Publication Date
5-3-2021
School
College of Arts and Sciences
Major
English
Keywords
The Giver, Lois Lowry, hero's journey, Joseph Campbell, young adult fiction, mental and emotional journey
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities
Recommended Citation
Wilson, Hannah, "The Inward Quest to Elsewhere: The Hero's Journey in The Giver" (2021). Senior Honors Theses. 1048.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/honors/1048
Abstract
Lois Lowry structures the events of her well-known young adult novel The Giver on the hero’s journey cycle. The hero’s journey is not often studied in The Giver, yet its stages highlight and mirror the challenging stages common to young adult readers’ lives. The Giver also refreshes the traditional hero’s journey form by presenting a mental and emotional journey instead of the standard physical quest. This unique form creates a greater connection to The Giver’s target adolescent readers by more closely paralleling the mental and emotional realities of their lives through their journey from childhood to adulthood.
