The community that Lowry creates in The Giver stresses precision of language. Precise language, however, in this community, is not precise at all but rather is a language in which the meanings of words are intentionally unclear. For example, each family unit participates in the "telling of feelings" every evening. This sharing is ironic because the people don't have any feelings. They gave up their feelings when they chose Sameness. Another word that is ironic and not precise is "Nurturer." Jonas' father, a Nurturer, is supposed to be a caretaker of infants. He does care for infants, but he also kills them.
One of the reasons why precise language is so very important to the community is that it ensures that nobody ever publicly lies, although at one point Jonas finally realizes that the whole community is a lie. In this way, though, the people can be controlled. As Jonas' mother tells him when he asks her if she loves him, ". . . our community can't function smoothly if people don't use precise language." The use of "precise language" in Jonas' community has contributed to the creation of a non-human society, for the people function as robots and have no feelings. Jonas' parents don't even know the meaning of love. They consider the term meaningless and too general. Even Jonas once comments to The Giver that loving each other is probably a dangerous way to live — even though he likes the feeling.
One important writing technique that Lowry uses in The Giver is her open-ended plot structure. To allow readers the freedom to interpret the ending of The Giver in their own way, Lowry writes an ambiguous concluding episode to her novel, an ending that is not explained.
