The Giver 721call, the call of the fire and of man.” She returns to
camp, leaving White Fang whimpering softly with
confusion and mournful nostalgia, so fragrant is the
air filled with the familiar scents “of his old life of
freedom before the days of his bondage.” After this
incident, Gray Beaver presently sells Kiche, and
uses the moment of her transfer as a way to imprint
more strongly White Fang’s subordination. When
the cub follows Kiche into the canoe and ignores
Gray Beaver’s calls to return, the Indian recaptures
and beats him mercilessly to instill permanently the
“lesson of . . . bondage,” that man is the “lord and
master over him.” No longer free, “obedience, rigid,
undeviating obedience” becomes the law. Thus
“insidiously, and by remote ways, as well as by the
power of the stick and stone and clout of hand, were
the shackles of White Fang’s bondage being riveted
on him.”
Even when given the opportunity to escape,
White Fang’s participation is so complete that, much
like his mother, he chooses to return, the Indians
now his adopted pack. Indeed, he’s changed too
much to live free in the wild. Out in the wilderness,
he feels overwhelmed with loneliness and scared of
danger lurking. Ruined by living in the camp, by
accepting bondage, he has “softened” and “weak-
ened”—even as he has evolved in the interim into
a savage, vicious wolf. He is a deaf and dumb mute
in the wild, for “there was nothing to do, nothing to
see nor hear”—except the call of man, which rises
within, “an overpowering desire for the protection
and companionship of man.” London phrases it so
innocently, yet it is bondage, plain and simple. His
dependence and despondency are so great that he
relocates the former site of Gray Beaver’s tepee, the
Indian camp having moved on elsewhere. Sitting in
its center, White Fang lets out a howl—but unlike
his mournful cry for the loss of freedom when his
mother would not follow, this cry grieves over the
loss of man and his bondage. When he finally finds
Gray Beaver, much like his mother before him he
grovels toward him, “surrender[ing] himself, volun-
tarily, body and soul. . . . his own choice.” “He had
given himself ” to these gods.
In all of these situations, White Fang is com-
plicit in his oppression, because he learns to accept
his role unquestioningly in the hierarchy, even
finding meaning, purpose, and, later, love as jus-
tification. He exhibits obedience, “faithfulness
and willingness.” He establishes a “covenant” with
humans, whose “terms were simple. For the pos-
session of a flesh-and-blood god, he exchanged
his own liberty. . . . a service of duty and awe,” an
“allegiance . . . greater than . . . love” until his pairing
with Weedon Scott.
Lori VermaasLoWry, LoiS The Giver (1993)
Lois Lowry’s novel The Giver is the story of
Jonas, an adolescent boy growing up in a seem-
ingly perfect society. As the story opens, Jonas is
nervously awaiting the Ceremony of Twelve, where
he will learn the assignment that will determine
his adult occupation. At the ceremony, Jonas dis-
covers that he has been selected for an important
but mysterious job. He is to be the Receiver of
Memory, a human receptacle for the past memo-
ries of the world. The old Receiver of Memory has
now become the Giver, transmitting memories to
Jonas. Through these memories, Jonas’s positive
vision of his contented, monotonous life begins to
disintegrate.
The society Jonas lives in practices “Sameness,”
a condition that leaves people comfortable and
safe, but leaves no room for choice. The people of
Jonas’s community follow a strict, voluminous set
of “Rules,” which dictates every aspect of life. As a
result of Sameness, people have lost the ability to see
color, hear music, and even feel deep emotions, such
as love. Through his training as the new Receiver,
Jonas begins to see past Sameness. He sees color,
and feels the joys of variety and love. Even though
Jonas also experiences some of the things his society
protects him from, such as pain, starvation, and war,
he decides that Sameness makes life meaningless.
In an attempt to eradicate Sameness and restore
memories to all the people, Jonas flees the commu-
nity. Lowry does not tell us if Jonas lives and frees
his people from Sameness, but instead leaves the
ending ambiguous.
Cheryl Blake Price