18

During training, Jonas asks The Giver about release, including whether The Giver ever considers it. The Giver admits he sometimes wishes for release when overwhelmed by pain but is barred until a new Receiver is trained. He reminds Jonas that strict rules followed a failure ten years earlier.

Jonas presses to know what happened. The Giver reveals the previous trainee was a young woman named Rosemary, serene and eager, whom he grew to love. He began her training with joyful memories but, at her insistence on full responsibility, gradually introduced painful emotions: loneliness, loss, poverty, hunger, and terror.

After five weeks, following a hard session, Rosemary silently decided to seek release. She went directly to the Chief Elder and was granted it, since her rules then allowed it. The Giver never saw her again and was devastated, grieving his loss and feeling he had failed her.

The Giver explains the consequence: when Rosemary was released, her memories returned to the Community, overwhelming people unaccustomed to intense feelings. He was too grief-stricken and angry to help them through it. Jonas, trying to grasp the implications, asks what would happen if he died in an accident, such as being lost in the river.

The Giver clarifies that memories are permanent and would return to everyone if Jonas were lost, far exceeding Rosemary’s brief set and likely devastating the Community. He considers the idea that he could help the Community manage those memories, as he helps Jonas, but leaves it for future discussion.

The Giver ends by warning Jonas to stay away from the river, recognizing the enormous risk his loss would pose, while his troubled thoughts linger on the possibility of guiding the Community through such upheaval.