Release

            Life is like a battery eventually, it just runs out. Some last longer than others, some are maybe more efficient, or bigger, or nicer, but, in the end it’s just a battery. Now think of these batteries as people. Some people may work harder than others, they might be bigger or taller than others, maybe have a different skin color, or look nicer than the other, but once again, they are still people. And, even if people are different, we accept them anyways. But, some people don’t. These people live in a special place. The Community. The community is a fictional place, only existing within the pages of the book, The Giver. This book is 179 pages, of rules, regulations, and most of all, sameness. One of these rules is called release. Believe it or not this rule could change your life and the world drastically.

            Just think about it. Think about the people you love who are different. Some may have illnesses, whether it is to their brain or their body, and some maybe have overcome sickness, but you love them anyways, right? Now that you have loved ones in mind, think about what would happen if you didn’t have them, because in this community, you wouldn’t. My great grandpa was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. The doctors tried their best to “fix him up”. But, try as they might, is life expectancy was probably only few days. In a place where everything is “Perfect” My great grandfather would have been killed before he even got a chance at life. But here, in our world, people have faith, people pray, and miracles happen. My great grandfather has been married, and widowed, had 12 children, and is now in his 80’s enjoying the life people thought he would never have. Without his recovery I would have never been born. I would never have a place down here on earth. I would never have written this essay on how important all of this is. I would never be me.

             The rules in the community would make life perfect. But think about it. Do they? If you don’t have love ones who are different, I understand that this subject isn’t very important to you, but this is for all of the people who can’t imagine life without those “different” people. Really think about it… are those people truly that different?

Color

You see it every day without even realizing it. Most people never give it a second thought, it’s just there. And usually most people never realize how important it is until you lose it, or never have it in the first place.

The Giver is a town where everything is perfect. Well actually, a better word for it is the same. In this community there is no rudeness, jealousy, judgments or unfairness. Sounds great right? Wrong. Even though these things would be great to banish, other things aren’t. For example, personality, uniqueness, freedom of thought, and color. Now, this is the point where people say, why not get rid of the bad things and keep the good things? The answer is, you can’t. You can’t have personality without judgments from other people. You can’t have freedom of thought without rudeness. You can’t have uniqueness without jealousy. As you may have caught on by now, all the good things that we have, come with consequences’.  Color is one of them. Color gives things beauty, personality, and uniqueness. Therefore in this perfect world of sameness, color does no longer exist. Imagine a world where everything was the same color, actually, it’s not EVEN a color. It’s some unidentified shade of blah. Yes, blah.

Even after reading this you still don’t appreciate color like I do. But maybe, just maybe, I got you thinking. I got you thinking about how great color actually is. And hopefully, eventually the word Color will have a new meaning for you.