Three Texts

The Giver by Lois Lowry (MOE Syllabus)

The Giver is written in 1993 by American novelist Lois Lowry. Recently it was adapted on the big screen starring Meryl Streep (!!!), Katie Holmes and Alexander Skarsgard. 

From the beginning of the novel,  it presents itself as a utopian society but gradually reveals itself as a dystopian world. It follows the protagonist, Jonas through his coming of age years. As Jonas became the Receiver of Memory— A chosen person to carry the weight of all other knowledge, we began to see how he began to see the failures of his utopian world. The society in The Giver focuses on the ideas of “Sameness” in its social engineering, standardising the experience of the children until they come of age. Even then, the adult life is largely regulated and confined within the realm of their individual duties and responsibilities towards the society. The elimination of emotions in general such as pain, suffering, sexual desires (even within family units) extends into the elimination of useless individuals in this society through the process of “release”. As Jonas grows as a character, the audience also learn to see his shock and horror, which led to his eventual attempt to escape from the society. 

Personally, I think this text is a great introduction for students into the study of sci-fi genres such as Brave New World, 1984 and perhaps more recent works such as The Hunger Game Series and Divergent. Though some critics argue that the text lacks originality, I think its’ precisely this reason why reading Lowry would create a platform for students to read more widely in the Sci-Fi Genre. Additionally, I see how this text is useful in the classroom in teaching broader concepts such as diversity, utopian/dystopian and eugenics, just to list a few. 

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson (Young Adult Novel) (In the Maximum Ride Series) 

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment was released in 2005 by James Patterson. It is the first instalment in his now seven book series. It follows the protagonist, 14 year old Max and her flock of 98%human, 2% bird “adoptive family”— Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel. The story begins with the youngest member, Angel being kidnapped and taken back to the “School” where she and the other members were genetically engineered by scientists, and the plot follows the flock attempts to save her.

Personally, this was quite the page turner! I never got the chance to pick up his teen/young adult series since my choice of reading lately has either been off reading lists or mostly non-fiction texts. Unlike his adult novels, the themes in Maximum Ride seem relatable to teens/young adult  and have this superhero type of storyline.  A simple read in terms of language, short quick chapters (colloquial and very relatable to students) though the entire setting is very American. Themes in this text include ethical issues such as eugenics, concept of family,  superhero(?). Nonetheless, I felt that the themes are rather one-dimensional, though expanding the concept of “family” is plausible. The usefulness of this in a Literature Classroom though limited, may be a good starting point for the more restless readers. Perhaps, this is a good addition to a reading list to get students to read since it reads like a comic! 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith (Alternative Reading)

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was published in 2009 by Grahame-Smith as a Parody mashup combining Austen’s canonical text Pride and Prejudice with zombie fiction. It is a strange combination of Austen’s classic work with Elizabeth taking on the role of a katana welding ninja, hacking of the undead in a countryside filled with zombies. 

Some funny lines include:

“It is a truth universally acknowledge that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains”.

“Elizabeth lifted her skirt, disregarding modesty, and delivered a swift kick to the creature's head.” 

It’s a fun sort of mindless read! Austen fans will probably take two extremes in their reception to this text since the author pretty much “bastardise” her writing by reimagining much of the text into modern zombie fiction. But the reading was still very much enjoyable because having studied Austen in the A levels, this ridiculous parody and allusions to the original text made for a very chucklesome reading. The New Yorker’s critic Macy Halford estimate it to be about 85% Austen and 15% Grahame-Smith but called it “one hundred percent terrible”. Grahame-Smith also wrote Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Quick google also show various adaptation of PPZ into Graphic Novels, Video games and a film in the works.