some of the memories had been too much for her and she had asked to be released. When she died, all of the memories she had accumulated were released into the community, and the community members could not handle the sudden influx of emotion and sensation. The Giver and Jonas plan for Jonas to escape the community and to actually enter Elsewhere. Once he has done that, his larger supply of memories will disperse, and the Giver will help the community to come to terms with the new feelings and thoughts, changing the society forever.
Please read this if you havenât read the book.
Tags
- Iâm interested - Tag me!
- Not interested - Donât Tag!
- Maybe? - Tag me!
I will not be using the @/RPers tag when creating the sign ups so please vote.
