The Giver (character)

The Giver
The Giver as played by Jeff Bridges
Age	Undetermined
Gender	Male
Hair	White (novel) Grey/White (movie)
Assigned occupation	Receiver of Memory (formerly); "Giver of Memory"
Allies	Jonas, Rosemary (daughter)
Enemies	Society; Chief Elder (in the movie)
Status	Helps the people of the Community manage the memories.
Appearances	The Giver
Mentioned	Son
Portrayed by	Jeff Bridges

The Giver is one of the main characters of the novel of the same name. His real name is unknown and while being formally recognized as the Receiver of Memory, he decided to style himself as the Giver while he was giving the memories to Jonas.

Personality

In the world of the community, the Giver has spent most of his life inside his comfort quarters, eating his meals, and emerging occasionally to take long walks. The Giver has experienced both positive and negative emotions, he has felt the desires, triumphs, and failures of millions of men and woman. He preserves those memories and using the wisdom they give him, to make decisions for the community. He would at times feel weighed down by this enormous responsibility, and because the Giver is forbidden to share his knowledge with anyone else, including his spouse and his children, the weight is more difficult to bear. Thus, the Giver has become a patient, quiet, and deliberate person, growing resigned to the fact that he cannot change the community even though it needs to be changed. He endures his loneliness and frustration as well as the increasing physical pain that the memories bring him. His quiet and calm demeanor, make him a rather stoic figure. The Giver's patience, wisdom, and restraint make him an excellent teacher and mentor.

The Giver

However, the memories that the Giver carries inside him are too powerful for him to be entirely stoic. He still feels strong emotions, and under the right circumstances they surge to the surface. Among the members of the community, the Giver alone is the only person capable of real love, an emotion he experiences with Rosemary, a child who was designated to be the Receiver. Years of loneliness, isolation, and unshared emotion made the Giver’s love for Rosemary intense, even by the standards of the time before Sameness, and when she is taken from him, his anger and grief are equally intense. It is this anger and grief, fueled by the Giver’s growing love for Jonas and Jonas’s own youthful energy, that allow the Giver to finally overturn his years of silence and endurance and change the community. The decision is also influenced by the Giver’s aptitude as a teacher and adviser. It is natural for him to want to help the community learn to handle the memories.

Film Adaptation

In the film adaptation of The Giver, The Giver is portrayed by Jeff Bridges.