14

Jonas is given a harsher version of the sledding memory: the hill is icier and steeper, the sled spins out, and Jonas is thrown, breaking his leg and suffering excruciating pain before returning to the Annex. Denied relief-of-pain by The Giver, he goes home aching, concealing his training from his family and feeling isolated by an understanding of true pain they lack.

Training continues with increasing suffering, balanced by brief pleasant memories. After a memory of severe hunger, Jonas asks why they must hold memories. The Giver explains that memories grant wisdom to advise the Elders, recalling how he opposed increasing Birthmothers’ quotas due to ancestral hunger and warned restraint during the recent plane scare, informed by memories of hasty destruction.

Jonas protests the unfairness of burdening only Receivers and proposes changing rules, but The Giver notes the decision was made “back and back,” effectively unchangeable. At home, the family discusses Gabriel’s development and fretful nights, and Father mentions an impending twin birth where the smaller will be released. Jonas briefly wonders about Elsewhere and the fate of the released.

That night, Jonas volunteers to keep Gabriel in his room so his parents can rest. When Gabriel grows restless, Jonas soothes him and inadvertently transfers part of a tranquil sail-on-a-lake memory through touch. Near dawn, he deliberately gives the remaining portion, calming Gabriel again. Jonas realizes he can give memories, senses their loss within himself, and decides not to tell The Giver.