The Giver Notes

Chapter 2: At stage 12 they are given an assignment on what their talk would be in life His father knew he would be a nurturer but has no idea what Jonas would be Most lose track of how old they are after theage of 12 bc its the last ceremony Girls under nine must wear tight hair bows Jonas is worried about what is assignment is gonna be but is also worried about his friend who is a jokester Chapter 5: - Morning ritual of sharing dreams among the family - He had a dream about being in the House of the Old and Fiona was there with him. He tried to convince her to get into the tub - He wanted to bathe her - His mom described the feelings he had in his dream as the “stirring” - Pills are administered as the treatment of Stirring - You must take a pill each day or else these dreams will come back. Assuming it prevents you from wanting to be sexual with someone else?? - He felt as if these dreams were pleasuable and even if he tried to hold on to them they still slip away Chapter 6: (the start of the ceremonies) - Father was able to grant Gabriel another year of nurturing before his naming and placement - The first ceremony considered of each new child getting granted a name and given a family unit - A four named Caleb died because he fell into a river unattended. Losing a child like this was a rare situation - Lily was finally a level 8 and received her identity jacket (included small pockets to show that he was mature enough o hold on to her own belongings) Chapter 7: - Asher was assigned to assistant director of recreation - FIONA WAS GIVEN CARETAKER OF THE OLD - The chief skipped over his number nineteen.. He felt embarrassed Chapter 8: - The Chief Elder calls Jonas to the stage after everyone else and apologises to the audience - She says “Jonas has not been assigned.. Jonas has been selected” page 99 - Selected to be the next Receiver of Memory - This is a very rare selection - - His characteristics that made him chosen: Intelligence, integrity, courage, and wisdom and ***the capacity to see beyond - Jonas has all these characteristics besides wisdom bc he will gain that through training This job is the most important in the community Mentions the training requires physical pain Everyone chanted his name Chapter 9: - He only had a single piece of paper in his folder while everyone else had stacks of papers - It gave him instructions on what he needed to do day to day - He has no time other than to train and wasnt expecting this - The biggest rule he was thrown off about was how he could lie to people and it was acceptable Chapter 10: - Jonas tells this guy that he looks old and he explains to him that this job has made him age extremely fast - The guys job is to tell Jonas all the memories he has - These memories consist of the whole world Chapter 11: - He is laying down on this table feeling chills of cold air. He was able to see snow in the air - Was able to see himself physically sitting on a sled - This memory was a very distant one from the director of memories and had passed it down to him - Now he is in a sunny place - He asked him to call him the Giver Chapter 12: - Realized that color disappeared in this world - Wanted everyone to live with sameness - Introduced to all the colors and sees the world differently Chapter 13: - Jonas goes on and on about how people cant choose their mate, job or what they wear. He questions the importance of sameness - The Giver shows him a memory where people actually were different colors - He could hear gunshots - The giver expains how hard it is to have a normal functioning family unit with his job - Jonas questions if there are communities far out there that have hills or snow or anything he's seen during training] Chapter 14: - Tries to feel pain during training: uses the hill and snow memory but at a faster speed and colder air - He felt pain in his leg and vomited in the snow - He now realizes that the people in the community have no idea what pain really is - They assign a director of memory that way everyone doesn't have to feel burdened or pained - When a birthmother has twins they release one of them - Jonas took care of gabriel and accidentally gave him the memory of the sail on the sunny day - Every Time he woke up he would release more of the memory Chapter 15: Jonas shows up to training and sees the Giver in pain. He offers to take that pin away. The memory was on a battlefield in the middle of war. You could see dead bodies, gun shots, and screams. Chapter 16: - The giver shows him his favorite memory: Christmas - Introduced to the term grandparents and their role in society - The term love became a new concept to him - Felt that this vision allowed him to see a family structure that was more complete - His first lie: agreeing with his parents when they tell him the word love is meaningless - Jonas continues to give gabe memories each night Chapter 17: - He stopped taking his pills and the Stirrings started again - Really starts to see the world in more depth because his memories unlocked so much insight as well as feelings - His friends where playing an attacking game in the field and the fake gun shots scared him - He starts to realise his childhood and friends are slipping away Chapter 18: - Revealed that the failed director was a female - She received memories of loneliness and loss - She asked for release after the memories became too painful - When she gave up, the memories that she took in went back to people Chapter 19: - The giver shows Jonas the recording of the release of the newborn - He watches his dad inject the baby and kill him - Watched him drop the baby down the shoot Chapter 20: The giver and Jonas plan his escape. Hes gonna bring an extra pair of clothes to the river and leave it there - The next morning they would order a car - By the time anyone notices or finds his stuff he will be on his journey elsewhere - The giver expresses his love for Jonas but explains how when his job is done in the community he wants to find his daughter - He referred to rosemary being his daughter Chapter 21; - Jonas’s dad announces how Gabe will be released - He takes Gabe with him - They constantly had to look for the nearest hiding place and make themselves both cold so that planes didnt catch them Chapter 22; - Landscape was changing - Narrow roads, large amount of trees, and unfamiliar nature - Found birds and deer - Worried about starvation - He thinks he made the wrong chose to leave bc now he is starving - Also thinks that if he stayed he would have been starved of color, feelings and happiness - Started to feel like he couldnt save gabriel Chapter 23: - Felt that elsewhere was close - Realized how cold and weak gabe became - Started to snow making journey feel impossible - He began to get more cold and more numb - Out of nowhere he began to feel happy - He remembered the giver, asher and fiona - He sat down on a sled and went down a hill feeling himself go unconscious - At the bottom of the hill were lights and rooms - He heard music and people singing and felt as if they were waiting for him The Giver Discussion In Chapter five of “The Giver”, Jonas goes into detail with his parents about the dream he had of Fiona. His dream was very stimulating and gave him pleasure. His mother says to him, “the feeling you describe as the wanting? It was your first Stirrings…. You’re ready for the pills, that’s all. That’s the treatment for Stirrings” (Lowry, pg. 63-65). I chose this quote for the pleasure and pain section because I find this concept of their society very fascinating. Jonas is around the age of 12 and is reporting to his parents how he wanted to bathe Fiona in his dream. In any normal society, a child's parents would then proceed to talk to their son about the sexual nature of life, especially around the age of puberty. This conversation could even result in the discussion of “the birds and the bees”. The protocols within this utopian society have left me speechless. Each individual becomes pill dependent in order to suppress their innate sexual pleasure. Not only is pleasure suppressed but so is pain. The Director of Memory is responsible for feeling all pain occurring in the past, present, and future. They are the only individual who is eligible to feel real aspects of life while the rest of the population is protected and sheltered. The style of this utopia leaves me wanting more because I have so many questions. A question would be: does sheltering the civilians from pain and pleasure make the society function better? How would you picture this society if Jonas died on his journey and released the memories of the pain and pleasure he got to experience? Lowry, Lois. The Giver. New York: Laurel Leaf, 1993. Print.