The Giver Summary

Summary and Study Guide
Overview
The Giver is a work of young adult fiction. It is the first
installment in The Giver Quartet, which also includes Gathering
Blue (2000), Messenger (2004), and Son (2012). Author Lois
Lowry received a 1994 Newbery Medal for her dystopian novel,
although the text, with themes considered possibly too dark for
the reader's age group, was challenged throughout the 1990s.
The Giver takes place in the future, in a carefully-designed
community that is extremely safe and orderly. The people who
live in this community do not have to deal with problems such as
war and famine, but they have given up most of their
opportunities to make choices and express their individuality.
One citizen of the community is Jonas, a perceptive and
intelligent boy who is about to turn 12 years old. The story
revolves around his experiences as he reaches an important
milestone: receiving his job assignment for adult life.
Jonas’s family unit consists of Jonas; his father, a Nurturer; his

mother, who works for the Department of Justice; and his
sister, Lily, who is about to turn 8. They live together in a
dwelling where they have meals together and take part in daily
rituals such as the sharing of dreams and the analysis of
feelings. Before long, the dwelling gains another inhabitant at
night: Gabriel, a baby who is struggling to meet the
community’s expectations at the Nurturing Center. If his weight
and sleep habits do not improve soon, he will be released, or
sent to Elsewhere. Jonas’s father convinces the Committee of
Elders to let the family care for him at night, in the hopes that it
will help him meet these goals.
All of the children turning 12 find out their assignments at an

event called the "Ceremony of Twelve." At the beginning of the
book, Jonas feels apprehensive about his upcoming Ceremony of
Twelve. The community’s elders lead these ceremonies and
make job assignments that seem like a good fit for each 12-year-
old’s temperament, interests, and aptitudes. The elders also pair
people with suitable spouses, if they apply for such a partner,
and assign children to couples that request them and are
deemed adequate.
Shortly before the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas has an unusual

experience. When tossing an apple to his friend Asher, he sees
in an instant that something about it changes before his eyes.
He struggles to describe what has happened. Later it is revealed
that he glimpsed the apple’s color. The community’s citizens see
nondescript colors, not a variety of bright and muted hues. This
incident is an example of something called "seeing beyond" (91),
and it sets Jonas apart from others in the community. Jonas is
also different because he has pale eyes; most other citizens,
including his mother, father, and sister, have dark eyes.
Jonas’s pale eyes enable him to perceive and understand things
that others cannot. Gabriel also has pale eyes, as does the
Receiver of Memory, a community elder who Jonas knows little
about. When Jonas is selected to be the community’s next
Receiver, he begins training with this mysterious old man after
school each day. The community’s Chief Elder tells Jonas that
Receiver is the most honored position there is. In this role,
Jonas stores the entire world’s memories, including those from
eras past. He is told that the position requires him to endure
physical pain, something he has barely experienced before.
The outgoing Receiver tells Jonas to call him "the Giver." He

teaches Jonas about his new role and transmits memories to
Jonas by placing his hands on the boy’s back. When the
Giver transmits a memory to Jonas, it leaves him forever. Jonas
receives pleasant memories about sunshine, sledding, and
rainbows, as well as harrowing ones about war, neglect, and
more. One of the most pleasant and meaningful memories
involves a holiday scene with children and their loving
grandparents. When Jonas receives memories, part of him
travels to the time and place the memory was made, and he
relives the experience. By experiencing things his community
has engineered away—such as terror, hunger, color, and
excitement—he sees that the life he is living lacks richness and
meaning. He longs to share what he’s learning and experiencing
with the people he cares about, but he’s not allowed to utter a
word about his training to anyone but the Giver. As Receiver,
he’s consigned to a life of secrecy and solitude; he can ask
anyone a question and lie if he must, but he’s forbidden from
sharing the details of his role. The other people in the
community wouldn’t understand since they do not experience
pain, intense feelings, or collective memories as Jonas and the
Giver do.
As Jonas’s training progresses, he feels increasingly alienated

from his family and friends. They only experience mild emotions,
and they continue to value the order, control, and predictability
that help the community run smoothly. Meanwhile, Jonas feels
emotions more deeply than before and begins to question some
of the community’s values. He starts to see the value in making
choices for oneself, even when risk is involved, and why one
might want to pay attention to differences. He starts thinking
about the meaning of freedom and pondering what life might be
like outside the community. He learns what love is, but his
family members can’t comprehend the concept. Jonas gives his
love to those who seem to need and understand it the most: the
Giver and baby Gabriel. To help Gabriel sleep soundly, Jonas
transmits calming memories to the boy each night. Jonas knows
this is against the rules, but he doesn’t want Gabriel to be
released.
The Giver becomes like a grandfather to Jonas. In addition to

providing guidance, he loves and cares about the future
Receiver. The Giver helps Jonas deal with the pain and sadness
he’s experiencing through difficult memories and the isolating
nature of the Receiver role. He also shares wisdom from his life,
including a heartbreaking situation from 10 years earlier. The
community leaders selected a girl named Rosemary to become
the next Receiver. Rosemary happened to be the Giver’s
daughter. Partway through the training, after she started
receiving heart-wrenching memories, she applied for release.
The Giver never saw her again, but he did see a recording of her
release. He learned that release is not simply sending someone
to Elsewhere, as he had been told. Release involves a lethal
injection, and Rosemary delivered her own. The Giver believes
he failed his daughter, himself, and the community. After
Rosemary died, the memories she stored came flooding back to
the rest of the community, whose members were not equipped
to deal with them. Because of this incident, Receivers can no
longer apply for release.
When Jonas tells the Giver that he wants to see his father
prepare a twin baby for release, he gets more than he bargained
for. The recording shows that Jonas’s father did not do the
things he claimed he would do to help the baby, such as making
him clean and comfortable. Jonas watches his father administer
the lethal injection to the helpless infant, and then toss the
child’s body in a trash bin. Jonas feels betrayed and
overwhelmed by anger. He realizes that the gentle, caring
father he knew is a farce, and that release is a form of killing.
Jonas knows he cannot stay in the community, so he and the
Giver plot a plan for his escape. Jonas will flee the community in
two weeks, in the dark of night. The Giver will stay behind to
help the community deal with the memories that come flooding
back.
The plan disintegrates when Jonas learns that Gabriel will be

released the next day, despite all the progress he has made over
the past year. He places Gabriel in the child seat on his father’s
bike and pedals over the river, away from the community. He is
not afraid of the changes his new life will hold or the
uncertainty it will bring, but he worries that he won’t be able to
keep Gabriel safe, especially as search planes fly overhead.
Jonas transmits soothing memories to the baby to help him sleep
during difficult parts of the journey and memories of snow to
cool him so that the planes’ heat sensors don’t detect his
presence.
Eventually the airplanes disappear, and the landscape begins to

change. New problems arise for the escaped duo. Food has
become scarce, and Jonas and Gabriel grow cold and weak.
Jonas tries to warm the shivering child with wisps of memories
about sunshine. He receives a burst of strength when he
experiences his first memories of his very own: recollections
about his family, friends, and the Giver. Jonas and Gabriel then
find a sled that looks like the one from Jonas’s first received
memory. They begin descending a hill, and Jonas thinks he sees
the house from the Christmas scene that taught him about love.
He hears music and feels hopeful that someone there is waiting
for him and Gabriel.
Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary
Jonas, The Giver’s central character, is trying to find the right
words to describe how he feels. He will soon turn 12 years old,
which comes with many changes and new responsibilities in the
community he calls home. Using language precisely is important
in this community. Jonas wonders if he’s experiencing fright,
that “deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to
happen” (1). He recalls a time he felt frightened a year earlier.
An unidentified aircraft flew over the community, and everyone
was ordered to take shelter. This announcement was made over
the loudspeakers that fill the community. The loudspeakers are
a way for the community’s Speaker to communicate important
commands and reminders. Jonas remembers seeing empty
streets and abandoned bicycles. The silence terrified him, as did
the uncertainty. It turned out that an inexperienced pilot had
made a wrong turn. The Speaker announced that the pilot would
be “released” (2)from the community. Jonas explains that this is
“a final decision, a terrible punishment, an overwhelming
statement of failure” (2). Jonas decides that “apprehensive” (4)is
the most accurate term for his current state of mind.
At the end of dinner, Jonas’s family members share their

feelings from the day. This is a ritual they perform each night.
His 7-year-old sister, Lily, says she felt angry when another
child at her childcare center broke the rules on the playground.
He was part of a group of children visiting from another
community. Jonas and Lily’s mother point out that this
community may have different rules from their own. Lily recalls
visiting this child’s community the prior year, and that she felt
“strange” and “stupid” (6)because the customs and rules were
unfamiliar. She realizes that this child may have felt the same
way and decides she’s no longer angry. Jonas’s father shares his
feelings from his job as a Nurturer. He cares for the
community’s babies, or "newchildren." Jonas’s father says he’s
working with “a sweet little male with a lovely disposition”
(7)who isn’t growing or sleeping well. If the child does not
improve soon, he will be released. Release is usually a
punishment, but not in the case of newchildren and the elderly:
“Release of newchildren was always sad, because they hadn’t
had a chance to enjoy life within the community yet. And they
hadn’t done anything wrong” (7). Jonas’s father suspects the
baby “needs something extra” (8)and says he’s going to request
permission to bring the child home at night.
Lily asks if they could keep the baby, but she is reminded that
each family unit is assigned just one male child and one female
child. Community members are assigned spouses as well. Babies
considered unfit for assignment to families are released, and
this brings about “a sense of what-could-we-have-done” (7).
Jonas’s mother explains that she feels something similar in her
work with repeat offenders at the Department of Justice. Jonas
doesn’t want to share his feelings this evening but keeping them
to himself is not allowed. He says he’s "apprehensive" (9) about
the Ceremony of Twelve, the ritual that marks his transition into
adult life and work. Jonas’s parents send Lily to bed so that they
can speak with him in private.
Chapter 2 Summary
Ceremonies happen each December for the community’s
children. For instance, all 50 children born in the previous year
become "Ones" during the Ceremony of One—if none of them
have been released. After being assigned a number at birth,
each child receives a name and a family at this
ceremony. Jonas learns that his father peeked at the name the
struggling baby will receive at this ceremony if he is not
released. The baby’s name is Gabriel. Jonas’s father hopes that
by using this name with the child at home, he can help him
thrive.
Jonas is surprised that his father has broken a rule. This rarely
happens in the community, except in the case of bicycles.
Children receive bikes when they become "Nines" and aren’t
supposed to ride them before this. However, many kids help
their younger siblings learn how to use them beforehand. Jonas
is helping Lily learn how to ride a bike already. There has been
talk of lowering the age for bicycle assignment, but rules are
difficult to change in this society. If a rule is important, the
community’s most important elder, the Receiver, must weigh in
on it. The narrator explains that the Receiver lives alone, and
the Committee of Elders doesn’t bother him with nonessential
questions. Jonas has never seen the Receiver.
At the Ceremony of Twelve, the last of the childhood

ceremonies, each child receives a job assignment for his or her
adult life. Soon afterward, they begin training for these jobs and
age doesn’t matter much anymore. Jonas’s father says he wasn’t
overly nervous about his Ceremony of Twelve because he had a
good sense of what his assignment would be. He had spent most
of his volunteer hours at the Nurturing Center because he had
“always loved the newchildren more than anything” (15), and
the community’s elders had observed that he had an aptitude
for newborn care. The position also seemed like a good fit for
his quiet, shy nature. Jonas has also seen the elders observing
his own activities, taking notes, and talking with his teachers.
Jonas’s father says that the elders make careful decisions about
job assignments, and citizens are usually satisfied with the roles
they are given. Plus, if they are disappointed in their
assignments, there is an appeal process. However, appeals
usually result in the Committee of Elders doing a study that
does not produce quick results. Jonas wonders what assignment
his friend Asher will receive. Asher is lots of fun but lacks
serious interests, so Jonas is concerned. Even though he feels
reassured when his parents describe the care with which the
elders assign jobs, Jonas knows he might feel uneasy tomorrow
because he has no idea what his assignment will be.
Other changes follow the Ceremony of Twelve. As the children

begin preparing for their adult lives and occupations, they no
longer spend their days with all of the other kids their age. They
no longer log volunteer hours, they play less frequently, and
their friendships aren’t as close. School continues, but it isn’t as
important as it was before. The children are expected to adjust,
just as they do after other ceremonies that come with important
changes. For instance, when children become "Eights," each
must give up his or her comfort object, a special toy assigned at
birth. Lily had a stuffed elephant for a comfort object, and Jonas
had a bear. They perceive these toys as “imaginary creatures”
(19)because they have never seen animals.
Chapter 3 Summary
Gabriel, the newchild in danger of release, comes to stay with
Jonas’s family in the evenings. Lily points out that the baby has
the same kind of “funny” (20)eyes as Jonas. Nearly everyone in
the community has dark eyes, but Jonas, Gabriel, and a handful
of others have "pale eyes" (20) that give them a look of “depth”
(21). Lily wonders if Jonas and Gabriel have the same
birthmother. Lily’s comments are considered impertinent.
Although avoiding such commentary is not a rule, it is
“considered rude to call attention to things that were unsettling
or different about individuals” (20). For this reason, no one does
it. Similarly, people are rarely singled out when being
reprimanded. When Jonas saved an apple from snack time
instead of eating it right away, the Speaker reminded all male
Elevens that this is not allowed. Jonas knows that he is required
to apologize in such instances, so he does.
Lily thinks Gabriel is adorable and comments that she would

like to be a Birthmother. Her mother tells her never to say this
again, that Birthmother is an assignment with little honor. Each
Birthmother bears three children that she doesn’t get to see.
Even though she is pampered while pregnant, she must perform
hard physical labor after her childbearing duties are finished.
This continues until she enters the House of the Old. Lily’s
father says she might be a good Nurturer and suggests that she
volunteer at the Nurturing Center. All children must start
volunteering when they become Eights, as she is about to do.
Jonas recalls a strange incident involving the apple from the
snack basket. When he and Asher were playing catch with the
piece of fruit, it appeared to change in midair. It was something
else for an instant before resuming its usual state. Jonas asks
Asher if he noticed anything odd about the apple. Asher did not.
Jonas studies the apple under a magnifying glass and rolls it
around, but there is “absolutely nothing remarkable about [it]”
(24). It did not change size or shape, and it’s the same dull
shade as before. Nevertheless, Jonas feels uneasy. He tries to
forget the incident, but this is difficult.
Chapters 1-3 Analysis
At the start of the book, it’s hard to tell where Jonas lives. The
narrator mentions the fear Jonas experienced when an airplane
flew over the community, and it seems that Jonas might live in a
time and place when air raids were common. Then the narrator
shares some positive qualities about the community, such as the
habit of sharing feelings after dinner. This seems to be a way
that Jonas’s family members support and bond with each other.
The community’s interest in precise language seems to exist so
people communicate what they’re feeling accurately enough
that they can help one another effectively. The community also
seems like a caring place since Jonas’s father shows interest in
providing extra nurturing to a struggling baby. Author Lois
Lowry’s strategy of frontloading positive details allows her to
surprise readers with negative details later. Once she has
convinced them that the community is a nurturing nest, she
starts to reveal its dark side. This shift makes the community’s
not-so-desirable aspects seem especially worrisome.
Jonas’s community starts to seem ominous when the narrator

mentions the strictness of the rules and the distaste for
difference. The reader learns that Jonas is sometimes uneasy
about the way the rules are enforced. The way he is called out
for saving an apple from snack time seems passive-aggressive
and overly harsh. It’s not clear why it’s so bad to save an apple
for later, or why the Speaker must remind all 11-year-old boys
about the snack rules when someone could just take Jonas aside
for a quiet discussion. Additionally, Jonas’s experience of seeing
an apple turn into something else is mysterious. It’s unclear
if The Giver will be a cautionary tale about rule-making and
rule-breaking or a fantasy involving magic and other
supernatural powers.
The narrator’s discussion of Jonas’s "pale eyes" (20)

underscores the theme of uniformity versus variety. Not only is
it rare to have pale eyes, but pale eyes seem to give him special
powers of perception. The community’s residents are
encouraged to downplay differences, yet it seems that this
distinguishing feature is likely to be an asset, a liability, or
perhaps both for Jonas. He may perceive and understand more
than the average community member, which may afford him
unknown advantages and opportunities. Similarly, it may
influence what job the community elders select for him.

Chapter 4 Summary
Children ages 8 to 11 are required to complete a specified
number of volunteer hours, and they may choose where to
volunteer. If they do not fulfill this requirement, they do not
receive a job assignment when they turn 12. If a child finds
himself in this situation, it “cloud[s] his entire future” (28).
When they do eventually complete enough hours, they receive
the assignment in private, without a ceremony. Jonas considers
the choice of where to volunteer as a freedom, “a wonderful
luxury,” since “other hours of the day [are] so carefully
regulated” (26). He has volunteered at many different places,
and he is glad he has experienced the differences among various
types of work. Volunteering also helps the children build skills
and discover their occupational interests and aptitudes. Jonas
knows some children have an outstanding aptitude for certain
types of work. However, even children who have accomplished
great things in their volunteer work can’t talk about it very
openly, for there is “never any comfortable way to mention or
discuss one’s successes without breaking the rule against
bragging, even if one didn’t mean to” (27).
Jonas meets his friend Fiona at the House of the Old, her
favorite place to volunteer. The House of the Old is described as
“a serene and slow-paced place, unlike the busy centers of
manufacture and distribution where the daily work of the
community occurred” (28-29). He and Fiona bathe an elderly
woman named Larissa. Citizens of the community are not
allowed to look at other people’s "nakedness" (30). Even an
accidental glimpse while changing clothes necessitates an
apology. The nakedness rule does not apply to babies and the
elderly, who may need assistance with activities such as
dressing and bathing. Jonas notices how warm and safe the
bathing room feels, and how much Larissa trusts the bathing
assistants. She tells Jonas and Fiona about an old man named
Roberto who was released that morning. Before his release, his
life and accomplishments were described in great detail.
Roberto looked happy when he was escorted through a door,
into the Releasing Room. Children and the residents of the
House of the Old do not get to see what happens in this room,
and Larissa is unsure why. She thinks that release must be
wonderful. She also mentions a woman named Edna and how
the people in charge “tried to make her life sound meaningful”
(31), even though she was a Birthmother who never had a family
unit. Larissa then tempers her statement, stressing that all lives
are meaningful.
Chapter 5 Summary
Each morning, families perform a ritual that involves sharing
their dreams from the night before. Jonas seldom dreams, but
he had a vivid dream the night before. He is required to speak
about it, just as he is required to talk about his feelings after
dinner. Jonas doesn’t want to share his dream because he’s still
trying to make sense of it.
Jonas’s mother and sister describe dreams about the terror that
accompanies transgressions. When Jonas’s turn arrives, he feels
embarrassed as he starts to talk. He and Fiona are back in the
bathing room at the House of the Old, and he is trying to
convince her to disrobe so that he can bathe her. He feels
slightly angry because she doesn’t seem to take him seriously.
The dream was filled with a “wanting” (36), he says, and a sense
that he shouldn’t feel this way. The community calls these types
of desires "Stirrings" (37), and the Speaker often spouts
reminders that Stirrings must be reported for treatment.
Stirrings start happening when people are about Jonas’s age, at
which point they must take a daily pill to quell them. Jonas
knows that Asher takes the pills, although he has never asked
him about it directly: “It was the sort of thing one didn’t ask a
friend about because it might have fallen into that
uncomfortable category of ‘being different’” (38). Jonas is aware
that the dream about Fiona brought him pleasure, but the pill
will make that feeling seem distant.
Chapter 6 Summary
Children wear uniforms that indicate their age and the degree
of independence they’ve earned. For instance, Sixes wear
jackets that close in back so that they have to help each other
get dressed. Receiving jackets with buttons in the front is “the
first sign of independence, the very first visible symbol of
growing up” (40). The bicycles Nines receive symbolize that
they are moving closer to adulthood and farther from the
families that have raised them. In becoming an
Eight, Lily receives a jacket with pockets to show that she is
mature enough to keep track of small belongings.
Gabriel is not headed to the ceremonies with Jonas’s family. He

is back at the Nurturing Center. The Committee of Elders has
done something unusual: it has given him an additional year of
nurturing before he is either named and placed with a family or
released from the community. Jonas’s father went before the
committee to plead on the baby’s behalf. A baby would normally
be labeled "Inadequate" (42) and released if, like Gabriel, he
was growing slowly and struggling to sleep through the
night. Jonas and his family members had to pledge that they
won’t get attached to Gabriel and will not protest when he is
assigned to another family. Jonas hopes that Gabriel eventually
gets to live with another family because that way he’ll still see
the child from time to time. People who are released are “sent
Elsewhere and never returned to the community” (43).
During the Ceremony of One, the audience gets stirred up about

a newchild named Caleb. He is a replacement for a 4-year-old
named Caleb who was “lost” (44)in the river. Losing a child is
an extremely rare occurrence in this safe community that
carefully watches over its young members. When the first Caleb
was lost, there was a ceremony where the community’s citizens
murmured his name throughout the day, saying it more softly
and less often as the hours went by. In doing this, the boy
“seemed to fade away gradually from everyone’s consciousness”
(44). As the new Caleb is introduced, the community murmurs
his name more loudly and frequently. A young Roberto is
introduced as well, but he does not receive a murmuring
ceremony. The old Roberto was released, not lost, so the young
one is not considered a replacement.
The narrator notes that children’s transgressions—even small

ones—reflect negatively on their parents, suggesting that the
parents have provided inadequate guidance. They also disrupt
“the community’s sense of order and success” (46). Asher tells
Jonas a story about the ultimate transgression: escaping the
community. He says there was once a boy who swam across the
river, to another community, because he was so upset with the
job assignment he received at the Ceremony of Twelve. He
never returned, and there was no Ceremony of Release. Jonas
thinks this story is false, but Asher’s mother says that someone
did leave the community and never returned. People may also
“apply for Elsewhere and be released” (48)if they do not fit in.
Jonas wonders how someone might not fit in. There is such a
high degree of order and careful decision-making in the
community, especially concerning things such as the assignment
of spouses. He is confident that the elders will choose the right
job for him—and even for Asher.
Jonas likes the physical closeness he experiences with Larissa in
the bathing room, as well as the comfort of this quiet space of
caretaking. Like calling attention to differences, being
physically close to another person other than a family member
is discouraged in the community. However, it is allowed when
taking care of infants and the elderly. Jonas can’t understand
why it’s allowed for these two groups of people but not for
others. He begins to see why physical closeness might be
discouraged when he returns to the bathing area in a dream and
wants Fiona to remove her clothes. The "Stirrings" come with a
strong desire to do something that is not permitted in the
community, and it feels good as well. Keeping a distance from
others is one way to prevent a transgression, and taking pills to
squelch Stirrings is another.
Larissa’s statement about trying to make a not-so-meaningful

life sound meaningful reveals that she probably doesn’t see all
community members as equal. Despite the community’s efforts
to minimize differences, status still makes some people seem
more valuable than others. The person with the not-so-
meaningful life had a low-status job and no family unit, so
Larissa looks down upon her. Even though Larissa tempers her
statement, noting that all lives have meaning, she seems to do
this so she won’t get in trouble, or perhaps because she feels
guilty, not because she truly believes in equality.
Chapter 6 sheds light on the role of rituals in the community.

When a small child drowns in the river, the community does a
murmuring ritual to erase him from its collective memory. Then
a replacement child with the same name is introduced in
another murmuring ceremony. This practice suggests that the
community sees individuals as replaceable, and perhaps as
interchangeable. The ritual does not emphasize anything unique
about the child or even mention that he had value. It also shows
that the community will go to great lengths to minimize pain
and suffering, even if it means forgetting a young life. It is the
strength of these emotions that seems most bothersome to the
community. Medicating Stirrings into submission is a way of
dealing with a strong and pleasurable feeling, while murmuring
a memory into oblivion is a way of dealing with a strong and
negative feeling.

Chapter 7 Summary
At each yearly ceremony, the children are arranged by the
numbers they received at birth. Jonas is number 19, so he is one
of the older children in the group of 50. Birth numbers are
seldom used after children receive names. However, birth order
matters at the Ceremony of Twelve. Children receive
assignments in the order they were born.
The Chief Elder, a community leader elected every 10 years,

makes the first speech at the Ceremony of Twelve. She also
announces the job assignments. The Chief Elder begins her
speech by commenting on the hallmarks of childhood,
discussing the impending responsibilities of adulthood, and
reflecting on the importance of assignments. She notes that the
assignment of jobs is a rare instance when the community
acknowledges differences. Prior to receiving assignments, the
children are focused on minimizing differences. They are urged
to standardize their behavior, to fit in.
When it is time to reveal Asher’s assignment, the Chief Elder

shares an anecdote about how he had trouble using language
precisely as a young child. Small children who do not follow the
rules get smacked with a discipline wand that causes their skin
to sting. One time, Asher said he wanted a smack when he
meant to say snack. Since “precision of language was one of the
most important tasks of small children” (55), he had to be
disciplined with the wand. Asher struggled so much with
language as a Three that he stopped talking for a while.
However, he eventually improved and became known for his
cheerful disposition, a quality that helped the elders assign him
the job of Assistant Director of Recreation. Fiona, a gentle and
sensitive girl, is assigned to be a Caretaker of the Old. The Chief
Elder thanks each child for his or her childhood after
announcing the job assignment.
The narrator notes that some assignments require much more

training than others, and some jobs have more status than
others. Once again, Birthmother is singled out as a job that is
high in importance but low in status. When the Chief Elder skips
over Jonas in the announcement of assignments, he is shocked
and deeply worried. He fears that being skipped signals a low-
status assignment or something worse: punishment. Jonas
wonders what he did wrong and can’t bring himself to look at
his parents: “He couldn’t bear to see their faces darkened with
shame” (58).
Chapter 8 Summary
The audience at the Ceremony of Twelve is also deeply troubled
when the Chief Elder skips Jonas. After all of the anticipation,
excitement, and pride leading up to the ceremony, Jonas now
feels terror and humiliation. The Chief Elder senses the anxiety
in the room and apologizes for causing it. She also apologizes
specifically to Jonas, an unusual choice in a community so
averse to recognizing differences. She says he hasn’t been
assigned a job; instead, he has been “selected” (60)for an
extremely special role: Receiver of Memory. The community
only has one Receiver, so this selection is extraordinarily rare.
The outgoing Receiver must train the incoming one. The current
Receiver is one of the community’s elders, “a man Jonas had
never noticed before, a bearded man with pale eyes” (61).
The Chief Elder notes that the Committee of Elders failed the
last time they chose a Receiver. Jonas doesn’t know what she’s
talking about but notices that the crowd is uneasy when she
mentions this: “We could not afford another failure. […] I will
not dwell on the experience because it causes us all terrible
discomfort” (61). She goes on to explain that Receiver is the
“most honored” job in the community and that Jonas must be
“alone, apart, while he is prepared by the current Receiver for
the job” (61). This makes Jonas feel uneasy. He can’t make
sense of what this job selection means and wonders if he should
insist there’s been a mistake: “He did not know what he was to
become. Or what would become of him” (64).
The Chief Elder says that Jonas’s "intelligence,""integrity," and

"courage" (62) made him a prime candidate for this position.
She tells Jonas that the training involves physical pain,
something he has never truly experienced. She says he’ll
experience “pain of a magnitude that none of us here can
comprehend because it is beyond our experience” (63). Even the
Receiver is unable to describe it. She says the community
cannot prepare him for this pain. Jonas does not feel courageous
when he hears this news. The Chief Elder says Jonas will also
develop "wisdom," an attribute essential to the Receiver role,
and that he possesses another quality unique to Receivers: “the
Capacity to See Beyond” (63). When she says this, he recalls the
unusual incident where the apple turned into something else. At
this moment, he starts to believe he is supposed to be the
Receiver. The crowd chants his name, softly at first, and then
louder and faster. This chant fills Jonas with pride and tells him
that the community accepts him as the new Receiver.
Chapter 9 Summary
For the first time, Jonas feels set apart from the rest of the
community. Jonas’s parents tell him that they’re very proud.
Jonas wants to know how the Committee of Elders failed in
selecting a Receiver a decade earlier. His parents say that they
don’t know what became of her, and that they never saw her
again after she was selected. Her name must never be spoken in
the community, a type of shunning that indicates “the highest
degree of disgrace” (67). They emphasize that the position is a
great honor.
In his room, Jonas opens his training folder to see what he’ll be
learning from the current Receiver. Most of the other Twelves’
folders have many more materials in them; Jonas’s has just one
sheet of paper. It tells him he no longer needs to follow the
community’s rules about "rudeness," he “may ask any question
of any citizen,” and “[he] will receive answers” (68). Jonas also
learns that he can’t discuss his training with other community
members, not even his parents or elders other than the
Receiver. He needs to go to his training at the Annex after
school each day and report back to his dwelling immediately
afterward. Jonas can’t talk about his dreams anymore, and he
may not apply for release. He must also refuse medication
unless it is unrelated to his Receiver duties. Finally, Jonas is
allowed to lie.
Jonas is startled by some of these new rules, especially the ones

about rudeness and lying. He can’t remember being tempted to
lie before, and he wonders if others had been given permission
to lie in their job instructions. Jonas could ask them if they were
lying, “[b]ut he would have no way of knowing if the answer he
received were true” (71). Jonas also worries about the
medication prohibition, especially considering the pain the Chief
Elder warned him about. He recalls a time he crushed his finger
in a door and recalls how medication made the pain go away. He
tries to imagine what the pain in his future will feel like without
medication, but “it was beyond his comprehension” (70). He
doesn’t feel much of anything about being prohibited from
applying for release, as doing this has never occurred to him
before.
In describing Asher’s early struggles with language, the
narrator notes that the boy “had asked for a smack” (55). This
explanation can be read two ways. Asher literally requested a
smack when he meant to say snack, but he had also asked for a
smack in the sense that he did something to deserve this
punishment. Even a young child with limited language
experience is deserving of punishment in this society, a fact that
may seem cruel and unusual to the reader. The narrator’s
comment that Asher stopped talking because he was smacked
so frequently makes the practice seem even more troubling. The
community adamantly maintains its "precision of language" (55)
rule to such a degree that it is not looking out for a child’s best
interest; harm is permissible if it promotes order and preserves
the status quo. This is an about-face from earlier in the book,
when precision of language seemed like a way to help people
understand one another better to provide support effectively.
Torture is also a theme in the description of the Ceremony of

Twelve. Jonas feels tortured when the Chief Elder skips over
him in the job-assignment portion of the ceremony. One reason
he reacts this way is because skipping him is a way of calling
attention to him. Although other children are being assigned
jobs, the crowd is paying the most attention to Jonas and Jonas
alone. Ironically, the role the Chief Elder gives him, Receiver of
Memory, comes with even more separation. In this position,
Jonas is expected to spend the majority of his time alone, doing
something physically and emotionally difficult, and then never
talking about the experience with others. At the same time, he
will be regarded a highly honored elder in the community,
someone who cannot fade into the crowd.

Chapter 10 Summary
Jonas is surprised to see the Annex’s attendant stand when he
enters; no one has ever done this for him before. He hears the
click of a door unlocking, an unusual occurrence since “[n]o
doors in the community were locked, ever. None that Jonas
knew of, anyway” (72). The attendant tells Jonas that the locks
are for the Receiver’s privacy, because he needs to concentrate.
He notices that the furnishings in the Receiver’s home are
similar to the standard furnishing in his dwelling and many
others, but a touch fancier. The most obvious difference is the
book collection, which is large and varied. Jonas never knew so
many books existed because he wasn’t allowed to see books
other than those in his dwelling. He wonders if any of these
books talk about the rules of other communities.
Jonas stares into the Receiver’s pale eyes, which look like his
own. He sees that the Receiver is looking back at him with
“interest, curiosity, concern, and perhaps a little sympathy as
well” (75). As of this day, Jonas is the Receiver, he says. Jonas
notices that the outgoing Receiver is particularly old, so he
responds as respectfully as possible since elderly people are
“always given the highest respect” (76). The Receiver claims
he’s not as old as he looks, explaining that the difficult and
painful work of the job has aged him. He is also very tired. The
elder Receiver invites Jonas to ask questions but explains that
he doesn’t have much experience describing the Receiver role
since it is forbidden to discuss. He notes that his job is
important and honored but emphasizes that he is not perfect:
“[W]hen I tried before to train a successor, I failed” (77).
The elder Receiver explains that the role involves holding “the
memories of the whole world” (77)including those from the
distant past and other places. He will transmit these memories
to Jonas, who will hold them until another Receiver is selected
in the future. The idea of generations past baffles Jonas: “I
thought there was only us. I thought there was only now” (78).
The outgoing receiver says he experiences the memories
repeatedly while alone in his room. This is how he gains wisdom
that is needed for the future, but the memories are a heavy load
to bear as well. When preparing to transmit a memory to Jonas
for the first time, the old Receiver switches the speaker off,
which astonishes Jonas. Having the power to do such a thing
seems incredible.
Jonas begins to receive a pleasant memory of snow. The

outgoing Receiver shares this memory after comparing the
heaviness of his job to the buildup of snow on a sled: “At first
it’s exhilarating: the speed; the sharp, clear air; but then the
snow accumulates, builds up on the runners, and you slow, you
have to push hard to keep going” (78). After making this
comparison, he realizes that Jonas has no concept of snow,
sleds, or even hills, so he transmits a memory to give him this
understanding. He does this by placing his hands on Jonas’s
back.
Chapter 11 Summary
As the memory of snow is transmitted, the old Receiver’s hands
start to feel cold, as does Jonas’s breath. Before long, he doesn’t
feel the Receiver’s touch, just the sensation of the snow. Part of
him is aware that his body is in the Receiver’s dwelling, and
another part is sitting on a sled. Although his eyes are
closed, Jonas can see what is going on. His new consciousness
allows him to understand. He knows he’s going down something
called a hill on something called a sled: “No voice made an
explanation. The experience explained itself to him” (81). Before
long, he opens his eyes and sees that he’s back on a bed.
Jonas asks why the community they live in has no snow, sleds,
or hills. The outgoing Receiver says that this memory is dated,
before the time the community instituted Climate Control. Snow
made it hard to grow food, and weather could also hamper
transportation, he explains: “It wasn’t a practical thing, so it
became obsolete when we went to Sameness”(84). Both he and
Jonas wish that snow and the wonders that accompany it still
existed, but the old Receiver explains that they don’t have the
power to make snow return:“I have great honor. So will you. But
you will find that that is not the same as power” (84).
When the elder Receiver transmits a memory to Jonas, it leaves

him, providing relief. He tells Jonas that he’s only transmitted
pleasant memories so far, but that he will have to share painful
ones soon. He has waited to do this because his “previous
failure gave him the wisdom to do that” (85). Jonas then
receives his first painful memory, which involves getting
sunburned. Jonas says it hurt a lot, but that he now has a better
understanding of pain. Before the training is done for the day,
the old Receiver tells Jonas to call him “The Giver” (87).
Chapter 12 Summary
Unlike baby Gabriel, Jonas sleeps soundly during the night. He
dreams of sliding down a snow-covered hill, toward a
destination he couldn’t quite perceive. He awakes feeling the
need to reach a “welcoming” (88) and “significant” (89) place in
the distance, but also unsure how to get there. He does not
share this dream with his family because he no longer needs to
and because they wouldn’t understand anyway. They have no
concept of things like snow and hills.
Jonas meets Fiona at the House of the Old. She explains that
even the old get punished for disobedience. Like the small
children, they are smacked with the discipline wand. Jonas is
seeing beyond progressively more often. While chatting with
Fiona, Jonas has another experience of this type: “[I]t wasn’t
Fiona in her entirety. It seemed to be just her hair. And just for
that flickering instant” (90-91). The length and shape of her hair
are the same, but something else is different. Jonas asks the
Giver about it. Jonas learns that he perceived the color of
Fiona’s hair. It is red, similar to the sled he rode and the apple
he tossed. The Giver says that people used to see many colors,
and flesh came in a variety of shades before Sameness was
instituted. When people chose Sameness, they chose to not see
color anymore: “We gained control of things. But we had to let
go of others”(95). Jonas says this was a mistake, and the Giver is
startled by the force and confidence in the boy’s reaction.
Unlike most people, the Giver sees the full range of colors all
the time and says Jonas will someday, too. Right now, Jonas only
sees red for a few moments at a time. “We’ve never completely
mastered Sameness” (95), the Giver remarks, noting that
Fiona’s hair color is unusual. He then gives Jonas a memory of a
rainbow.
The Giver lives alone in the Annex, where he has somewhat
fancier furnishings than those of an ordinary community
member. This suggests, once again, that the community does
not regard everyone as equal. One unique feature of his
dwelling is the books. There’s a vast collection of them, and they
cover a great many topics that most community members have
never heard about. Only the Giver and other Receivers are
allowed to see and use these books; others must not know of
their existence. It seems that the community’s leaders know that
awareness of history and differences is useful, even necessary,
but that they regard it as too dangerous for public consumption.
Likewise, the Receiver’s wisdom is useful and necessary, but it’s
viewed as too risky for everyone to have.
Before the Giver shares a memory with Jonas for the first time,
Jonas learns that the community switched to a system of
"Sameness" (84) years ago to make life more manageable. Jonas
must learn what hills and snow are from a memory because the
community has removed these things from the environment in
the name of convenience and efficiency. The reader also
discovers that the community’s residents gave up color when
they committed to Sameness. This choice is symbolic: in
draining the color from life, they also drained its vibrancy. With
no highs and lows of landscape or emotion, no significant
variation in hues or temperatures, they have robbed themselves
of excitement and beauty.
Jonas experiences the exhilaration that accompanies differences

when he rides a sled in his first received memory. It is such a
meaningful experience that it makes him think differently about
"differences" (95). After another experience with color—the
incident with Fiona’s hair—he concludes that the community
should not have adopted Sameness. From here, he begins to see
other ways the community should change as well.

Chapter 13 Summary
Jonas begins seeing all of the colors in his everyday life, but
they’re still flashes of color that return to a “flat and hueless
shade” (97). Jonas finds this unfair, remarking that Sameness
comes with a disappointing lack of choices. He thinks he wants
more choices to be available, and that the act of choosing is
what matters most. Jonas discusses his frustration with the
Giver, noting that Gabriel should be able to choose a red toy or
a yellow one. The Giver points out that the baby might make a
poor choice, and Jonas realizes that making decisions is a risky
activity. He wonders what might happen if someone chose the
wrong spouse or job. Protecting people from poor choices
increases safety, Jonas concludes, but he still feels frustrated.
Jonas is experiencing anger more often than before. Sometimes

it’s irrational anger at classmates for being “satisfied with their
lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on”
(99). Other times he feels angry that he can’t give him this
vibrance. Jonas starts trying to share his new awareness with
his loved ones, even though he’s not supposed to. He doesn't tell
the Giver. Jonas touches Asher in an attempt to transmit
awareness of how red some flowers are, but Asher is bothered
because it’s “extremely rude for one citizen to touch another
outside of family units” (99). He also tries to transmit
knowledge of elephants to Lily, who has no understanding of
animals. She dislikes this as well. Jonas’s knowledge of
elephants comes from a troubling memory he has just received.
He hears guns and shouting and a terrible thud when a group of
men slaughter an elephant. Another elephant observes the
scene, traumatized. It emits “a sound of rage and grief”
(100)that seems endless.
The Giver tells Jonas how he used to have a spouse. She now
lives with the Childless Adults, as Jonas’s own parents will when
he and Lily are grown up. The Giver says Jonas may apply for a
spouse, but that maintaining this relationship will be
challenging because he will have to keep secrets from her. For
instance, he won’t be able to show her his books, which the
other citizens aren’t allowed to see. He also won’t be able to
talk about his Receiver work with her. This is challenging
because the role is such a large part of a Receiver’s life. The
Giver also explains how Jonas will customarily receive a new set
of rules when his training is complete: “Those are the rules that
I obey” (103).
Once Jonas is the official Receiver, he will be tasked with

advising the Committee of Elders when they must decide about
something they haven’t experienced. Using his memories as a
guide, Jonas will make recommendations about how to proceed.
The Giver says this happens infrequently: “Sometimes I wish
they’d ask for my wisdom more often—there are so many things
I could tell them; things I wish they would change. But they
don’t want change. Life here is so orderly, so predictable—so
painless” (103). Jonas wonders if a Receiver is actually needed,
and the Giver says this need was made clear 10 years earlier.
When the new Receiver failed, the entire community began
experiencing the memories she’d been holding. Chaos and
suffering ensued but finally died down as the memories were
“assimilated” (104).
Jonas wonders why the Giver must suffer in this way all the
time. The Giver says that without these memories, there is no
meaning, but that holding all of the memories of history is an
impossible burden. Jonas begins to realize the irony of the honor
that comes with being the Receiver. Some days the Giver is in
too much pain to transmit memories. Jonas worries about the
Giver and wonders what exists beyond their community. One
day he asks the Giver what causes him this terrible pain. The
Giver decides to give Jonas one of the memories that hurts him
so.
Chapter 14 Summary
The painful memory begins with a sled going downhill.
As Jonas loses control of the sled, he realizes he is “no longer
enjoying the feeling of freedom but instead, terrified, was at the
mercy of the wild acceleration downward over the ice” (108). He
is thrown from the sled, and his leg breaks as he hits the
ground. The pain is intense. He screams, but no one answers.
He bleeds and vomits. When he returns to the Giver’s home,
Jonas asks for pain relief, even though he knows this is not
allowed. He longs for the “instantaneous deliverance” (109)of
medication, but instead he must suffer. The pain lingers, but he
tries to be brave. As he listens to his family laughing while
bathing Gabriel, he realizes that they’ve never felt pain and
feels very alone.
Each day of training now includes a horrible memory followed

by a pleasant one. The agony of the broken leg seems benign as
Jonas experiences the “deep and terrible suffering of the past”
(110). He experiences the torture of being neglected and unfed
and again asks the Giver why they must hold such memories.
The Giver reminds Jonas that they’re a source of wisdom:
“Without wisdom I could not fulfill my function of advising the
Committee of Elders when they call upon me” (111). The Giver
relates a story from several years ago, when many citizens
asked the elders to have each Birthmother deliver four babies
instead of three. The Giver considered his memories of
starvation when the population grew too large and the warfare
that resulted. He then advised them not to increase the
population. The elders also sought the Giver’s advice when the
airplane flew over the community. They were prepared to shoot
it down, but the Giver told them to wait because he recalled
times “when people had destroyed others in haste, in fear, and
had brought about their own destruction” (112).
Jonas asks the Giver why the rest of the community can’t have
these awful memories. That way, it wouldn’t be so much for one
person to bear, he reasons. The Giver agrees but says that
everyone would then feel pain and burden: “[T]hat’s the real
reason the Receiver is so vital to them, and so honored. They
selected me—and you—to lift that burden from themselves”
(113). The unfairness of this arrangement angers Jonas. He
insists that he and the Giver change it. The Giver says he hasn’t
figured out how, despite all his wisdom, and that this decision
was made long ago.
At home, Gabriel is growing well and meeting his developmental

milestones, but he’s still crying during the night and therefore
needs a lot of attention. Jonas’s father mentions that there’s a
Birthmother preparing to have twins. As usual, the community
will keep one twin and release the other. Jonas’s father will have
to choose which one to release, typically the smaller one. Jonas
wonders if in Elsewhere someone is waiting to receive the
released newborn, and if it would grow up never knowing it had
a twin sibling. Jonas asks for Gabriel’s crib to be placed in his
room that night. When Gabriel fusses, Jonas pats the child’s
back with his hand, recalling a lovely memory of sailing. He
feels the memory slipping away through his touch. As this
happens, Gabriel becomes calm and quiet. Jonas pulls back what
is left of the memory, but then transmits the rest of it to Gabriel
when he starts fussing again. Jonas is frightened by this strange
power and decides not to speak of what he’s done.
Chapter 15 Summary
When Jonas arrives at the Annex, the Giver is in bad shape. He
implores Jonas to take away some of his pain. The memory
torturing the Giver unfolds in a “confused, noisy, foul-smelling
place” (118). The air is thick with smoke, and groaning men lay
in a field. A horse whinnies in panic and falls down. Jonas meets
a uniformed boy about his age. The boy begs for water. He is
covered in blood. Jonas notices its bright red color. He also
realizes that his own arm is badly wounded. He gives the boy a
drink and notices that the injured men are “begging for water
and for Mother and for death” (119). Jonas watches the boy die.
He then lays in the field listening to other people and animals
die as cannons fire in the distance. He now knows what warfare
is. As Jonas’s consciousness returns to the present, the Giver
asks Jonas to forgive him.
Jonas tries to transmit knowledge of elephants to Lily, but she is
unable to receive it. He wants her to feel the wonder he has felt
in discovering what animals were like long ago, and the
intensity of feeling that memories bring about. He might also
want her to see the moving bond between the two elephants in
the elephant memory he received. He wants her to feel more
deeply than she does.
Lily complains that Jonas has hurt her in his attempt to share
memories, so he apologizes. Her acceptance of his apology is a
rote response, devoid of real feeling. This is typical of apologies
and acceptances of apologies throughout the book. Although
these actions were probably meaningful and filled with feelings
at one point, they are empty, automatic reflexes now. It doesn’t
matter how precise the language is; when people stop paying
attention to the meaning and feeling, the message loses its
impact.
While time has stripped the meaning from apologies, it has also
set certain community practices in stone. Jonas observes that
“back and back and back,” one of the Giver’s terms for a long
time ago, means that “nothing can be changed” (113). Both he
and the Giver want to change their society’s worst qualities, but
they feel hopeless and unable to make change happen. One
reason is they feel that no one understands them. They have
intense emotional experiences while others do not. They can
"see beyond" (95) while others cannot. They have a life filled
with pain and many people’s emotional burdens while others do
not. However, they cannot mention any of these differences to
others.
Jonas’s decision to share calming memories with Gabriel is

significant. It shows that he believes the release of babies is
unjust and cruel. He recognizes how the community expects
minimal disruption from even its youngest, neediest members,
as being responsible for a newchild who cries at night and
needs tending during the day is seen as an unfair burden on
parents. To Jonas, it seems even more unfair to deprive a child
of life simply because he needs extra attention.

Chapter 16 Summary
Jonas doesn’t want to return to the Annex for his training. The
whole experience seems like too much to handle. He longs for
the simplicity of childhood and an “ordinary” life “free of
anguish” (121), as others are allowed to have. He doesn’t get to
make this choice, so he returns to the Annex. The Giver reminds
him that there are many wonderful memories to behold. Jonas
enjoyed experiencing a birthday party that celebrated a single
child and made him feel special. He has gained an
understanding of solitude and joy from sitting beside a campfire.
Seeing that Jonas is troubled, the Giver transmits more
memories like these for some time.
The Giver shares his favorite memory with Jonas. It takes place
in a warm, firelit room filled with people. It seems to be a
Christmas memory, complete with food being cooked, colorful
lights, presents, and children’s cries of delight. A sense of family
permeates the scene. Jonas asks who the older people in the
room were, as the elderly in his community are relegated to the
House of the Old, never to leave. This arrangement ensures that
they are “well cared for and respected” (123). The Giver
explains that the people in the memory are grandparents, an
important part of family life a long time ago. Jonas wonders who
the parents of his parents are. He is reminded that his parents
will no longer be part of his life once he and Lily complete their
job training and receive their own dwellings. At this point, their
parents will live with the other Childless Adults, provided that
“they’re still working and contributing to the community” (124).
After that, they’ll go to the House of the Old, where they’ll
eventually be released. Jonas won’t be present for this. He won’t
even know when it happens: “I just didn’t realize there was any
other way, until I received that memory” (125).
Jonas asks the Giver the name of the feeling that filled the
Christmas scene. The Giver tells him it was love. Jonas wishes
the Giver could be his grandparent and tells him this. He says
he likes the feeling of love and the sense of completeness the
family in the memory provided. Jonas also likes the warmth and
light of the candles and fireplace, despite the dangers that come
with fire. When Jonas returns home, he asks his parents if they
love him, and they reply that they enjoy him and take pride in
his accomplishments. They also complain that he is not using
language precisely. Precise language use is needed for the
community to “function smoothly” (127), his mother reminds
him. She asks Jonas if he understands why he shouldn’t use the
word "love," and he says he does. This is the first time Jonas lies
to his parents.
When Jonas goes to see Gabriel that evening, he tells the baby
that life could be different: it could have colors and
grandparents and love. Jonas begins transmitting pleasant
memories to Gabriel each night. He also decides to stop taking
his daily pill.
Chapter 17 Summary
The Speaker announces that there is an unscheduled holiday,
effective immediately. This is a rare treat. For most citizens, it
means there is no work, training, school, or volunteering.
Substitute laborers do the essential tasks for the day. School is
less important to Jonas than it used to be, but it’s still needed to
encourage memorization of rules and mastery of new
technologies. Jonas peers into the river and considers how it
comes from Elsewhere while also heading there.
After skipping his daily medication for four weeks, Jonas is

experiencing Stirrings and more intense feelings than he has
had before. He knows he can’t return to the world of blunted
emotions that he used to inhabit. He can now
see colors consistently. Jonas realizes that he experiences a new
“depth of feelings” (131)in both his life and the memories he
receives. He thinks of times his family members have described
sadness and anger, and how they were actually experiencing
milder feelings such as disappointment and impatience. These
feelings also fade quickly. Jonas knows he has now experienced
true sadness and grief, and that “there was no quick comfort for
emotions like those” (132).
Jonas sees Asher and joins a game he’s playing with some other
kids. The game is a familiar one, but it feels different to Jonas
today. He realizes it’s a reenactment of war and is overwhelmed
by his feelings. He struggles to breathe. This frustrates the
other children. One pretends to shoot him. Soon the crowd of
kids disperses, nervous that something is wrong with
Jonas. Fiona asks Jonas what is bothering him. Jonas asks Asher
not to play this game anymore, but he knows Asher can’t
understand why the game is cruel. Jonas sees “his childhood, his
friendships, [and] his carefree sense of security” (135)slipping
away and feels incredibly sad. He knows that no one except the
Giver will understand what he is going through without access
to memories. He also knows he can’t change the status quo.
Meanwhile, Gabriel has begun to walk. This is cause for

celebration at the Nurturing Center but also cause for
introducing the discipline wand. The twin babies are about to be
born as well. Jonas wonders if his father takes one of the babies
Elsewhere. Jonas’s father says he does not, that he just chooses
which twin goes there. He says he will make the smaller one
clean and comfortable, then perform a Ceremony of Release and
say goodbye. Lily remarks how confusing it would be if everyone
in the community had a twin who lived elsewhere, and if each
pair of twins had the same name. Jonas and Lily’s mother said
Lily should receive the assignment of Storyteller.
Chapter 18 Summary
The Giver admits that he thinks about his own release when he
is in great pain. Sometimes he wants to request release, but he
knows he cannot unless a new Receiver has been
trained. Jonas does not look forward to the end of his training
because it’s “clear to him what a terribly difficult and lonely
life” (139)is in store, in spite of all the honor that comes with
the position. He asks the Giver for details about the failed
Receiver-in-training. The Giver says she was a girl
named Rosemary who was smart, interested in learning, and
“self-possessed and serene” (140). He says that he loved her—
and that he loves Jonas, too. It hurt him to transfer painful
memories to Rosemary. After transmitting pleasant memories to
her for five weeks, he gave her a memory of a child taken from
his parents. Once she knew about this kind of pain, she was
never the same: “I could see it in her eyes” (142).
Jonas asks if Rosemary wasn’t "brave enough" (142) to manage
difficult memories, but the Giver does not respond. The Giver
explains that he gave her memories of plenty of painful
experiences, including terror and hunger. He had to do this, he
says, because it’s part of his job. One day, after giving her a
happy memory, she kissed his cheek and left the room. She then
went to the Chief Elder and requested release. This was not
against the rules at the time. Jonas asks what would happen to
the memories if he died in an accident, like when Caleb fell
into the river. The Giver explains that the memories would come
back to the community. Since the other citizens aren’t
accustomed to having strong feelings, they don’t know how to
handle them, especially the unpleasant ones. Plus, when
Rosemary was released, the Giver became so mired in his own
grief that he didn’t try to assist them. Jonas says the Giver’s
help is the only thing that has enabled him to deal with the
difficult memories. The Giver realizes he could help others the
way he has helped Jonas if the memories return to the whole
community. Still, he tells Jonas to stay away from the river.
Jonas finds great meaning in the Christmas scene that teaches
him about grandparents and love. Although he is feeling
helpless, isolated, inadequately understood, and unable to enact
change, he suspects that all of these problems could be
remedied by a living situation like the one in this memory. And
since the scene is in a memory of the past, Jonas knows that it
existed at one time. Even if his current community cannot love,
change may make love possible once again. Jonas’s notion that
the best elements of the past could be part of the future
helps the Giver see a new way for himself to bring about
change: by helping citizens learn to cope with memories rather
than having one person bear them all. And Jonas’s growing
capacity to love inspires him to help Gabriel survive by sharing
calming memories with the tiny child.
Jonas’s training has helped him see what the community is

missing, how it behaves unfairly, and when it has its priorities
all wrong, but it has not revealed the full extent of the
community’s deception. Jonas still does not know what release
really means, but he has begun to think about it
more, foreshadowing events to come in the book’s final
chapters. At this point, he ponders how release is the ultimate
form of separation from the community. He wonders
why Rosemary chose it, asking the Giver if she simply wasn’t
"brave enough" (142) to be the Receiver. The Giver knows the
answer, but he isn’t yet ready to tell Jonas the truth about
release—or the details of Rosemary’s release.
The scene where Jonas’s friends play a war game underscores

just how different from them he has become during his training.
It also shows how difficult it would be to convince them that
their actions are wrong. Since they do not experience pain or
long-ago memories, they have no concept of war and its many
horrors. To them, Jonas just seems to be acting strange. Fiona,
one of his more sensitive friends, asks him what’s wrong, but
even she can’t really understand what is bothering him. She
does not know what it means to hurt someone or be hurt, or to
watch someone die. Even if she did see someone die, she
probably wouldn’t know what she was witnessing.

Chapter 19 Summary
Jonas tells the Giver that today his father must select a newchild
to release. The Giver says he wishes the community would not
release twins. However, Jonas likes thinking of his father
making a small baby clean and comfortable. He sees his father
as a gentle, sensitive soul. Jonas says he wishes he could watch
his father prepare the baby for release. The Giver says Jonas
can do this if he asks. All private ceremonies are recorded, so
the Giver requests a recording of the baby’s release ceremony,
which happened earlier in the day. It takes place in a very plain
room. He speaks to the smaller twin in the same voice he uses
with Gabriel. Jonas watches him fill a syringe with liquid and
then puncture the baby’s forehead.
As Jonas watches the child die, he is so overwhelmed that he

doesn’t quite realize what he’s witnessing. He puts the pieces
together a few minutes later. His father did not clean or comfort
the baby. He disposes of the child like a piece of trash. This
what happens in all releases, the Giver says. The Giver watched
the recording of Rosemary’s release, “numb with horror” (151).
He says he’s not sure what bravery is, but that Rosemary chose
to perform her own release and that he couldn’t bear to watch
her inject herself. Jonas is appalled by what he has just learned
about release—and about his father. He feels “a ripping
sensation inside himself, the feeling of terrible pain clawing its
way forward to emerge in a cry” (151).
Chapter 20 Summary
Jonas throws a fit, refusing to go home. The Giver contacts the
proper authorities through his speaker and asks them to tell
Jonas’s family that he will need to stay the night for extra
training. “I will take care of that, sir. Thank you for your
instructions” (152), the voice in the speaker says. Jonas mocks
the voice, saying: “I will kill people, sir. Old people? Small
newborn people? I’d be happy to kill them, sir” (153). The Giver
says Jonas’s father and the person talking into the speaker
cannot help their terrible actions because they do not know or
understand what is going on: “It’s the life that was created for
them. It’s the same life you would have, if you had not been
chosen as my successor” (153).
Jonas is broken by the fact that his father has lied to him and
asks the Giver if he’s been lying to him as well. The Giver says
he has not. Jonas wonders if Fiona is as callous as his father.
The Giver says that feelings aren’t part of her existence. He and
Jonas are the only ones who truly have them and understand
their importance. Jonas knows he cannot return to life with his
family. The Giver says they’ll make a plan together, but Jonas is
confused, as the Giver himself said before that nothing could be
done. However, the Giver now realizes that life has not always
been the way it is at this moment. In the past, there were
feelings. There was love. The worst part of being a Receiver, he
says, is the loneliness, not the pain. Sharing memories reduces
loneliness and can help people cope with pain.
The Giver and Jonas craft a plan that involves Jonas leaving the
community the day of the December ceremonies, just after
midnight, when he’s least likely to be spotted. If he’s caught, he
will probably be killed, so they must be careful. Jonas will leave
a note for his parents that says he’s going for a bike ride by the
river before the day’s ceremonies. He’ll actually go the Annex to
see the Giver. When Jonas doesn’t show up before it’s time to
leave for the ceremonies, his parents won’t say anything
because his rudeness “would reflect on their parenting” (159).
They’ll also assume he’s going to the ceremonies with Asher or
the Giver. Since the Giver visits other communities, he has
access to a car with a driver. He would arrange for this car to
take him on one of these visits early that day. Before departing,
the Giver would send the driver on an errand and hide Jonas in
the car’s storage area, along with a supply of food. The Giver
will tell the community that Jonas was lost in the river and begin
a Ceremony of Loss.
Jonas wants the Giver to come with him, but the Giver says he
needs to stay and help the community change for the better: “If
you get away, if you get beyond, if you get to Elsewhere, it will
mean that the community has to bear the burden themselves, of
the memories you had been holding for them. I think that they
can, and that they will acquire some wisdom” (155-156). If he
accompanies Jonas, the community will likely destroy itself
because it will be thrown into chaos by its inability to manage
feelings and memories. Jonas suggests that he and the Giver
could just leave without caring about the rest of the community,
but that this would be futile because caring is “the meaning of
everything” (157).
The Giver tells Jonas that he has the courage to make this
difficult escape and promises to give him the strength he needs.
The Giver also says he’s grateful to Jonas, without whom he
never would have figured out how to make change happen.
Before Jonas departs to start enacting the plan, the Giver
decides to share a special memory with him. The Giver says his
first experience of seeing beyond was actually "hearing beyond"
(180). He heard music. Jonas urges the Giver to keep this
treasured memory. However, he agrees to receive every one of
the Giver’s memories of strength and courage in the time they
have left together. The Giver says that once his healing work is
done, he intends to be with his daughter, Rosemary.
Chapter 21 Summary
The escape plan falls apart, and Jonas must leave earlier than
expected. He has no time to stop at the Annex and hide in the
Giver’s car. This is because he must escape with Gabriel, a
variable he and the Giver hadn’t considered when formulating
their plan. Gabriel was sent to the Nurturing Center to sleep
overnight, and he cried and fussed. The night crew “couldn’t
handle it” (164)and everyone involved in decisions about
newchildren—even Jonas’s father—agrees that the Gabriel
should be released the next morning. Jonas steals his father’s
bicycle, which has a child seat on the back for Gabriel to ride
on. He gives the baby a memory of a hammock swaying among
some palm trees. Jonas hopes he has enough strength for his
journey even though he wasn’t able to receive the last few
memories the Giver had saved for him. He knows his life will
never be the same. It will lack the order and discipline he’s used
to, but he is not scared or regretful. He just hopes the Giver
knows he will miss him.
As Jonas pedals, his legs ache and become numb. He and

Gabriel stop by a stream to rest, eat, and play. They do this
when it is light out and unsafe to travel. To get Gabriel to sleep
in the daylight, Jonas transmits a memory of “deep, contented
exhaustion” (168). There are lots of things to worry about since
Jonas has committed a variety of crimes—going out at night,
stealing food and a bike, abducting a child—but the most
ominous threat is the airplanes overhead. Jonas knows that the
pilots can’t see color but that their aircraft can sense heat in the
landscape below. He gives Gabriel memories of snow each time
the planes fly by, and they both feel cold. After a while, the
planes stop coming. And in time, Jonas’s muscles grow stronger.
He soon feels confident that he has “enough strength of his
own” (168).
When Jonas watches his father kill a baby twin, he realizes what
release is and reels in horror. The community leaders, and even
his very own father, deceive him and others when they describe
release the way they do. Plus, they seem to have no remorse
about killing the helpless. Jonas sees his father dispose of the
twin’s body casually, saying “bye-bye, little guy” (151)in the
same singsong voice he uses with Gabriel. There was no reason
to kill the twin other than the fact that he might be mistaken for
his brother occasionally, but the community members don’t see
it that way. The Giver points out that other people in Jonas’s life
release people as well, and that they don’t understand what
they’re doing because they are disconnected from their
emotions. Fiona, for example, releases the elderly at the House
of the Old, but she doesn’t comprehend the weight of this action
because she doesn’t feel deeply and can’t really understand
others’ feelings.
Faced with all of these sickening revelations, Jonas is sure he

cannot live in the community anymore. A quest theme emerges
when he decides to escape. While Jonas has been on a spiritual
quest throughout the book, it has been internal. Here he
embarks on a physical quest. He must flee the community to
save Gabriel’s life and make his own worth living. He knows this
journey will be painful and that they might not survive, but the
potential reward is worth the risk.
Jonas finds it much easier to lie to his father now that he knows
his father lies to him. He no longer feels bad about disrupting
his parents’ lives, either. As the Giver helps him build an escape
plan, Jonas realizes that his family members won’t search for
him right away, even if they realize he is missing during the
December ceremonies. Announcing his absence would disrupt
the ceremonies, and his parents won’t do that because “such a
disruption would be unthinkable” (161). Their commitment to
order and the status quo matters more to them than their child
and his safety.

Chapter 22 Summary
The landscape starts to change. The road narrows and becomes
bumpy. Jonas falls off the bike and twists his ankle. It aches
constantly. Since he has become “newly aware that Gabriel’s
safety depended entirely upon his own continued strength”
(172), he worries that the injury continues to bother him. Jonas
and Gabriel see animals for the first time, and Gabriel mistakes
a bird for an airplane, causing Jonas to panic and then laugh.
Jonas begins to fear that he and the baby will starve since food
is becoming hard to find. He remembers how meals were
brought to the community each day and tries to ease his
stomach pains with memories of feasts. He recalls a time when
he said he was starving, and how his parents taught him that
"hungry" (70) was the correct word. They told him he’d “never
be starving” (173), but now he and Gabriel were because of his
decision to leave the community. For a moment he thinks he
was wrong to leave the security of his old life, but then he
decides that he would have starved in other, less tangible ways
if he had stayed. Plus, Gabriel wouldn’t have lived.
As the landscape becomes hilly, Jonas feels weak and struggles

to pedal the bike. He and Gabriel endure several days of rain.
Both he and Gabriel cry. Gabriel cries because he is hungry,
cold, and weak: “Jonas cried, too, for the same reasons, and
another reason as well. He wept because he was afraid now that
he could not save Gabriel. He no longer cared about himself”
(174).
Chapter 23 Summary
Jonas is weaker than ever but certain the place he seeks is not
far ahead. He doesn’t see, hear, or smell any evidence that this
destination is near, but he has a feeling about it. Jonas’s heart
breaks when he sees that Gabriel is shivering. He holds the
baby to his chest and wraps his tunic around them both. It
begins to snow, and Jonas tries to show Gabriel the beauty of
the snowflakes, but he gets “no response from the child who had
once been so curious and alert” (176). There are tear stains on
the baby’s dirty cheeks. Jonas cannot make the bike’s pedals
move anymore, so he begins to walk down the road with
Gabriel. As he lets the bike fall to the side of the road, he thinks
of allowing himself and Gabriel to “slide into the softness of
snow, the darkness of night, the warm comfort of sleep” (176).
Realizing he has shed most of the memories from the Giver,

Jonas wonders if he can still transmit memories to Gabriel that
will help him survive. With some effort, he is able to give the
child a memory of sunshine. For a moment, Jonas considers
keeping this memory for himself, “unburdened by anything or
anyone else,” but he is overcome by a “yearning to share the
warmth with the one person left for him to love” (177). Brief
memories of warmth help the pair take a few steps forward at a
time, but the going is difficult. Jonas decides that “[h]is entire
concentration now had to be on moving his feet, warming
Gabriel and himself, and going forward” (178). The summit of
the hill they’re climbing seems distant, and Jonas is not sure
what is on the other side of it. However, they have no choice but
to continue, even though Jonas can barely move his legs.
As Jonas and Gabriel struggle up the hill, Jonas feels a surge of

joyful memories. They involve his parents and
sister, Asher and Fiona, and the Giver. These are his first
memories that are truly his, and it gives him strength. The
ground begins to level, and he locates a sled that points toward
the bottom of the hill’s other side. Jonas and Gabriel sled down
the hill, clinging to each other, toward the place Jonas “had
always felt was waiting, the Elsewhere that held their future
and their past” (179). Jonas sees lights in the distance, the
colorful ones from the love-filled Christmas memory. Soon he
feels certain that someone is waiting for both him and Gabriel
below. He hears people singing for the first time and senses that
music is coming from behind him as well. He wonders if it is
real or merely an echo.
Jonas’s decision to escape the community is an expression of
freedom, individualism, and rebellion. Jonas knows the
community will suffer when faced with the memories he’s been
holding, yet he feels that he must fight for his life and his
autonomy. He must also fight for Gabriel’s life. The community
was ready to kill Gabriel to prevent a few people from the
inconvenience of tending to a baby’s nighttime cries. Jonas
judges that preserving Gabriel’s life matters more than making
someone else’s life a little calmer and easier. He rejects the
notion that avoiding pain is necessary, even though it’s a
foundational tenet of the community that raised him. He is
ready to endure the pain the journey presents and deal with any
guilt he feels from causing others pain.
Jonas flees the community feeling confident in his decision and

ready to face discomfort, yet he starts to doubt his choice when
the going gets especially tough. He wonders if he has done a
terrible thing by taking Gabriel to a place where he might freeze
or starve. When he concludes that his decision was not a true
choice but a life-or-death situation, he feels more assured that
he did the right thing. The memories Jonas has received
from the Giver help him and the baby hide from search planes
and stay warm when snow chills their bones. However, it’s his
own first memories that help him take some of the final steps
toward their destination, when it looks as if they are about to
perish. The memory that touched him the most—the Christmas
memory featuring grandparents and love—guides him toward
the finish line, on the sled from the first memory the Giver
shared with him. At the end of his journey, the people and
things Jonas loves the most are all with him through his
memories.
Character Analysis
Jonas
Jonas is the protagonist of The Giver. He is a careful, thoughtful,
pale-eyed boy who sometimes struggles to make sense of his
emotions and reactions. At the start of the book, Jonas is about
to turn 12, the age at which children in his community receive
the job assignments they will hold for life. After he learns that
he’s to become the new Receiver of Memory, he undergoes a
transformation. With help from the outgoing Receiver, Jonas
begins to hold all of the world’s memories, good and bad, so
others do not have to experience them. Jonas is expected to
draw wisdom from these memories and use it to help his
community’s leaders make important decisions. He’s also
expected to endure the excruciating pain that comes with
memories of war, starvation, neglect, and other dire situations.
Once Jonas starts training to become the Receiver, he is no
longer allowed to apply for release from the community. He is
allowed to be rude, ask questions of anyone, and lie when
necessary, things he couldn’t do before training for this role.
As the book progresses, Jonas discovers the value of emotions

and begins to feel them more deeply. He also grows to
appreciate the existence of choices, even though choices come
with risks. The nature of Jonas’s training and future role isolates
him from other members of the community and makes him see
the world differently. As Jonas gains awareness of the
community’s shortcomings and the problems that plague the
Receiver role, he decides he must leave, even though he has
grown attached to the Giver.
The Giver
The Giver is an old man who has been the Receiver for many
years. He has a beard and the type of unusual, pale eyes that
Jonas has. The Giver transmits memories to Jonas by laying his
hands on the boy’s back. The memories include recollections of
long ago, when life was more varied than it is in the
homogenized, carefully designed community they both inhabit.
The Giver once had a wife and daughter, but he has lost them
both. His wife now lives with the other Childless Adults while he
spends his days in his dwelling, experiencing memories over and
over. His daughter, Rosemary, began training for the Receiver
role a decade earlier but did not succeed. The Giver views this
as a failure on his part. After glimpsing the pain and horror
some of the memories contain, Rosemary asked to be released
from the community. The Giver watched a recording of her
release and has never fully recovered from the experience.
The Giver is careful to give Jonas pleasant memories along with

the terrible ones and makes sure to serve as a sounding board
for the boy’s feelings. He also introduces concepts that were
once foreign to Jonas, such as love. The Giver tells Jonas that he
loves him much like he loved his daughter. Together Jonas and
the Giver devise a plan to get Jonas out of the community and
make this society a better place to live. The Giver prepares
Jonas for this escape by giving him memories of strength and
courage.
Rosemary
Rosemary trained to become the Receiver about 10 years before
Jonas began his training. Like Jonas, she was selected for the
role by the Committee of Elders. Unlike Jonas, she was the
Giver’s daughter. She and Jonas share some qualities important
to the Receiver role. They are both bright and eager to learn,
and both have the unique quality to "See Beyond." Like the
Giver, they both have light eyes, which are uncommon in the
community. Jonas wonders if Rosemary failed to become the
Receiver because she lacked bravery, but he learns that she
may have been one of the bravest people of all. When she
decides to be released from the community, she performs the
release procedure on herself. This action is so horrible that the
Giver cannot stand to witness it. The Giver hopes to see
Rosemary again once Jonas escapes the community and the
residents learn to deal with memories and feelings.
Jonas’s Mother and Father
Jonas’s mother and father are the heads of his family unit. The
community’s elders decided that they should be spouses and
assigned them two children: Jonas and Lily. Jonas’s mother
works for the Department of Justice and is depicted as a very
smart, rational, and no-nonsense woman who cares about status
and reputation. Jonas’s father works at the Nurturing Center,
where he cares for the community’s babies. He is depicted as a
more gentle, quiet, and sensitive type of person. Both of Jonas’s
parents tend to follow the rules and emphasize the importance
of obedience and order. However, Jonas learns that his parents
—especially his father—aren’t quite what they seem once he
begins his Receiver training. His world is turned upside-down
when he realizes that his father kills infants deemed unfit for
life in the community, and that he does so with almost no
feeling.
Lily
Lily is Jonas’s sister. At the beginning of The Giver, she is about
to turn 8. Lily likes babies and thinks she might want to be
assigned the job of Birthmother or a Nurturer. She sometimes
subverts the community’s rules about rudeness by giving a blunt
assessment of a situation. From time to time, Lily sheds light on
the unfairness, complexity, or strangeness of a situation by
asking a question or making a simple observation. For example,
she points out that Jonas and Gabriel have the same kind of
"pale eyes" (20), an unusual trait in the community they call
home.
Gabriel
Gabriel is a sweet and curious baby boy Jonas’s father cares for
at the Nurturing Center. At the start of The Giver, Gabriel is not
growing as fast as he should. He also has trouble sleeping
through the night, something that is expected of children.
Children who don’t achieve these goals are deemed unfit and
then released from the community. Jonas’s father knows that
Gabriel is in danger of being released, so he requests
permission to bring the baby home each night for additional
care. Gabriel’s condition improves in Jonas’s household, and the
child soon begins walking, talking, and reaching other
developmental milestones. He continues to struggle with sleep
until Jonas intervenes, giving him pleasant, calming memories
that the Giver has shared with him. Jonas and Gabriel develop a
special bond throughout the book. When the community decides
to release Gabriel after a year of extra nurturing, simply
because he is a restless sleeper one night, Jonas knows he must
save the baby he has come to love so dearly.
Fiona
Fiona is Jonas’s friend and classmate. She is also an Eleven
who’s about to become a Twelve at the start of the book. She is
a gentle, caring girl whose favorite place to volunteer is the
House of the Old. At the Ceremony of Twelve, Fiona gets
assigned to work at the House of the Old. Jonas has his first
"Stirrings," or sexual feelings, in a dream about Fiona. He also
learns about colors when he starts to perceive that her hair is
red. Most members of the community cannot see color, but
Jonas begins seeing flashes of red shortly before he receives his
job assignment. These flashes are an example of seeing beyond.
Jonas also grows disillusioned with Fiona when he discovers
that she is learning to release elderly people and does so with
little feeling, as his father does with babies.
Asher
Asher is another friend and classmate of Jonas’s. He is a
cheerful child who is lots of fun to play with, and he sometimes
struggles to use language precisely. Jonas worries what job
assignment Asher will receive since he doesn’t seem serious
about anything. He is relieved when Asher is assigned to lead
recreation activities, but this assignment causes conflict when
Jonas joins a war game that bothers him. When he asks Asher to
stop playing it, Asher doesn’t want to because he doesn’t see
what’s wrong about it.
The Chief Elder and Committee of Elders
The Chief Elder is a community leader who is elected every 10
years. She helms the Committee of Elders, which makes rules
and decides the fates of the community’s residents. The Chief
Elder announces the job assignments at the Ceremony of Twelve
and leads rituals such as the murmuring used to remove a
person from the community’s memory. She is also one of the
people who reminds community members of rules, values, and
expectations. For instance, she reminds the crowd about the
importance of precise language use and standardized behavior
during her speeches at the Ceremony of Twelve. She says that
Receiver is the most honored role in the community. The Chief
Elder and other members of the Committee of Elders ask the
Receiver for advice when making decisions about things they
haven’t experienced. Although the Receiver is technically part
of the Committee of Elders, he is separated from them most of
the time and is rarely called upon to provide advice. This is one
reason the Giver thinks that he has no power to change the
community’s rules and customs. Another reason is that the
other community members—including the committee members
—do not experience memories and have a very different
relationship to feelings than he does.
The Speaker
The Speaker is a community member who helps enforce rules by
issuing reminders over loudspeakers throughout the community.
This character appears in the book’s first chapter, when an
aircraft flies over the community unexpectedly. The Speaker
tells the community’s citizens to report to nearby buildings, and
they comply. The Speaker also lets Jonas know that the
community disapproves of his decision to save an apple from the
snack basket rather than eating it at the appointed time. Rather
than scolding Jonas by name, the Speaker reminds all boys his
age what the rules regarding snacks are. This motivates Jonas to
apologize for his transgression.
Themes
Societal Control Versus Individual Freedom
The society Jonas lives in is meticulously designed,
standardized, and ordered. In other words, there is a high
degree of control, and control is used to eliminate differences.
There is no rain or snow because the climate is controlled to
optimize food-growing conditions, and there are no hills because
they might interfere with transportation. People take pills to
suppress their sexual desires. All dwellings are basically the
same, with identical pieces of functional furniture. Most people
can’t perceive color. Anxiety about different
skin colors contributed to strife in the past, so the citizens
decided to remove color from their lives when they switched to
a system of "Sameness" (84). From an early age, citizens are
taught to downplay differences as much as possible and always
follow the rules. Those who break the rules three times are
released from the community forever.
Individuals make very few decisions about their own lives in this
community, most likely because choices are perceived as
dangerous. As Jonas discovers in a conversation with the Giver,
this danger stems from the fact that people will sometimes
make a bad or wrong choice, which could have disastrous
consequences. Since a lack of choices is woven into the fabric of
the community, citizens don’t know what they’re missing. The
Committee of Elders makes the rules, and they simply follow
them, which tends to make life easy.
During his training, Jonas begins to see the benefits of choices
and weighs them against the costs. He decides that the rewards
of some choices are worth the risks. For example, in Chapter 16,
he realizes that candles might cause a fire in a house, but the
blissful warmth and light they provide convince people to burn
them anyway. Jonas also realizes that stamping out differences
and imperfections can be an abuse of control. This is made
painfully clear when the community’s leaders decide to
release Gabriel, the baby he has come to love as a brother,
because he sometimes cries at night. This crying is seen as too
great a burden for parents to deal with, in part because it is
hard to control.
Jonas also realizes that freedom to choose comes with other

difficulties, such as uncertainty. In a controlled, order-driven
society, people seldom wonder what the future holds. They
know what to expect, which provides relief from the anxiety of
the unknown. Their needs are provided for, which prevents
them from suffering physically. This can make for a monotonous
existence, but it is less likely to be stressful or painful. In
choosing a life of conformity and minimal choices, the
community has snuffed out many of the things that make life
worth living, from the beauty of snowfall to the comfort of being
loved unconditionally. They live a “life without color, pain, or
past,” one “where nothing was ever unexpected” (165). In the
end, Jonas must choose between a life of control and a life of
freedom.
Imposed Rituals and the Loss of Autonomy
Rituals help enforce rules, norms, and conformity in Jonas’s
community. They also help preserve order. When something
distressing and overwhelming occurs, such as the loss of a child,
the community embarks upon a ritual to bury the memory of
what happened. Families analyze their feelings and dreams at
daily rituals. Apologies tend to happen in unison, in a fashion so
ritualized that it loses almost all meaning. People know when
they’re supposed to apologize or forgive, but it seems that
they’re not really sure why they’re doing it. For instance, when
the Chief Elder says she is sorry for causing anxiety in the
crowd at Jonas’s Ceremony of Twelve, the people in the crowd
say, “We accept your apology”(60), automatically in unison, as if
they haven’t considered what the words mean.
Ceremonies are also filled with rituals such as the assignment of

jobs and age-specific uniforms. There is little choice about
whether to perform a ritual; failure to comply with even the
smallest rules and customs results in punishment, at the very
least a scolding by one’s parents or a reminder about the rules
from the Speaker.
The Social Effects of Being "Overwhelmed"
The Giver insists that memories and strong emotions will
overwhelm the community because its residents are not
equipped to deal with these things. In his view, being
"overwhelmed" (144) can lead to chaos. It can lead to violence
as well, as when large numbers of people are overwhelmed by
hunger. The community’s emphasis on order and control seems
to be a way to prevent people from becoming overwhelmed by
the demands of daily life. Every person has a specific job to do
and a set of rules to follow. Making expectations and
responsibilities clear is a way to prevent people from feeling
that they can’t handle it all.
The Receiver position also exists to keep the community from

feeling burdened by painful memories and emotions: “They
selected me—and you—to lift that burden from themselves”
(113). In insisting that the Receiver bear this unwieldy
"burden," the community makes it more likely that this person
will crack under pressure. This is a reason the Committee of
Elders looks for personality traits such as calmness in future
Receivers. It’s likely that Receiver is deemed the most
honorable position as a way of keeping people from leaving it—
or leaving the community entirely. In other words, the emotional
load of the role is so heavy that the community must
provide motivation for someone to keep carrying it.
Loneliness and Isolation
From the moment Jonas hears that becoming Receiver involves
being alone and apart, he is concerned. He worries about losing
his friends and feeling lonelier than he can tolerate. The job and
its training involve a high degree of isolation, and he spends
most of his after-school hours with the Giver. Jonas doesn’t feel
lonely when he’s spending time with the Giver. However, he
knows he will when the training ends, when he must spend hour
after hour on his own, experiencing other people’s memories.
Other aspects of the Receiver job are isolating as well. As

Receiver, Jonas may not discuss the details of the role with
anyone other than an outgoing or incoming Receiver. This
means he can’t talk about almost everything he does every day,
which makes it difficult to have a spouse or children. He cannot
show his books to others because they are “forbidden to
citizens” (102)other than himself. Almost no one in the
community understands what the Receiver is going through
since they cannot feel emotions fully, barely experience pain,
and do not relive the memories of the entire world. The Receiver
is physically alone much of the time and emotionally and
spiritually alone nearly all of the time. This is why the Giver
thinks loneliness, not pain, is the worst aspect of the position.
The Pain of Growing Up
Events such as the Ceremony of Twelve indicate that a child is
moving toward adulthood. Jonas feels ambivalence about
this transition. He loves to play and spend time with his friends,
and he doesn’t want to sacrifice these things simply because
he’s a year older. He worries that his friendships will
disintegrate when he begins his training and they receive theirs.
After beginning his training, he feels these relationships
“slipping away” (135)when a war game emphasizes some
important differences between how he and his friends
understand the world.
In addition to bringing the responsibilities of a job, growing up

in Jonas’s community means physically separating from one’s
family. Jonas knows he won’t see his parents after he officially
begins his Receiver duties and moves out of the family dwelling.
He will be able to apply for a spouse and children once he’s an
adult, and he will lose nearly all vestiges of his childhood life.
The Burden of Social Honor
In Jonas’s community, assigning honor to a role is a way of
making it more appealing, even if it involves painful or thankless
work. Honor is also a way of maintaining social order and
absolving other community members of the guilt they might feel
for giving someone a miserable role to play. Although the
elderly are placed in an institution where they lose touch with
their former lives and most of the other community members,
they are said to be honored citizens. Saying that a role has little
honor might be a way of keeping too many people from
clamoring for it, or so people who are suited for more
challenging roles do not pursue it. Jonas’s mother tells Lily that
there is “very little honor” (21)in the Birthmother assignment to
discourage her from wanting it.
Because honor is linked to status, it’s something community

members value and want to achieve. When a child receives a
not-so-honorable job assignment, this reflects poorly on the
parents and suggests that they have not succeeded in their
child-rearing duties. Jonas’s parents are proud that he will
assume the Receiver role, but they don’t seem to wonder how
the role might affect Jonas. Instead, their main consideration
seems to involve what the assignment says about their
parenting skills.
And at the Ceremony of Twelve, the crowd cheers wildly when

Jonas is selected to be the future Receiver, even though they
probably don’t know what the role entails because they’re not
privy to the details. They simply know it carries much honor, so
they cheer to reflect this fact. In the end, Jonas sees honor for
what it is in his society and decides he wants freedom more.
Consequences of Collective Powerlessness
In Chapter 11, the Giver tells Jonas that being Receiver carries
much honor but little power. As a result, a Receiver cannot
change the way the community is, as much as he or she might
like to. Both Jonas and the Giver would like to change many
things about the community, from the amount of pain and
anguish the Receiver must bear alone to the release of infants
who have done nothing to deserve such a terrible fate. However,
the other elders make most decisions on their own, without
consulting the Giver, and they refuse to change most rules after
creating them.
One reason for this powerlessness is a lack of understanding.
Most people in the community never experience feelings,
memories, and pain the way Jonas and the Giver do, so they
cannot comprehend concepts such as war and love. Jonas
becomes painfully aware of this when caught up in a game of
war: “He felt such love for Asher and for Fiona. But they could
not feel it back, without the memories. And he could not give
them those. Jonas knew with certainty that he could change
nothing” (135). Another reason for powerlessness is fear. As the
Giver points out, the community has chosen to become a place
of few choices and much control, largely because people don’t
want to experience anything painful or difficult. They value their
comfort and security so much that they have given up their
power and some of the best things in life, like colors and music,
to achieve it.
The Giver also illustrates how hopelessness can accompany

powerlessness. Jonas and the Giver wrestle with this feeling
throughout the book. Jonas has a sense that things could change
once he witnesses love in the Christmas memory the Giver
shares. Jonas even tells Gabriel that things could change for the
better: “I don’t know how, but there must be some way for
things to be different. There could be colors. And grandparents”
(128). Jonas also enacts change by breaking the rule against
transmitting memories to others. He shares positive memories
with Gabriel to comfort him and decrease his chances of being
released, in the process gaining a sense of independence and
agency.
The title character feels hopeless much of the time because he

thinks he’s unable to foster change in the community. He gains
some hope through his relationship with Jonas, who helps him
realize that change is possible—and that he has an important
role to play. The Giver comes to realize that the community has
not always favored order at the expense of freedom, and that
some of his happiest memories of the past are evidence of this.
By helping Jonas grapple with the difficult feelings he
experiences while receiving memories, the Giver gains
confidence that he can help other people do the same if they are
suddenly saddled with emotions that feel overwhelming. Once
the Giver feels assured in this way, he is able to help Jonas find
a way to escape the community. And when the memories come
flooding back to the other community members, the Giver will
be prepared to deal with them.
The book explores the relationship between hope and

hopelessness as well. When Jonas and Gabriel leave the
community to find Elsewhere, Jonas vacillates between these
two poles. This might be because he feels both vulnerable and
powerful in his new environment. He feels powerful in the sense
that he made an independent decision to leave a harmful
situation; he is no longer bound by the rules of the community
that would have stunted his life and ended Gabriel’s life. On the
other hand, he and the baby are at risk being caught by the
authorities and executed for breaking the community’s rules.
Once they get farther from the community, they are in danger of
starving as their food supply dwindles. They lack the type of
power that comes with security: to feed themselves when
hungry and to sleep with a roof over their heads. He ultimately
feels confident they will reach their destination even though
they are hungry, cold, and very weak from their arduous
journey: “Inside his freezing body, his heart surged with hope”
(179).
Symbols & Motifs

The River
The river on the edge of the community is a symbol of
boundaries and danger. A young boy named Caleb drowned in
the river, despite the community’s many efforts to keep children
safe. The Giver also tells Jonas to stay away from the river so
there’s no chance that he’ll disappear into it, thereby
unleashing the world’s memories onto the rest of the
community, a fate he fears they cannot handle. Asher also tells a
story of a boy who “jumped into the river, swam across, and
joined the next community he came to” (47)because he was so
unhappy with the job assignment he received in their own
community. He points out that this boy never returned, which
makes the river seem ominous. It is a bridge to Elsewhere, and
Elsewhere is filled with the unknown, something that causes the
community anxiety.
Pale Eyes
Only a few people in the community have pale
eyes: Jonas, Gabriel, the Giver, Rosemary, and a little girl who is
a Six. Jonas’s sister comments how unusual this feature is by
calling it “funny” (20)and noting that Jonas and Gabriel share it.
Noting differences in this way is a major faux pas in the
community. However, pale eyes seem to come with some special
qualities that make a person ideal for the Receiver role. The
narrator says that people with these eyes seem to understand
things in a way that others in the community do not; this feature
seems to be linked to "seeing beyond" (91), as when Jonas sees
the apple turn red. It’s also appears linked to receiving
memories, as when Jonas transmits a memory of sailing to
Gabriel, who is able to receive it, unlike Lily, who has dark eyes.
Lily also points out that people with pale eyes might be related.
This seems likely, considering that the Giver and Rosemary are
father and daughter. Pale eyes are also linked to wisdom,
perceptiveness, and depth of thought and feeling. As the
narrator explains, looking into pale eyes is a bit like “looking
into the clear water of the river, down to the bottom, where
things might lurk which hadn’t been discovered yet” (21).
Colors
Colors symbolize difference, individuality, and beauty in The
Giver. Jonas’s first experience with color involves seeing an
apple’s hue for an instant. He has trouble describing it because
he’s never seen color before and is unfamiliar with the concept.
In his community, everyone but the Receiver sees the world in a
“flat and hueless shade” (97). As Jonas progresses through his
Receiver training, he begins seeing all of the colors, and for
longer periods of time. He becomes exasperated when it’s
difficult to see a color for more than a moment, noting that it is
unfair. This is one of his first times grappling with the concept
of fairness, and the notion that "Sameness" (84) is far from
perfect. He notes that he wants to be able to choose between a
blue tunic and a red one, because when “everything’s the same,
then there aren’t any choices” (97).
Like the people of the past, the Giver can see all colors. He tells
Jonas that seeing color comes with “the capacity to see beyond,”
and Jonas will “gain wisdom, then, along with colors” (95). In
working with the Giver, Jonas learns people used to constantly
see color, but they sacrificed this ability when they chose a
system of Sameness, or extreme uniformity. The Giver also
informs Jonas that people’s skin used to come in different
colors. Jonas sees this in some of his memories and learns that
people’s trouble coping with differences such as skin color
variations can lead to strife.
Red is the first color Jonas experiences and the most

meaningful. It is the color of the aforementioned apple, the sled
he rides in the first memory he receives, and the hair of Fiona, a
girl he dreams about when having Stirrings. As with the apple,
he struggles to describe Fiona’s hair color since color is a new
concept for him: “She herself didn’t change, exactly. But
something about her changed for a second. Her hair looked
different; but not its shape, not its length” (91). He can’t quite
put his finger on what about it was different, he concludes with
frustration when relating the experience to the Giver. Red is
also the color of the blood he sees on a battlefield where he
watches a child soldier perish. The narrator describes the
emotional impact color has in this memory: “The colors of the
carnage were grotesquely bright: the crimson wetness on the
rough and dusty fabric, the ripped shreds of grass, startlingly
green, in the boy’s yellow hair” (119).
Gabriel as Angel
Gabriel, the baby who comes to stay at Jonas’s dwelling at night,
has the same name as a Biblical angel who serves as God’s
messenger. He is introduced in angelic terms, as “a sweet little
male with a lovely disposition” (7). Gabriel also has blond curls,
pale eyes, and a cute face, much like a cherub in a classical
painting. He is a symbol of innocence, a topic that comes up
when the narrator mentions that the community releases babies
it deems "Inadequate" (42): “Release of newchildren was always
sad, because they hadn’t had a chance to enjoy life within the
community yet. And they hadn’t done anything wrong” (7).
This angelic boy also brings joy to Jonas’s family, despite the
dire circumstances that bring him to their home. Gabriel is in
danger of being released because he is not growing at the
desired rate and is not sleeping soundly at night. Jonas’s father
petitions to bring the child to their home in the evenings in the
hope that he benefits from the extra care. Despite his progress,
the community decides to release him, providing a painful
reminder that sweetness and innocence do not make a person
worthy of life in this community. Conformity and lack of
challenges are more important in this society, for the sake of
maintaining order.
In the final scene of the novel, Jonas clings to Gabriel as they

traverse a hill toward Jonas's perception of "Elsewhere." This is
the first moment that Jonas hears music, and it is the voice of
people singing, essentially welcoming them. While the author
doesn't explicitly say that the boys are approaching their
deaths, the imagery of colorful lights, warm song, and Gabriel's
love indicate that this is a possibility.
Important Quotes
“For a contributing citizen to be released from the community

was a final decision, a terrible punishment, an overwhelming
statement of failure.”
(Chapter 1, Page 2)
The details of release are shrouded in mystery throughout much
of The Giver, but this quote hints at the seriousness of the
action. At first, release seems to involve sending a person to an
unknown place called Elsewhere, never to be seen again. It is
clear that release is punishment, and that it brings shame to a
person’s family unless the person is very old or very young. For
the elderly, it is treated almost like a reward for a life lived fully.
For babies, it is a necessary evil that brings about a sense of
failure and “what-could-we-have-done” (7) at the Nurturing
Center. Later in the book it is revealed that release involves a
painless death.
“It was one of the few rules that was not taken very seriously
and was almost always broken.”
(Chapter 2, Page 13)
In Jonas’s community, citizens tend to follow the rules because
they value the order, security, and predictability the community
provides. They also seem to fear the shame that comes with
breaking a rule and receiving a punishment. However, this
quote, which refers to kids teaching their younger siblings to
ride bicycles before the community allows it, suggests that the
community does have the capacity for rule-breaking. At first, it
seems that this rule-breaking may simply have to do with youth,
but as the story unfolds, examples of adults’ rule-breaking
emerge. This sows doubt in Jonas—and the reader—about
citizens’ motivations, and whether they truly desire the things
the community professes to want.
“The evening proceeded as all evenings did in the family unit, in

the dwelling, in the community: quiet, reflective, a time for
renewal and preparation for the day to come. It was different
only in the addition to it of the newchild with his pale, solemn,
knowing eyes.”
The newchild in this quote is Gabriel, who has the same type
of pale eyes as Jonas and the Giver. Pale eyes come with a
certain depth and seriousness, and likely Receiver qualities such
as the Capacity to See Beyond. Calling these eyes “knowing”
suggests that Gabriel is wise beyond his years and able to sense
and understand things that others might not comprehend.
Family units have multiple rituals designed to encourage
reflection, and this child is naturally inclined to think, feel, and
reflect.
“He liked the feeling of safety here in this warm and quiet room;
he liked the expression of trust on the [old] woman’s face as she
lay in the water unprotected, exposed, and free.”
This quote comes from Jonas’s trip to the House of the Old,
where he helps his friend Fiona bathe an elderly resident named
Larissa. Being “unprotected, exposed, and free” is unusual in
their community, where people have security but little freedom.
The Committee of Elders makes almost all decisions, supposedly
in the best interest of the other citizens. Even though the
environment outside the House of the Old is safe, it lacks the
organic comfort of this bathing scene. Outside this facility, the
community buzzes with activity and sounds: deliveries,
announcements over the loudspeakers, recreation,
manufacturing, and more. Safety means something a bit
different here than it does in the House of the Old’s bathing
area.
“The dream had felt pleasurable. Though the feelings were

confused, he thought that he had liked the feelings that his
mother had called Stirrings.”
Jonas experiences his first Stirrings, or sexual desires, in a
dream about his friend Fiona. People tend to have mild feelings
in the community, so feeling a strong desire is unusual and
startling to Jonas. As with other situations where he tries to
describe something that’s new to him, he is confused and
struggles to find exactly the right words. Even though he can’t
describe the situation precisely, he knows how he felt about it.
“How could someone not fit in? The community was so

meticulously ordered, the choices so carefully made.”
Jonas grapples with this difficult question about conformity
shortly before receiving his job assignment at the Ceremony of
Twelve. He is anxious, but his parents have reassured him the
Committee of Elders knows what is best for him because they
have considered his strengths, weaknesses, and
inclinations. Asher and his mother mention that people have
disappeared from the community without receiving a Ceremony
of Release because they are so unhappy with a job assignment
or other aspects of life there. Jonas hasn’t considered this
possibility before, and he it doesn’t make sense to him because
the community is designed with such care. This quote takes
on irony later in the story, when Jonas becomes painfully aware
that he doesn’t fit in. This awareness helps him decide to leave
the community.
“‘This is the time,’ she began, looking directly at them, ‘when

we acknowledge differences. You Elevens have spent all your
years till now learning to fit in, to standardize your behavior, to
curb any impulse that might set you apart from the group. But
today we honor your differences. They have determined your
futures.’”
(Chapter 7, Pages 51-52)
Acknowledging differences is generally frowned upon in Jonas’s
community, but it does serve a purpose. When the Committee of
Elders assigns jobs to the Twelves, they look for specific
qualities and aptitudes. For instance, they make Jonas’s father a
Nurturer because he loves babies and has a kind, gentle, and
quiet nature. The ceremony is one of the only instances in which
differences are acknowledged because the committee fears that
an awareness of unfairness, or inequality, could disrupt the
order they’ve created. This is also the reason the community
favors standardization, or "Sameness."For example, children of
the same ride identical bicycles, and families receive the
identical sets of furniture. Standardization reminds community
members they are virtually identical.
“Jonas moved his hands together, clapping, but it was an

automatic, meaningless gesture that he wasn’t even aware of.”
The book’s narrator describes automatic gestures at several
points and suggests that these gestures lose meaning when
people perform them without thinking. Sometimes, a gesture is
automatic because it’s part of a ritual such as apologizing for
certain infractions. People apologize automatically because they
are expected to do so. The repetition of the action encourages
the brain to turn off and the body to function on autopilot. In
this quote, Jonas isn’t aware that he’s clapping because he’s
overwhelmed by something that has happened at the Ceremony
of Twelve: the Chief Elder skipped over him when assigning
jobs, and he is worried that something is terribly wrong.
“But the reason for precision of language was to ensure that

unintentional lies were never uttered.”
Using language precisely is of the utmost importance in Jonas’s
community. Young children are smacked with a “discipline
wand” (54)when they fail to choose the most precise and
accurate word for something. Community members will smack
small children with this wand so often that they stop talking, as
in the case of Jonas’s friend Asher. To them, precise language
matters more than emotional well-being. Parents also scold
children for imprecise use of language, as Jonas’s mother and
father do when he uses the word "love."
"There’s all that goes beyond—all that is Elsewhere—and all

that goes back, and back, and back. I received all of those
[memories], when I was selected. And here in this room, all
alone, I re-experience them again and again. It is how wisdom
comes. And how we shape our future. [...] I am so weighted with
them.”
As Jonas begins his Receiver training, the Giver explains the
nature of receiving memories: Jonas must hold the present and
past memories of his entire community and essentially, the
world. The memories introduce feelings of joy as well as
physical pain. Jonas must carry this heavy burden by himself,
and in doing so, he removes this burden from others. This allows
them to live a life free of significant pain, both emotional and
physical. Jonas must draw upon the wisdom he gains from these
memories—especially the painful ones—to help the Committee
of Elders make decisions. These decisions chart the course for
the community’s future, and the Receiver can help prevent the
community from repeating the mistakes of history by carefully
reviewing and interpreting the memories. However, Jonas will
not receive any relief from the memories until he begins
transmitting them to the Receiver who comes after him.
“Furniture was standard throughout the community: practical,

sturdy, the function of each piece clearly defined.”
Strength, practicality, and functionality are qualities the
community values in both furniture and people. Many aspects of
the community have been standardized, or made subject to
"Sameness." Rules encourage citizens to behave in practical and
predictable ways to minimize undesirable feelings, like anxiety.
Each adult citizen performs a clearly defined job that helps the
community function and reinforces his or her designated role in
society. This system minimizes differences and competition in
an effort to reduce conflict and achieve goals that benefit the
community as a whole. As Jonas discovers throughout the book,
standardization has some drawbacks. For instance, there are
fewer opportunities to make meaningful decisions, appreciate
different types of beauty, and celebrate one’s talents and
individuality. As he begins questioning the value of Sameness,
Jonas is moved by a memory of a birthday party “with one child
singled out and celebrated on his day, so that now he
understood the joy of being an individual, special and unique
and proud” (121).
“I have great honor. So will you. But you will find that that is not
the same as power.”
When becoming familiar with the Receiver role, Jonas learns the
title is considered to have the highest level of honor, yet it does
not yield power with the committee. While the elders do ask the
Receiver for counsel, they often favor courses of action that
keep community life orderly, predictable, and as easy as
possible to manage: “[T]hey don’t want change. Life here is [...]
so painless. It’s what they’ve chosen” (103). The Committee of
Elders does not welcome change, and as Jonas and the
Giver talk candidly, they regard the "honor" of Receiver with a
degree of sarcasm. They surmise the community calls the
strenuous role "honorable" to feel less guilty about placing such
a heavy burden on one person.
“How could you describe a sled without describing a hill and
snow; and how could you describe a hill and snow to someone
who had never felt height or wind or that feathery, magical
cold?”
This quote addresses the limitations of language and the role of
experience in understanding. Jonas doesn’t understand what a
sled is when the Giver tries to describe it, but he understands
immediately once he experiences it through a memory. This
excerpt illustrates a future challenge Jonas will undertake when
he tries to subtly share his new knowledge
with Asher and Fiona. Jonas realizes it is difficult for people to
understand things they haven’t experienced.
“We really have to protect people from wrong choices.”

When Jonas starts to understand the nature of choices, he
declares that having no choices is unfair. The Giver then helps
him realize why the community keeps its citizens from making
decisions for themselves. When Sameness decreases, the
number of choices increases, and along with it the number of
opportunities to choose wrong. Before this, Jonas only
considered low-risk decision-making, such as choosing between
two toys of different colors. The Giver explains that many
choices are not this safe. Jonas realizes that choosing the wrong
mate or job could have very undesirable consequences. He then
understands that this is why the community’s leaders “don’t
dare to let people make choices of their own” (98).
“Sometimes I wish they’d ask for my wisdom more often—there
are so many things I could tell them; things I wish they would
change.”
The Giver feels unable to change the things he dislikes about
the community, in part because the other elders don’t value his
opinions as much as they should. The elders are married to
traditions and rules that have existed for many years. Their
resistance to change is stronger than their reverence of the
Giver and his wisdom. This is a major reason the Giver feels
helpless and unable to fix problems such as the erasure of color
and the killing of infants deemed "Inadequate"(42) for
community life because they are twins or need extra care. It’s
likely that the Giver also wants the other elders to request his
wisdom more often because he’s gone to great pains to acquire
it; the most excruciating memories often yield the most wisdom.
“Jonas pulled at the rope, trying to steer, but the steepness and
speed took control from his hands and he was no longer
enjoying the feeling of freedom but instead, terrified, was at the
mercy of the wild acceleration downward over the ice.”
This memory of sledding provides a stark contrast to the first
memory Jonas receives about this pastime. The earlier memory
inspires awe and wonder as Jonas experiences snowflakes and
the wild, free feeling of sliding downhill for the first time. This
quote describes a scary, painful sledding incident. Freedom is
exhilarating and positive in the first sledding memory; it is filled
with terror and danger in the second. Jonas realizes he is no
longer in control, and he is at the mercy of the hill’s slope,
rocks, and ice.
“The colors of the carnage were grotesquely bright: the crimson
wetness on the rough and dusty fabric, the ripped shreds of
grass, startlingly green, in the boy’s yellow hair.”
The quote comes from the first memory that
teaches Jonas about the horrors of war. He sees many people
lying on a battlefield, dying, including a child in uniform.
The colors of the scene heighten its emotional impact, much as
they help intensify the emotions Jonas experiences in other
situations. The colors also seem to keep this memory at the top
of Jonas’s mind. When he goes to play a game with Asher and
some other children, he quickly realizes it is a war game and
feels shaken as he recalls the traumatic war scene he witnessed.
The colors have made this scene feel real, and they shocked him
into a new, awakened state of being. Without this type of
experience, his friends do not understand why Jonas is upset
about the game. They also have no concept of war, so they have
no idea that they’re reenacting violence and cruelty.
“Jonas did not want to go back. He didn’t want the memories,

didn’t want the honor, didn’t want the wisdom, didn’t want the
pain.”
Jonas feels shaken by the traumatic memories he has recently
experienced. He realizes honor will not make his life better, and
his wisdom probably won’t change the community for the better
because others are so set in their ways. He feels overwhelmed
by the emotional pain of the difficult memories he has taken on,
and the physical pain just adds to the burden. He also feels hurt,
angry, and frustrated that he’s expected to carry the entire
world’s traumas. It is too much for one person to handle, and he
sees how it has harmed the Giver, who he has grown to adore.
Not only does Jonas want to stop Receiver training; he’s
beginning to think the community isn’t the place for him.
However, he’s not sure how to leave.
“Somehow they were not at all the same as the feelings that
every evening, in every dwelling, every citizen analyzed with
endless talk. [...] These were deeper feelings and they did not
need to be told. They were felt.”
(Chapter 17, Pages 131-132)
This quote touches on the difference between the
way Jonas experiences feelings after beginning Receiver
training and the way other members of the community
experience them. Jonas begins having intense feelings once he
starts receiving memories and when he stops taking pills to
quell Stirrings. The other people in the community do not
experience feelings in this way, and they do not have access to
memories other than their own. The community members do not
have depth to their range of emotions. When Jonas experiences
horrors such as starvation, war, and cruelty through received
memories, his understanding of pain, sorrow, and grief expands
exponentially. This changes the way he sees the world—and the
way he thinks it should be. Jonas finds that talking about
dreams and feelings, as he used to do in daily rituals with his
family, doesn’t bring the magnitude of understanding he
receives from seeing and experiencing things in memories.
“If you were to be lost in the river, Jonas, your memories would
not be lost with you. Memories are forever.”
The Giver explains to Jonas that memories aren’t really the
property of a single individual. People eventually die, but the
memories they make with others live on in a never-ending cycle.
Even though Jonas and the Giver are tasked with holding all of
the world’s memories, old and new, they cannot change the
nature of these memories. They cannot make the memories
disappear. They can only make themselves disappear, for
instance by drowning in the river. If this happens, the memories
make their way to all of the community’s citizens, who are not
emotionally-equipped to deal with such trauma.
“He liked the thought of seeing his father perform the

ceremony, and making the little twin clean and comfy. His
father was such a gentle man.”
Jonas loves that his father is a sensitive, gentle caretaker of a
man. Imagining his father cleaning and comforting an infant
also comforts him, even though the reason for the cleaning and
comforting is very sad and disturbing. When Jonas learns that
his father kills babies deemed unfit for the community, he
realizes that this man he adores is not so tender and gentle.
Jonas feels his father has lied to him, which leaves him
disillusioned and heartbroken. It also makes him wonder who
else has been lying to him.
“The worst part of holding memories is not the pain. It’s the
loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”
The Giver tells Jonas loneliness is the worst part of being the
because the role requires physical and emotional isolation. The
Receiver has his own quarters and is not permitted to share
memories or knowledge. Additionally, even if he tried to get
another person to understand what he is feeling and
experiencing, it would be nearly impossible. Jonas realizes this
once he begins to feel physical pain in his received memories.
After receiving a memory about breaking a leg, he feels
alienated from his family members. He realizes that they have
“never known pain,” and this realization makes him “feel
desperately lonely” (110).However, according to the Giver, if
other people were to experience memories and share them with
each other, their mutual understanding would increase. They
would also be able to feel closer and better help each other.
“At dawn, the orderly, disciplined life he had always known

would continue again, without him. The life where nothing was
every unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without
color, pain, or past.”
When Jonas crosses the river to leave the community, he looks
back at the world he’s escaping. He is keenly aware that he has
chosen a new life that will be incredibly different from the one
he has known. His old life was in a highly engineered
environment, where nearly all choices were made for him. There
were very few surprises or differences; these things had largely
been removed through standardization, specialization, and
organization. While Jonas acknowledges that he will lose the
security, convenience, and predictability of his old community,
he believes he will gain the benefits that come with a wider
range of choices and experiences, such as love, color, and
shared memories.
“Once he had yearned for choice. Then, when he had had a

choice, he had made the wrong one: the choice to leave. And
now he was starving. [...] If he had stayed, he would have
starved in other ways. He would have lived a life hungry for
feelings, for color, for love. And Gabriel? For Gabriel there
would have been no life at all. So there had not really been a
choice.”
The hope Jonas felt when escaping the community is waning. He
wonders if he made a mistake in leaving behind the guarantee
of food, shelter, safety, and security. Jonas also feels guilty for
putting Gabriel and himself at risk of starvation. However, as
Jonas works through his thoughts and feelings, he realizes that
having his material needs met isn’t the only requirement for a
good life. His old community would have robbed him of the
chance to experience feelings fully, or to share love with others.
And Gabriel, the child he loves so much, would be robbed of the
opportunity to live. He believes had no choice but to leave if he
wanted to save Gabriel.
“But it was not a grasping of a thin and burdensome

recollection; this was different. This was something that he
could keep. It was a memory of his own.”
Jonas experiences vague recollections of the recent past in the
community, and he receives others’ memories through the
Giver, but he does not have true memories of his own until he
escapes the community with Gabriel. This first unique memory
occurs in the book’s final pages, as he and Gabriel struggle to
reach the top of a hill leading to Elsewhere. Snow swirls around
them, and they are very weak. Jonas is on the verge of losing
consciousness, but he knows they must keep moving forward.
Flooded with memories of his old life, he remembers moments
with his parents and sister, with his friends Asher and Fiona,
and with the Giver, his grandfatherly mentor. These memories
warm Jonas’s soul and bring him pleasure; they also help propel
him and Gabriel toward their destination, where they can make
more memories of their own.
Vocabulary
How to use
This section presents terms and phrases that are central to
understanding the text and may present a challenge to the
reader. Use this list to create a vocabulary quiz or worksheet, to
prepare flashcards for a standardized test, or to inspire
classroom word games and other group activities.
Chapters 1 - 3
1. amusing (adjective):
causing laughter and providing entertainment
“There was an ironic tone to that final message, as if the

Speaker found it amusing; and Jonas had smiled a little, though
he knew what a grim statement it had been.” (Chapter 1, Page
12)
2. unison (noun):
a simultaneous utterance of speech
“The class recited the standard response in unison.” (Chapter 1,

Page 14)
3. apprehensive (adjective):
anxious or fearful that something bad or unpleasant will happen
“Apprehensive, Jonas decided. That’s what I am.” (Chapter 1,

Page 15)
Chapters 4 - 6
4. regulated (past participle verb):
controlled by means of rules and regulations
“The freedom to choose where to spend those hours had always

seemed a wonderful luxury to Jonas; other hours of the day were
so carefully regulated.” (Chapter 4, Page 46)
5. chastisement (noun):
a reprimand or rebuke
“It was a minor rule, rather like rudeness, punishable only by

gentle chastisement.” (Chapter 4, Page 47)
6. ritual (noun):
a ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed
according to a prescribed order
“Sometimes he awoke with a feeling of fragments afloat in his

sleep, but he couldn’t seem to grasp them and put them
together into something worthy of telling at the ritual.”
Chapters 7 - 9
7. acquisition (noun):
the learning or development of a skill
“At the meeting where Asher was discussed, we retold many of

the stories that we all remembered from his days of
language acquisition.” (Chapter 7, Page 84)
8. meticulously (adverb):
in a way that shows great attention to detail; thoroughly
“Jonas was identified as a possible Receiver many years ago. We

have observed him meticulously.” (Chapter 8, Page 94)
9. precision (noun):
the quality of being exact and accurate
“But the reason for precision of language was to ensure that

unintentional lies were never uttered.” (Chapter 9, Page 106)
Chapters 10 - 12
10. transmit (verb):
cause something to pass from one person to another
“It’s not my past, not my childhood that I must transmit to you.”

11. dumbfounded (adjective):

greatly astonished or amazed
“He saw his legs, and moved them aside for a glimpse of the
sled beneath. Dumbfounded, he stared at it. This time it was not
a fleeting impression.” (Chapter 12, Page 137)
Chapters 13 - 15
12. assuage (verb):
make an unpleasant feeling less intense
“It was not enough to assuage the pain that Jonas was
beginning, now, to know.” (Chapter 14, Page 161)
13. isolation (noun):

far away from other people or things
“Again and again he dreamed of the anguish and

the isolation on the forsaken hill.” (Chapter 14, Page 161)
14. ominous (adjective):

giving the impression that something bad is going to happen
“Now it was ominous. It meant, he knew, that nothing could be

changed.” (Chapter 14, Page 165)
15. carnage (noun):

a massacre; the death or killing of many people
“The colors of the carnage were grotesquely bright: the crimson
wetness on the rough and dusty fabric, the ripped shreds of
grass, startlingly green, in the boy’s yellow hair.” (Chapter 15,
Page 173)
Chapters 16 - 18
16. dwelling (noun):
a house or other place of residence
“When I finish my training and become a full adult, I’ll be given

my own dwelling.” (Chapter 16, Page 180)
17. obsolete (adjective):

no longer used; out of date
“‘Your father means that you used a very generalized word, so

meaningless that it’s become almost obsolete,’ his mother
explained carefully.” (Chapter 16, Page 184)
18. successor (noun):

a person who comes after another and takes over his or her
position
“The Giver needed a successor, and he had been chosen.”

Chapters 19 - 21
19. syringe (noun):
a tube fitted with a hollow needle for injecting or withdrawing
fluids
“He pushed the plunger very slowly, injecting the liquid into the
scalp vein until the syringe was empty.” (Chapter 19, Page 215)
20. pale (adjective):

light in color or having little color
“There’s a little female with pale eyes. But she’s only a Six.”
21. undertaking (noun):

a task that is taken on
“He visited the other communities frequently, meeting with
their Elders; his responsibilities extended over all the
surrounding areas. So this would not be an
unusual undertaking.” (Chapter 20, Page 229)
22. overwhelming (adjective):

very great in amount
“Their attention would turn to the overwhelming task of bearing

the memories themselves. The Giver would help them.”
23. disciplined (adjective):
showing a controlled form of behavior or way of working
“At dawn the orderly, disciplined life he had always known

would continue again, without him.” (Chapter 21, Page 237)
Chapters 22 - 23
24. diminished (adjective):
made smaller or less
“He had forgotten the fear of the searchers, who seemed to

have diminished into the past.” (Chapter 22, Page 244)
25. agricultural (adjective):

relating to farming, including growing crops and raising animals
“They finished the meager store of potatoes and carrots they

had saved from the last agricultural area, and now they were
always hungry.” (Chapter 22, Page 246)
26. destination (noun):

the place to which someone is going
“Jonas felt more and more certain that the destination lay ahead
of him, very near now in the night that was approaching.”
27. brief (adjective):

of short duration
“The memory was agonizingly brief. He had trudged no more

than a few yards through the night when it was gone and they
were cold again.” (Chapter 23, Page 253)
28. summit (noun):

28. summit (noun):
the highest point of a hill or mountain
“As he approached the summit of the hill at last, something
began to happen.” (Chapter 23, Page 254)
Essay Topics
1.
What does it mean to be “released” from the
community Jonas lives in? Name a few reasons people are
released and explain how the act of releasing someone reflects
the community’s values.
2.
Receiver is described as a position of honor, while the
Birthmother assignment is said to lack honor. Why is this the
case? What might happen if the status of these roles were
switched?
3.
At several points in The Giver, Jonas expresses that having
choices is dangerous. Why does he feel this way, and how does
his opinion about choices change as the story unfolds?
4.
The Giver tells Jonas that wisdom he’s gained from memories—
especially painful ones—has helped him advise the Committee of
Elders on important matters. Share an example of how the
Giver’s wisdom has influenced the committee’s decision-making.
5.
Jonas is given permission to lie when he becomes the Receiver-
in-training. Identify a lie he tells, why he tells it, and how it
shapes his future.
6.
Name two instances of irony in The Giver and explain how they
contribute to Jonas’s journey. Also, how might these uses of
irony shape the reader’s perception of Jonas and his
community?
7.
Discuss how Jonas’s relationship with his parents evolves
throughout the book. How does his growing awareness about
the community’s shortcomings contribute to this shift?
8.
Jonas starts to understand and value love through his
relationship with the Giver. How does this affect his role in
Gabriel’s life as well?
9.
The Giver insists that he cannot escape the community
with Jonas. Why does he feel that he needs to stay there, and
what will he do for the community if Jonas departs?
10.
Jonas is starving, exhausted, and physically weak near the end
of the book. Do you think he reaches his destination? Why or
why not?

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Summary and Study Guide

Jonas’s family unit consists of Jonas; his father, a Nurturer; his

All of the children turning 12 find out their assignments at an

Shortly before the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas has an unusual

The outgoing Receiver tells Jonas to call him "the Giver." He

As Jonas’s training progresses, he feels increasingly alienated

The Giver becomes like a grandfather to Jonas. In addition to

The plan disintegrates when Jonas learns that Gabriel will be

Eventually the airplanes disappear, and the landscape begins to

Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

At the end of dinner, Jonas’s family members share their

At the Ceremony of Twelve, the last of the childhood

Other changes follow the Ceremony of Twelve. As the children

Lily thinks Gabriel is adorable and comments that she would

Jonas’s community starts to seem ominous when the narrator

The narrator’s discussion of Jonas’s "pale eyes" (20)

Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Gabriel is not headed to the ceremonies with Jonas’s family. He

During the Ceremony of One, the audience gets stirred up about

The narrator notes that children’s transgressions—even small

Larissa’s statement about trying to make a not-so-meaningful

Chapter 6 sheds light on the role of rituals in the community.

Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses

The Chief Elder, a community leader elected every 10 years,

When it is time to reveal Asher’s assignment, the Chief Elder

The narrator notes that some assignments require much more

The Chief Elder says that Jonas’s "intelligence,""integrity," and

Jonas is startled by some of these new rules, especially the ones

Torture is also a theme in the description of the Ceremony of

Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Jonas begins to receive a pleasant memory of snow. The

When the elder Receiver transmits a memory to Jonas, it leaves

Jonas experiences the exhilaration that accompanies differences

Chapters 13-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Jonas is experiencing anger more often than before. Sometimes

Once Jonas is the official Receiver, he will be tasked with

Each day of training now includes a horrible memory followed

At home, Gabriel is growing well and meeting his developmental

Jonas’s decision to share calming memories with Gabriel is

Chapters 16-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses

After skipping his daily medication for four weeks, Jonas is

Meanwhile, Gabriel has begun to walk. This is cause for

Jonas’s training has helped him see what the community is

The scene where Jonas’s friends play a war game underscores

Chapters 19-21Chapter Summaries & Analyses

As Jonas watches the child die, he is so overwhelmed that he

As Jonas pedals, his legs ache and become numb. He and

Faced with all of these sickening revelations, Jonas is sure he

Chapters 22-23Chapter Summaries & Analyses

As the landscape becomes hilly, Jonas feels weak and struggles

Realizing he has shed most of the memories from the Giver,

As Jonas and Gabriel struggle up the hill, Jonas feels a surge of

Jonas flees the community feeling confident in his decision and

As the book progresses, Jonas discovers the value of emotions

The Giver is careful to give Jonas pleasant memories along with

Jonas also realizes that freedom to choose comes with other

Ceremonies are also filled with rituals such as the assignment of

The Receiver position also exists to keep the community from

Other aspects of the Receiver job are isolating as well. As

In addition to bringing the responsibilities of a job, growing up