A Return to Normal: Lois Lowry's The Giver

Stewart suggests that as innovative as The Giver might be, it is nonetheless a "return to normal." Rather than offering something different, the text ideologically undermines itself by returning most readers to a familiar subject position. She claims, for instance, that Jonas and The Giver, two light skinned, pale eyed characters, replicate contemporary cultural assumptions in that they serve as the decision makers and saviors. She also claims that choice, which seems to be one of the most important issues confronted by the text, disappears with the publication of interviews with Lowry and Messenger, the last novel associated with The Giver.