Elyse Lord is a visiting instructor at the University of Utah and at the Salt Lake City Community College. In the following essay, she evaluates controversial themes in The Giver and concludes that Lowry's novel, while terrifying in many ways, offers its readers hope and a constructive view of Jonas's world.

Critics respond to Lois Lowry's novel, The Giver, with nearly universal praise. The book has received more than ten prestigious awards, including the highly coveted Newbery Medal, which the American Library Association awarded it in 1994. (The ALA awards the Newbery Medal to the best book published in the United States for children or young adults in the preceding year.)

One reason for the novel's nearly unprecedented acclaim is that its storyline captures the interest of a wide group of readers and critics. For example, many scholars consider the novel to be dystopian (about a miserable society...