The Giver

Jonas begins The Giver feeling uneasy about the upcoming Ceremony of Twelve, where he will receive the Assignment that determines his vocation for the rest of his working life. That night, at the nightly sharing of feelings, after his sister, father, and mother discuss their emotions, his parents comfort him about his worries. They remind him that his life will change after the Ceremony, but theyreassure him that the Committee of Elders has been watching him closely and will give him an appropriate Assignment.



Jonas's father brings home a newchild who needs extra care, and they call him Gabriel, although Father is not yet supposed to know the child's name. Lily decides that she will begin volunteering hours at the Nurturing Center after she turns Nine, and Jonas recalls a strangeincident where he saw an apple suddenly change before returning to the same nondescript shade as his shirt. The next day, he joins Asher and Fiona at the House of the Old, where Larissa tells him about Roberto's release ceremony, after which Roberto will go Elsewhere. Then, after a sexually charged dream involving Fiona that forms Jonas's first Stirrings, his parents give him the pills that willsuppress these Stirrings.

At the Ceremony, Jonas sits through the Naming at the Ceremony of One, which Gabriel will miss because the Nurturers have decided to give him an extra year of care before deciding whether to assign him a family unit or to release him. Lily turns Eight, and the new Nines receive bicycles as a sign of new independence. The Ceremony of Twelve begins uneventfully, as theoften hasty but always good-humored Asher receives the Assignment of Assistant Director of Recreation and Fiona receives that of Caretaker of the Old. However, the Chief Elder skips Jonas, which mortifies him until they announce that he has been selected as the new Receiver of Memory for the community, an important position that requires intelligence, courage, and the Capacity to See Beyond, whichJonas has previously experienced with the apple.

Jonas feels nervous and isolated at his selection, and his instructions are strange in that they allow him to be rude, ask questions, and lie, while prohibiting him from taking medication for his training and from applying for release. The old Receiver, who calls himself The Giver, informs Jonas that he is now the new Receiver and will have toreceive the memories of generations of the whole world, which The Giver transmits by touch and remembrance. Jonas's first new memory is that of riding a sled down a snowy hill, and The Giver explains that after the establishment of Sameness and Climate Control, many of these things have been eliminated. The Giver also gives Jonas the memory of sunshine and sunburn to give Jonas a hint of the painthat is to come in his training.

After seeing a change in Fiona's hair, Jonas informs The Giver, who concludes that Jonas has the capacity to see color, unlike other members of the community. Scientists tried to get rid of color at the onset of Sameness, but they did not entirely succeed. Jonas and The Giver discuss how Sameness has gotten rid of individual choice, although it may perhaps havemade the world safer by eliminating the possibility of wrong choices, such as in choosing spouses, although as The Receiver, Jonas will never be able to share his whole life with a future spouse, since he cannot speak of his work. They also discuss the previous Receiver-in-Training's failure, after which unwanted memories escaped into the community and caused havoc, an incident that reminded thecommunity of The Receiver's role as the vessel for these memories.

Jonas asks for more painful memories, so The Giver introduces him first to a broken leg and later to more serious pains such as starvation and neglect. These memories give The Receiver wisdom to advise the Elders, who do not want to bear the memories themselves. At home, Jonas discovers that Gabriel is capable of receiving...