Liteary Element Found in the Giver

A liteary element found in Lois Lowry's fiction novel, "The Giver", is flashback. Rather than going "back in time" in the story, the past is presented with flashbacks and recollections of things, so that they make sense in the books current time period. Like in the beginning, when it says, "Frightened was the way he had felt a year ago when an unidentified aircraft flew over the community twice," then it proceeds with describing what happened that day. Without the flashbacks, the book would have to start at the time of the recollections and somehow skip to the time the book is currently at, which seems unrealistic. That is why flashbacks are used very often in the story and in many others, and why they are so important.